SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: EMERSON, LAKE & POWELL – COMPLETE COLLECTION

EMERSON, LAKE & POWELL
COMPLETE COLLECTION
SPIRIT OF UNICORN MUSIC/CHERRY RED RECORDS

Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) formed in 1970 when Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (bass, guitar) and Carl Palmer (drums) came together to form a prog rock supergroup that, in many ways, was the definitive prog rock band. By 1978, they tried changing their sound to a more ‘contemporary sound’, and the disappointing Love Beach became their last album. They did reform much later in the early 1990s. However, in 1984, when Emerson and Lake were looking to reform ELP, Palmer could not be part of it as he was signed with Asia and had commitments. So, needing another ‘P’, they enlisted Cozy Powell (Rainbow, Jeff Beck Group). Actually, the band always insisted that it was just a coincidence that Powell’s name started with ‘P’. ELPowell were born.

Emerson, Lake & Powell began recording their self-titled debut studio album in 1985, and it was released in 1986. It would be their only studio album. There were a lot of expectations for another version of this supergroup. Like Love Beach, the album tried to be a balance between pop songs and prog rock. Side one of the original album was full of the trademark Emerson, Lake & Palmer sound. The opening track, “The Score” showed promise and was a great introduction to the band and the album. When they are playing prog, they are at their best. However, Keith Emerson’s adaptation and version of the traditional English folk song, “Lovely Joan”, titled “Touch And Go” is very interesting and demonstrates Emerson’s interest in folk music and how comfortable he was in that field. Of course, in Emerson, Lake & Powell’s hands it is louder, more military than folk, and it does show what these guys could do. It is not entirely unlike “Fanfare For The Common Man” from Emerson Lake & Palmer’s 1977 album Works Volume 1.

The band split following their one and only tour. This new compilation includes their one album plus bonus tracks added to the original CD released. This includes their odd version of “The Loco-Motion” (an instrumental), in which they try to take a simple pop song and turn it into a prog classic. Also in the box set is their one only live album (Live In Concert) as well as a CD of rehearsals, known as The Sprocket Sessions. The Sprocket Sessions are very interesting, as you hear the band working on versions of songs such as ELP’s “Tarkus” “Still, You Turn Me On”, the classic “Lucky Man” and “Pictures At An Exhibition”. The rehearsals are as good as the live concert also included in this set.

The Live Album is extremely well recorded and hearing them live, one gets an idea of the potential of this band and how they may have developed. With liner notes by Jerry Ewing (editor of Prog Rock magazine), the great lost band and album gets the recognition they deserved. When the album came out, it was criticized a great deal and comparisons to ELP were often less than flattering. The band also came out when prog rock was on the wane, and bands like Asia, who incorporated aspects of prog, had become successful pop bands. Even Yes were topping the charts. Perhaps Emerson, Lake & Powell were seen as a bit out of step at the time, and maybe to a certain extent they were. However, this re-release shows that ELPowell (as the album was known) was a brilliant album in which the trio tried to combine pop/rock with prog rock.

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