Emerson, Lake & Palmer Album: “Love Beach (Shout! Factory)”

Yes, the cover is cheesy. Yes, the title sucks. Yes, "Love Beach" is a blatant attempt at commercial pop, and it sticks out like a sore thumb in ELP's progressive-rock-meets-classical-music discography.

But I have news for everyone: "Love Beach" actually has good songs on it! Actually, over half of the record's running time contains solid material. It's no "Tarkus" or "Brain Salad Surgery," but it merits a place in any ELP fan's collection.

"All I Want Is You" and "Love Beach" are well-crafted, catchy, up-tempo pop songs - a welcome change of pace from balladeers Greg Lake and Peter Sinfield. "For You," despite its lounge music vibe, sports a cool intro and some nice dynamics. "Canario" is a turbo-charged rendering of Rodrigo's guitar composition in the tradition of ELP's Copland adaptation "Hoedown." "The Gambler" and "Taste of My Love" are admittedly filler, perhaps the only truly bad songs on the record.

"Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman," the twenty-minute epic that spans the erstwhile "side two," is a mixed bag. The lyrics, which describe the story of a World War II soldier, achieve a simplistic yet noble pathos of the "England Expects" variety. The instrumentation is perhaps a bit pedestrian to justify the running time, although the coda "Honourable Company" finds both Emerson and Palmer in majestic form.

"Love Beach" was an easy target for critics who claimed that progressive rock had "jumped the shark" by 1978. But it's far better than its reputation indicates. If you're a diehard ELP fan, give it a chance.

I had heard and read some really nasty stuff about Love Beach. Becoming a fan of ELP in the 80's I wasn't around for those early years and I think I can be a little more objective. I only heard the complete album a few years ago and I can be a bit forgiving about this atypical ELP album.

Love Beach is definately light years away from Tarkus and Brain Salad Surgery but it's still a listenable album for me. the album cover photo does scream out BEE GEES! but I guess that's understandable considering it's 1978 release and recording the album in the Bahamas. The album title is poorly chosen as well. "Canario" might have worked better.

My musical tastes are pretty diverse and I do like pop songs and they do a great job on most of them..Love Beach, The Gambler and For You are pretty good all considering. A Taste Of My Love is rather laughable with it's sexual innuendos.

Canario is a terrific and spirited instrumental and Memoirs Of An Officer And Gentleman is quite good. The band's playing itself is strong and powerful but the material itself is lightweight compared to their epic albums of past. Greg Lake still sings with passion and Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer's playing is still exciting albeit in more concise fashon.

This album was recorded mainly to fulfill their contract with Atlantic and the longtime diehard fans dismiss it. It's certainly not a essential ELP album, but it does show the band in a different light at a time where the musical landscape had changed drastically in the 1970's

Cripes, look at the cover! If that's not indicative of the album's quality, there's only one fact you need to know. The group only released this album because they owed it to their original record label. Still not convinced? Well, there's not much else to say, except that this atrocious record brings me dangerously close to vomiting whenever it plays. Hardcore ELP fans shouldn't even buy this to finish their collection. Stay far away from it. Keep other people away from it. Wear a big sign and stand in front of record stores. Save us all!

This is derided as Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's worst album. From the cheesy, disco cover (with Emerson stuffing his trousers, and Palmer saying in interviews they look like the Bee Gees), and add the fact that it was a contractual obligation album, it could have had a dirge atmosphere and truly awful songs. It isn't a masterpiece, but several songs are excellent, and a professionalism holds this album together. It's also far more coherent than its predecessor, Works Vol. 2, which was just a bunch of leftover tracks from sessions dating back to 1973. The first 4 songs have cheesy, smarmy lyrics (especially Taste of my Love), but some are quite catchy musicially (especially the title tune). Canario is a great instrumental, but the best track is the epic Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman. It's a miracle that this song found its way onto the album. The head of Atlantic at the time wanted ELP to do a blatanly commercial album, and the 20 minute Memoirs doesn't fit that category. It's among the greatest of ELP songs, a majestic, moving epic, well written and stunningly performed. To my knowledge, they have never done this song in concert, which is a shame, as it is one of their greatest songs. This album isn't ELP's greatest, not close, but it's not their worst (In the Hot Seat is their worst album, their last studio album). Canario and Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman make this album worth listening too.

ELP are one of my favorite bands, but even I don't have to like this contractual-obligation quickie taped between tanning sessions in the Bahamas. Pete Sinfield's lyrics are good for a laugh, at least, but the biggest one is the front cover photo--did these guys really think they were sex symbols? (It is instructive that Carl Palmer, always the most circumspect member of the group, posed with his shirt buttoned.) It's not all awful--"Canario" is actually one of ELP's more respectful covers of a classical piece--but "Brain Salad Surgery" or "Tarkus" cut it to ribbons.