Disco de Emerson, Lake & Palmer: “Works Live”

Apart from the somewhat misleading title - originally this was on vinyl an single album version called "In Concert" which is more apt but also more worn, like "Live" and the likes - because not all the songs are from the both Work albums, this is a true liverecording in a format few bands could do and fewer have done. It was the strong wish of Keith Emerson to perform live with the aid of an orchestra. After having released four studio and 2 live recordings he opted for a change of direction, willing to put ELP on stake as one of the others would refuse to tour with a big backing by other musicians and a conducter. Having performed his piano etude on Works vol. 1 with such an orchestra and worked with others on some of the Vol. 2 tracks, Lake did the same with his ballads on Vol. 1 and the group effort "Pirates." Even Palmer teamed up with several other musicians to work toghether and used a full orchestre on a few tracks. Although band and orchestra gelled toghether they played only a handful of shows in the U.S. All kind of rules distracted them from working together each night and the costs were increasing. The band was not able to pay the orchestramembers and the whole project was blown up, leaving ELP in dire straits. They had to play many 3 piece shows to recover the debts. Not many people therefore had the honor of seeing band and orchestra playing the music of ELP on a larger scale. Their complex compositions seem to be tailormade for this format. Using the unique Yamaha GX1 triplekeyboardsynthesizer extensively Emersons play gells with the orchestra as one. He is backing Lake with his ballads and even immitates the harmonica in one those tracks, in another the accordion. The whole package breathes more than the also outstanding live "Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends", (no songs biting each other, the setlists differ complety). The Works albums were mostly soloprojects, only a handful of songs were groupefforts. "Fanfare for the Common Man" was one of them and here in a great rendition. "Knife Edge" form the first album, wins with the extra backing, so does on the later added side "Abaddon's Bolero" from the "Trilogy" album, and even the already famous adaption of Mussorsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition", clocking in over a quarter, which was omitted from the setlist after the release of "Tarkus" album for a long time, gains from the orchestrabacking. Not many bands have made progress like ELP did and certainly not to this extent. Sadly many problems overcame the band when bringing this outfit on the road. This album, a 2 CD, is a fitting souvenir from that era. It fusions all kinds of music, rock, classical, folk, and brings a broader instrumental view. The sound is crystalclear and crisp. It adds to the ouevre of one of the best progressive rockbands. As such it stands on his own. It certainly has more to offer than the albums after which is named.

If you're an ELP fan you will like this one. The sound quality is very good, and it is one of the few chances to hear the band with a symphony as backup. I have the vinyl release of this album from the 70's and the CD sounds just as good as the vinyl. It also includes a 2nd disc of unreleased material from the tour that was not included on the vinyl version.

This was originally released as a single LP, called "In Concert". It was only 43 minutes long. It was also released as a CD.

This "new" album is now a 2 CD set which is double in length, at about 87 minutes. The name was changed to "Works Live" and the hue of the the album cover was changed from a dark blue to a sickly light blue-green.

If they went through the trouble of expanding this album, you wonder why they didn't include the whole concert, instead of just 87 minutes of it. You know they were playing Pirates at the time (there is even a skull and crossbones over the stage). Maybe with an orchestra, Pirates would have been more interesting.

For this concert, Emerson, Lake and Palmer was touring with an orchestra and chorus. The tour was a financial failure and the orchestra and chorus had to be ditched part way through. I think it was also an artistic failure, which is why it was also a financial failure. The latter part of the tour, without the orchestra can be heard in the King Biscuit CD. I think it is better for the most part.

Except for the wonderful version of Tank, I don't think the orchestra added any value to the songs. In many cases, like on Knife Edge, I think they made the songs worse. This is Emerson, Lake and Palmer, with Keith Emerson and his deck of synthesizers and Carl Palmer sometimes playing synthesized drums, and Greg Lake sometimes playing a guitar through a synthesizer. They create a wall of sound. Why would they, of any group, need an orchestra?

The original "In Concert" was just horrible, with a terrible song selection. The only good tracks are the new ones added for "Works Live".

The good new tracks are a great version of Tank, that does put the orchestra to good use. There is a very nice jazzy section at the beginning of the track. Show Me the Way to Go Home is done in a great blues style. It is different than anything the group has done, and it is very nicely done.

First of all, I believe some of the recordings on the first side, where the band plays as a trio (without orchestra) were not recorded in Montreal, but in West Virginia in November, 1977! Very odd that these recordings would be included, and orchestrated versions of The Enemy God, Pirates, among others; would be left out...?

I saw ELP in New York with the orchestra in July, 1977... it was a strange show. Very good, but not quite ELP. I never liked the shortened version of "Pictures". In NYC "Tarkus" was shortened also, though Tarkus is not on this CD. In NYC, it was obvious the band was having trouble, and that was a bit sad.

This album is sad too. You can perceptively feel difficulty and strain. The music is good - they hit all the notes and the orchestra sounds good; but the (then) confirmed idea that this huge tour was a big mistake seems palpable. All of them - Emerson, Lake and Palmer - seem to have a collective broken heart. I was struck by this fact when I first heard it.

I also agree with a previous reviewer who wonders why they didn't release music from the entire concert. Why put the 3 piece stuff in there from West Virginia? ...and why leave Pirates out? ... it sounded very fine live in NYC, and it was probably the best ELP piece with the orchestra. Bewildering. Probably the record company's idea... makes those of us who didn't make music a career glad we didn't I guess.

This CD is worth having, particularly if you know the history behind it. It's a good reminder to any artist to always try and do the impossible. But "Works Live" seems somehow filled with melancholy. It has none of the exuberance of the 1975 "Welcome Back..." live album. No doubt odd that an album like this could have an undercurrent of regret and disappointment in it, but it does.

If you like music by rock stars that is accompanied by orchestral music to enhance the sound, you should give this album a listen. I loved this album as a download, and decided to purchase. I do not regret getting the album. Very good music ensemble, with ELP and accompanists. Highly recommend.