b o b

I do at least have to thank ELP for getting me interested enough in this piece of music to check out an orchestral version of it, which is wonderful. ELP's rendition, on the other hand...well, it's actually at its best when the band gets away from trying to adapt the classical piece. For example, "Blues Variation" is prime ELP, but has little to do with the rest of the album. Of the adaptation tracks, parts of the "Baba Yaga" section aren't bad, and I like their take on the "Promenade" theme - but then a melody that strong is hard to screw up. That's not to say Greg Lake doesn't try, with the fairly lame lyrics he adds. Speaking of Lake's lyrics, things like his climactic lines "There's no end to my life, no beginning to my death, death is Life!" foreshadow some of the horribly bad lyrics he would write on later albums. How he could sing the the above with a straight face is beyond me. The cover of "Nutrocker" they use as filler is catchy, but doesn't add anything essential to the album. Overall this is one of ELP's weaker efforts - not actively bad like Love Beach or In the Hot Seat, but certainly not a must-have album. The muddy sound quality doesn't help. Beginners should try some of the other early ELP albums before this one. review by Bob Eichler — undated —

c o n r a d

History is full of "What ifs". For instance, what if Mussorgsky had survived long enough to orchestrate his piano work Pictures at an Exhibition? Furthermore, what if instead of using a standard orchestra he decided to add odd instruments like the soprano saxophone. No, scrap the sax, what about a rock power trio using instruments like analogue synthesizers? Sound like a stupid proposition? Emerson, Lake and Palmer didn't think so. The result is surprisingly good. Classical adaptations are most succesful, in my opinion, when they use the power of the standard rock outfit to match a powerful classical compostion. The danger is always that the result will sound hackneyed. There has been considerable debate as to if this is the case on this album, but I personally like it. Songs like "The Hut of Baba Yaga" benefit from the strength of electirified instruments. The original compositions in this suite, "The Sage" and "The Curse of Baba Yaga", are also strong ELP pieces and add to the overall effect of this album. "Blues Variations" is a little out of place, but I'm not going to complain about getting to hear Keith Emerson improvising. Two things markedly detract from this album, however. Greg Lake's singing to "The Great Gates of Kiev" is an abomination. And "Nutrocker" is an awful adaptation of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. This is not a song that is begging to be done as a rock song, and Kim Fowley's arrangemant is as cheesy as you can get. Overall, the album is either great or terrible, and for me the great moments outnumber the terrible ones. I do have my own personal "What if" though. What if somebody had pointed out to Greg Lake that the reason people love Keith Emerson's long keyboard solos so much is not so much because it is an improvisational expression of his artistic and emotional being, but because it stops Greg Lake from singing? review by Conrad Leviston — 1-13-03 —

s e a n

One of the characteristics often used to describe progressive rock is an incorporation of influences from classical music (usually from the romantic period) or jazz. Occasionally artists have made deeper forays into this territory. Often they were unsuccessful, as best demonstrated by this famous embarrassment. Whether Mussorgsky's original piece lent itself to rock instrumentation is one question; unsurprisingly, the arrangements preferred by ELP are choked in bombast and particularly Emerson's need for everything to be more strenuous than necessary. The addition of lyrics is a risky thing, but Lake rushes into this vulgarity with little fear, penning stuff that is bad even by normal Lake/Sinfield standards. ELP is at their best when they are not aping (raping?) Mussorgsky, but unfortunately this only happens on one track, "Blues Variations". The insult to be added to the injury is the final track, "Nutrocker", taking themes from the Nutcracker and, uh, rocking them. Nothing terribly important, but at least not an outright molestation. I've never warmed much to ELP. Something has always thrown me off, and this album pretty much epitomizes those reasons. If you have ever wanted to hear one of the reasons the critical love affair with prog ended, slap this one on the turntable or CD changer and find out. review by Sean McFee — undated —

j o e

Out of ELP's 'Classic 5,' Pictures at an Exhibition is the only one that I pretty flatly don't care for. Consider it a quaint document of a time long since passed: when a rock band could fill large halls with an entire concert devoted to sprawling, overlong interpretations of famous classical works, and not only does the audience actually care, but they respond as if it's the Second Coming. Would Modeste have approved of Lake's purely fatuous lyrics superimposed over "Promenade," the band's enjoyable but jarring derailment into "Blues Variations" after "The Old Castle," or guffaw-inducing writing credits like "Mussorgsky/Palmer"? I doubt it, but since he was a heavy drinker, who knows. Note that I'm not categorically against full-blown classical adaptations, and I've seen the band perform this adaptation live in truncated form so I know that it can work effectively when judiciously edited. But as it stands here at an excruciating 38 minutes with the goofy "Nutrocker" pasted on at the end...well, it doesn't. review by Joe McGlinchey — undated —