Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Hoedown
2. Jerusalem
3. Toccata
4. Tarkus
5. Take A Pebble

Disc 2:

1. Piano Improvisations
2. Take A Pebble (Conclusion)
3. Jeremy Bender/The Sheriff (Medley)
4. Karn Evil 9

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72454 in Music
• Released on: 2008-02-26
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Box set, Live
• Running time: 110 minutes

Customer Reviews

Talent to burn
We should not be ashamed of liking musicians who can actually play.

Ever since punk, admitting to liking ELP has always been a bit of an issue. Punk elevated inability to the level of art, and therefore always had a right-on, working class hero image. Rock 'dinosaurs' like ELP were seen as a kind of aristocracy - and punk was the French Revolution.

But if we strip away all the posturing and actually look at the music, it's so refreshing to hear three fantastic musicians on the top of their game. This album shows just how good they were: the performances are honed by months on the road and gain an excitement and warmth that the studio versions cannot match.

Yes, they were over the top; yes, they were egotistical; yes they got carried away with their own impressive concepts.

But boy! can they play!

Much missed insane genius
This is the most overblown live album you will ever hear. Even the title is overblown and hardly fits on the spine of the CD. Emerson, Lake and Palmer are the only band who would ever have attempted something this weighty and at the time they were so hot they got away with it. This album was originally released at the height of their popularity (and arguably their creativity) as a TRIPLE LP set. Pretty much all of their best stuff is here (except "Pictures at an exhibition" which was released as a live LP in it`s own right) and the performances are mind blowing. How a man as talented as Keith Emerson could be ridiculed three short years later by the Punks is disgusting. His playing is a masterclass in rock keyboard playing that NOONE has ever come close to matching. Lake and especially Palmer are not far behind him in terms of talent. Artists like these are largely gone from today`s mainstream music scene. The highlights here are a ridiculously fast "Hoedown", a great "Tarkus" a wonderful piano improvisation and a 36 minute version of "Karn Evil 9". Yes, it`s totally over-the-top but that`s what makes it so good.

blast from the past
I still remember the thrill of getting this triple LP one Xmas aged 16. Little did I know that punk was just around the corner, waiting to slay the prog rock behemoth. Keith Emerson's virtuosity needs no puffing from me, and the live recording breathes some passion into some of the band's worthier studio efforts. 'Hoedown' makes a great opener to a live show, for instance, and the Tarkus 'suite' has an immediacy that is lacking on the studio version. Not surprisingly, some of the material loses something from the live setting - 'Toccata', for instance, is better in the spookier, darker production on 'Brain Salad Surgery'. And is there anyone out there who can really enjoy listening again and again to a 10 minute drum solo? But overall, it's a reminder of how vibrant and exciting even rock dinosaurs could sometimes be.