Sony Music will re-issue 6 classic Emerson, Lake and Palmer albums and a new collection this Friday.
The studio albums are ‘Emerson, Lake & Palmer’ (1970), ‘Tarkus’ (1971), ‘Trilogy’ (1972) and ‘Brain Salad Surgery’ (1973).
The live albums ‘Pictures At An Exhibition’ (1971) and ‘Welcome Back My Friends, To The Show That Never Ends – Ladies & Gentlemen Emerson, Lake & Palmer’ (1974) will also be back in-stores on Friday.
Sony will also release the brand new collection ‘The Essential Emerson, Lake & Palmer’, featuring the full 9-minute version of the classic ‘Fanfare For The Common Man’.
Sony details of each album are:
Essential E.L.P
This essential collection is a fresh new look at one of rock music’s greatest ever bands. The 26 tracks selected cover the bands amazing and ground breaking career ranging from the pop classics "Lucky Man" and “I Believe In Father Christmas" through to the 20 minute "Tarkus" suite.
A perfect introduction to a perfect band.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer
This classic debut album demonstrates the influences they brought with them, clearly heard in the mix of instrumental and vocal pieces.
A major part of the appeal was the keyboard genius of Emerson, demonstrated on the opening track and classically tinged instrumental "The Barbarian". While "Take a Pebble" and "Lucky Man", the band’s first single, represent a more pop-oriented side of the E.L.P. The album also includes the instrumental epics "The Three Fates" and "Tank" which are ambitious, and technically astounding.
Tarkus
The second album was released in 1971 and William Neal's cover art shows Tarkus as a half armadillo / half tank. The album is dominated by the anti war "Tarkus" suite, originally forming the whole of side one of the album. The album is not all about the futility of war and closes with "Are You Ready Eddy?", written for the band's recording engineer, Eddie Offord, with Carl Palmer exclaiming "They've only got 'am or cheese!", a reference to the only sandwiches on offer in the studio canteen. A true classic.
Pictures At An Exhibition
This outstanding live album, also released in 1971, was recorded at Newcastle City Hall. A brilliant live document of a unique and unrivalled band at the top of their game.
Trilogy
E.L.P's third studio album increased the bands worldwide popularity, and includes "Hoedown", which has become one of their most popular live songs, and ‘From The Beginning’ which was the bands highest charting U.S. single.
Trilogy's cover depicts Emerson, Lake, and Palmer impersonating Jesus Christ, God and the Holy Spirit.
Brain Salad Surgery
The last of the studio albums in this batch was initially released in 1973, and features the distinctive H.R.Giger artwork, which integrates an industrial mechanism with a human skull and the new E.L.P logo.
Opening with an adaptation of Hubert Parry's hymn "Jerusalem", this was due to be the single in the UK until the BBC objected. Brain Salad Surgery also features the classic opus "Karn Evil 9" consisting of three movements, the first and third separated by an extended instrumental passage.
Welcome Back My Friends, To The Show That Never Ends – Ladies & Gentlemen
This live album was originally released at the height of their popularity as a Triple album (but is now a double CD). The performances are mind blowing and were recorded on their Someone Get Me a Ladder World Tour.
The title of the album comes from the opening line of the song "Karn Evil 9: First Impression, Part 2" as well as the introduction to the performance, uttered at the beginning of the classic "Hoedown." The tour was so exhausting for them that this was the last E.L.P release for almost three years while the band took an extended break and the next release was Works in 1977.
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