Product: Masters from the Vaults - Emerson, Lake & Palmer (2004)
Rating: 5.0
A great concert fron a young ELP on the verge of success!
Emerson Lake Palmer's first album was always my favorite and this video was shot around the time of that first release. With a young Emerson Lake & Palmer in top form performing three songs from that first album, this is now my favorite DVD from ELP.It appears to be transferred from film (although the aspect ratio is still 4:3). The digitally re-mastered DD 5.1 sound is really very good. That is, as long as you are not comparing it to DVDs recorded with modern technology standards. But I'd rather see an outstanding performance of a young ELP with very good sound than a recent lackluster performance with great sound.There are some "special effects" that are annoying (typical of concert footage from that era), but they are not nearly as annoying as the effects in the Pictures at an Exhibition DVD.I've included the track list and liner notes from the DVD.Track list:Barbarian (Emerson, Lake, Palmer, Bartok)Rondo / Bach ImprovisationsDrum SoloNut RockerTake A Pebble (Lake)Knife Edge (Emerson, Lake, Frasier, Janacek)Liner Notes from the DVD:The first true super group of the seventies Emerson, Lake, and Palmer were a world wide phenomenon and rose to prominence as one of the highest grossing acts in the history of rock.The band was assembled by brining together three young musical geniuses in the form of keyboard wizard Keith Emerson from the Nice along with bassist/vocalist Greg Lake from King Crimson and the legendary Carl Palmer from Atomic Rooster on drums.This was an outstanding collection of musicians and the band almost instantly shot to worldwide fame on the back of their spectacular first album.It is that first album which is featured here with ELP jamming and improvising around the core structure of the extended pieces. This is a young Emerson Lake and Palmer captured at the very beginning of a legendary career.As these pieces were filmed at the time when the band had only just recorded their ground breaking first album ELP had not yet built a large repertoire and therefore had to use all of their huge individual creative talents to create a full show. That's what makes this film so special.Keith Emerson gives a dazzling display of extensive improvisation including all of the stage tricks, which would make ELP famous and triumphant. In this film the keyboard maestro demonstrates his full range of stunts including playing the organ upside down. Despite the showmanship the music remains rock steady as Emerson flies through a series of breathtaking improvisations based around JS Back's "Well Tempered Clavier".You'll also find inventive percussions from Carl Palmer including a breathtaking solo spot which amply demonstrates why Palmer would go on to become the most famous rock drummer of all time.The film is capped by a bravura performance at the mike and both on bass and acoustic guitars by the young Greg Lake.Taken together these mind blowing individual performances add up to the magic of Emerson Lake and Palmer and make this an essential addition to the collection of any fan of the progressive rock era.