Emerson Lake and Palmer "Pictures At An Exhibition" 1971***

Last year unfortunately saw the demise of both Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, two giants of progressive rock. They had come to personify the whole genre through EL&P, the group they had led together with drummer Carl Palmer. Displaying all the virtues and (perceived) vices of prog rock to the extreme, EL&P were worshipped (especially by young male rock fans) and reviled (by rock critics and, later, punks) in equal measure. Of all their albums "Pictures At An Exhibition" best exemplifies the traits that made them (in)famous: They've been lauded as serious musicians and denounced as pretentious fakes for their flirtation with classical music: what more proof do you need than their adaptation of a "difficult" classical work (Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition") for a live rock performance? Likewise, they've been accused for instrumental wankering and posturing, or praised for their (especially Emerson's) pyrotechnic playing and wild onstage behaviour. Here he gives his all, conjuring previously unheard sounds from his Moog synthesizers while proving once more his dexterity, revolutionising keyboard playing as much as Hendrix did with electric guitars. In the middle of that madness, Lake's pop sense and emotive vocals provided the perfect counterpart while Palmer's powerful drumming propelled the songs in hard rock territory. Mussorgsky's original work was inspired by an imaginary exhibition of paintings by his friend Viktor Hartmann, describing the feelings created by each painting, while the connecting melody "promenade" represented the walk from one painting to the next. EL&P staged their own interpretation for their 1971 tour, while this LP was recorded live at Newcastle City Hall on 26 March of that year. The opener "Promenade" features the main theme played on the great City Hall pipe organ, followed by "The Gnome", an instrumental filled with weird synthesizer noise and some pretty good drumming by Palmer. "Promenade" returns, albeit with lyrics written and sung by Greg Lake, followed by an original Lake ballad called "The Sage" and played mostly on acoustic guitar. 

"The Old Castle" is met with a lot of applause, leading me to believe that something must have been happening onstage because the aural part isn't all that agreeable: Lots of synthesizer noodling by Emerson whose playing on this album is over-the-top and at times annoying, in contrast to Palmer's solid drumming and Lake's melodic balladry which is much to my taste. Thankfully, all of the elements blend nicely together on the "Baba Yaga" trilogy, a fast and agressive piece of prog rock befitting of the fearsome witch of the same name. "Blues Variation" is another keyboard-based instrumental albeit of a more conventional variety, with enjoyable jazz funk organ passages, while there's also another reprise of the main theme "Promenade". "The Great Gates of Kiev" is, in my opinion, the highlight of the album, a majestic ballad with heavy organ and emotional vocals. The encore is "Nutrocker", a jam based on a 60's surf instrumental which in turn was based on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. It's a light and playful piece, intended probably as a crowd-pleasing closer to a challenging show. It was chosen as the single, despite being the least interesting track off the album. With the exception of the Lake ballads, this isn't an album for the faint-hearted. Certainly not the place to start if you're interested in EL&P (or Mussorgsky). If, however, you are already a fan of bands like Dream Theater or Porcupine Tree and want to delve deeper into their sources of inspiration you may find a lot of interest here...

**** for Promenade II, The Sage, The Hut Of Baba Yaga I, The Great Gates Of Kiev, Nutrocker

*** for Promenade I, Blues Variation, Promenade III, The Curse Of Baba Yaga, The Hut Of Baba Yaga 

** for The Gnome, The Old Castle