"Hand Of Truth", "One By One", "Man In The Long Black Coat" and "Street War". Are those classic ELP caliber? Heck no! But I kinda enjoy to listen to them now and then.Originally Posted by bondegezou
"Hand Of Truth", "One By One", "Man In The Long Black Coat" and "Street War". Are those classic ELP caliber? Heck no! But I kinda enjoy to listen to them now and then.
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I said that, and I think ItHS is also among the worst albums ever made. The difference in my mind is, at the time of Love Beach, ELP still kind of mattered, and the band were still capable of playing and composing at a high level, had they so chosen. "Memoirs" shows that even on a "stripped down, commercial, contractual obligation, record," they still had the latitude to venture into more interesting territory. What they delivered on side 2 was, to me, a pile of mushy, half-baked garbage that pretty much destroyed the band's reputation.
By the time of Hot Seat, Emerson and Lake were cooked, and nobody really gave a crap anymore anyway, so the stakes, and expectations, were incredibly low. For me, Love Beach deserves much more derision, and is frequently much more "cringey" than ItHS, which is simply boring. Neither is a shining star of anything, save laziness, neglect, and the ravages of excess.
Bill
^Agreed. Both are dud albums. Actually as a side discussion, was anything from either of these albums ever played live by ELP? Love Beach wasn't toured and they basically fell apart in its wake. But they were still a touring band after In The Hot Seat.
I actually have time for some of To The Power Of Three, but that's a separate project and not comparable with ELP.
Agree, "In The Hot" seat is the worst album they ever made.
thoroughly enjoyed the documentary, I agree with him that these sorts of albums are way more fun to dive into than the classics we've all heard a hundred times. wonder where he dug up all that rehearsal audio from - too bad the album itself didn't try to sound heavy at all, there might've been something cool there.
I agree this album ain't half bad, even the parts which genuinely suck are at least entertaining - I mean every decision on Taste of my Love is in wtf territory, not just the lyrics. and I'll stand by "I want to dynamite your mind" as being a pretty badass phrase. I personally do like "Pirates" and a lot of the music here sounds like a takeoff on that. Plus I think the title track is actually a very good pop song, reminds me a bit of the riff in "Limelight" actually.
and yes it's definitely not their worst, they do still sound like ELP here, which you can't really say about the reunion albums. I still listen to it from time to time. the worst thing these sorts of albums can be is boring and I don't think it's boring.
one thing I wish he'd touched on is the jackets - did anyone actually buy those? are there Love Beach threads floating around somewhere?
Critter Jams "album of the week" blog: http://critterjams.wordpress.com
OK, I am risking serious psychological damage, but I will listen to these ones again!
"Hand of Truth": very '80s keyboard sounds, which isn't great for a '90s album. It bounces along OK, bit repetitive, a so-so solo. Not awful, but nothing to pull it above mediocre.
"One by One": OK, this one has more going for it compositionally. If you re-recorded this on some real instruments with better production, it might be alright. "Though our dreams are made of sand, there's fate in every hand we play": not your best work, Greg.
"Man in the Long Black Coat": instruments and production remain problematic. The basic song is good. Emerson's arrangement brings little. Are any of them particularly trying? The performances are all lacklustre.
"Street War": it's got some energy to it, and Lake puts in some emotion. But the tune is underwhelming. I prefer the Ride the Tiger version of the song (same lyrics, different music) by a long way.
I concede that none of those 4 songs is terrible. The problem (for me) is that any merit to the album is cancelled by the sheer awfulness of the likes of "Daddy".
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Blogdegezou, the accompanying blog: http://bondegezou.blogspot.com/
Love beach nothing ever played live though carl does canario with his band.
Hot seat I don’t think so because of Keith’s issues they couldn’t tour directly after the album and given it’s failure commercially they never felt the need to feature it. Gregg did a few tracks at a solo show though(heart on ice and daddy) You can get them in his from the underground sets.
Canario is indeed a pretty sweet track, I remember hearing that on The Atlantic Years compilation and being really impressed by it. I couldn't believe it was from that album everyone hated.
Critter Jams "album of the week" blog: http://critterjams.wordpress.com
I was just listening to Love Beach in my car last week. On a scale of 1-10 I'd give it about a 3. Not the worst thing ever but not so good either. I haven't heard in the hot seat but I like Black Moon ok.
Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)
Thanks. I can't imagine anyone was clamouring for anything from either album.
It's a good track. Another 'rocking the classics' job, but it's fine. There's nothing else on it as good. 'Memoirs...' has some nice work from Emerson at least.
The Atlantic Years is quite a good anthology. I'd have had the full 'Fanfare...' rather than whatever that edit is. Also 'Trilogy' or 'Hoedown' on there somehow. Otherwise, I think they nailed it.
Yeah the first three of these I like. 'Street War' I'm agnostic about, but at least it's not another dreary ballad- which most of the other songs are.
The thing I always say with that album is the word 'compromise' pops up 3/4 times in the lyrics. It's like they were trying to tell us something!
