Emerson, Lake & Palmer Album: “Re-Works”

ELP was my 1st musical love, I still love ther stuff, but now would be more liable to listen to anything from the William Orbit to Miles davis. I bought this thinking that it would be mostly [bad] but was more than presently surprised! More deconstruction/ambient/wierd than the expected full on dance mix.CD 1 is the best, Fanfare mix great and other stuff v well done, CD2 not quite as good , fanfare remix better than the one on cd1 but not much better or longer, others more clubby than 1st Cd but don't work quite as well . Vocals sampled not from ELP for some strange reason. CD3 is all fanfare remixes, not bad , but none seem to use the potentially brilliantly remixable 2nd half of the album version of fanfare.

Will not appeal to ELP fans unless they like modern music with dance beats. ELP fans who do like this sort of stuff will hopefully be as pleasantly surprised as I was. Non ELP fans should find the sound palate interesting, and the remixing well done. Only 4 stars as usual ELP spin-the-music-over-too-many-cds nonsense, lack of better use of Greg's vocals in the mix and slightly repetative and tame fanfare remixes.

WHY?.......Dear Mother Of God.....WHY?...........................

ELP's Re-Works is a lesson in studio production of remixed music. Anyone with a CPU or turntable calls himself a musician today. Now come pioneers of talent-driven, progressive rock to whip their collective souls.

In the context of ELP's early groundbreaking music, Re-Works would rate 3-4 stars. In the context of electronica/techno, which Emerson invented by being the first musician to extensively and popularly use the Moog synthesizer, this Waring Blender of an album rates top honors.

There's a huge diff between mixes made on the backs of the 60s and 70s and mixes brought by originators of virtuoso rock. ELP created their riffs. Programmed their sound. Every lick on Re-Works comes from a virtuoso's heart and hand, not from a memory bank or a flick of a switch.

Would that this work could shut the door on imitators who push buttons to achieve what ELP originated.

When impersonators in teens and 20s mix imitations, flattery is embarrassing and tiresome for the matured. Boones Farm will never taste like mellowed champagne. Antiquity will remember ELP alongside Yes and jTull as virtuosos who made their own music and shared it with love, not greed.

I don't understand what would prompt Keith Emerson to think this was a fantastic idea nor do I understand why the other two thought this is good for the group as a whole. Whatever! This is the answer to the question which ELP CD is the absolute worse. DO NOT think this will sound like any of the past ELP CDs we've known for so long. This is god awful and should have a warning label to stay away!!! DON'T SPEND YOUR MONEY ON THIS!

God knows the editorial review at Amazon.com is very very misleading. This is not new work by ELP. if it was, I wouldn't have bought it!!! Thankfully, my local music store has a listening room, and I was able to verify that this really is something new. A tribute to their work in a new style. It's very very funny to me that fans of the band who review this release below sound like classical snobs must have on discovering the original ELP desecrations of "Pictures," "Fanfare," "Rodeo," etc, or like poor old Aaron's befuddled quote included here on the "Pilgrim Mix" of "Fanfare."

I think ELP made precisely 4 great albums (the first 4) and a few great songs thereafter on painfully unfocused later albums. Unlike their peers Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, even the Moody Blues for chrissake, there was no flame to keep alive in later years. and their attempts to regroup were an embarrassment in light of their early genius.

I thank them for blowing my mind early on, and helping me develop eclectic enough musical tastes to enjoy this release.

These are Remixes in the contemporary sense of the word. Entirely new, beat-driven pieces that use remnants of work from the original albums in ways that pay sometimes irreverent tribute to the originals. These are not Reissues or remixes in the sense of 'Boy, I never heard that hi hat so clearly before!'

Looking for something new? Try this out. Want the boys to give the poor, smelly, long-dead ELP horse one last kick? Get a life and spare them the embarassment!