Last edited by JJ88; 02-26-2024 at 01:46 PM.
Yes "Daddy" is bad in spectacular way.
My progressive music site: https://pienemmatpurot.com/ Reviews in English: https://pienemmatpurot.com/in-english/
45 years later and this album still brings up a lot of feelings....
It has always been odd album for me:
- I remember the disappointment when it came out. Wow!
- Canario is a good track, but it is not great; but compared to the rest of the album, it does really stands out. (sorry for the run on sentence)
- The first 4 songs are not good.
- The GX-1 has that sound which could make it sound cheezy and that sound is captured on this album.
- If Sinfield's lyric were that bad, and they are, was Greg Lake so checked out that he didn't care?
- It is shocking that Taste of my Love isn't on the soundtrack of Deep Throat. (I know, not the same time frame).
- I have always felt that Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman could have been great. It is a track that needed more work and attention. Emerson has some great piano playing on it.
- Palmer's drums do sound good on that album.
As of the documentary, kudos for making it! I do not agree with some of the filmmaker's opinions, but that doesn't take away from the film. And it is hard to put lipstick on that album.
I was listening to this album today for the first time in a while. I have to admit I like Memoirs more than most posters here. But, yes, the GX-1 sound is problematic on this album. It didn't sound too bad on Works Vol. 1, but I've never been a fan of this keyboard (it did look pretty nice!).
I remember listening to a preview of the album on the night before its physical release, probably on WMMR. It was probably Ed Sciachy on air and he just didn't know what to make of side 1. And when I saw the cover at Sam Goody, I just was appalled.
Emerson got something out of it (that sound on the intro of 'Pirates' and later on 'The Score' is neat) but it's somewhat thin. I vastly prefer the instruments Emerson used in the 60s and earlier 70s.
At least he stayed away from that 'strings' sound; John Paul Jones and Stevie Wonder did not.
I think Hot Seat is actually MUCH worse than Love Beach.
Black Moon has a few good moments but is ruined by Greg's declining voice and doubtful (sound) production options. Still not too bad for a comeback after a 14 years (!) hiatus, but unfortunately the timing was wrong.
I lost them around 'Works', but inspired by this thread I started listening to LB for the first time.
I got through the first 3 tracks... wow...horrible... Then I jumped to Canario.
No.
And where did KE's signature Hammond sound go?
I get more enjoyment from Love than both Black Moon and ITHS
I'd been ignoring this album for years, but finally, out of curiosity, gave it a listen on YouTube. I basically agree with many of you that Canario is OK, Memoirs has some nice bits but is fundamentally tedious and trite, and the rest of the songs are an embarrassment. Though I actually prefer them to Lake's solo numbers on Works.
I'm not eager to listen to ITHS or BM if they're even worse. Life is too short.
What we feel we have to solve is why the dregs have not dissolved.
Don't waste your time with these, really too depressing...
Like you I've read so many negative reviews about Love Beach that I allways refused to check it. The ugly cover art didnt helped either.
But since it was included in the big "Fanfare" boxset I bought, I thought I should give it a chance.
I did, and found it was less bad than expected.
But "less bad than expected" doesn't make it a good record ! (especially when you expect the worse)
There are a few short passages reminiscent of their heydays in the "Memoirs..." suite, but nothing memorable or to warrant a second listening.
Overall a mediocre record, I would rate it just above "Hot Seat", which is NOT a recommendation in any way.
The German "would be ELP" band Triumvirat followed their masters so faithfully that they also produced two awful career closing records : "A La Carte" and "Russian Roulette" are even worse than Love Beach.
Yes, it's possible.
Don't try them.
Last edited by Mr.Krautman; 02-26-2024 at 09:08 PM.
It took a rest and made a comeback on his 1981 solo album Honky.
I agree. I like Black Moon quite a bit. Greg's voice is not what it was and the production could have been better, but overall I like most of the materia.
Hmm I think strings is what the GX1 was best at, used to good effect both those artists and Abba. The quacky brass sounds Emerson always used it for weren't the best.
My freshman year of college was when this was released. I was excited about it, since I had just seen them live the previous year. I remember distinctly, being in a Sound Warehouse looking at the album, studying the cover & going WTF??? The title, the cover, I just couldn't bring myself to buying it. Ended up buying Spectral Mornings instead.
What seems to be overlooked in this conversation is IMO, ELPowell returned to the classic form with that album in '86. I really wish they could have done at least one more album with that line up.
Very, very good decision.
Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
https://michaelpdawson.bandcamp.com
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...MCD-spc-7.aspx
Good call!
It's certainly been overlooked in terms of comparisons with the post LB albums. I'm not sure it's a total "return to classic form," but I largely really like the album, and definitely think it's the strongest of the post LB records, assuming you count it as an ELP record (which is perhaps why it hasn't been brought up).
I did sort of have this album in mind when I mentioned that ELP were still quite capable in 1978 of composing and playing at a high level. I think ELPowell, some eight years later, is proof of that. Another six years beyond that, and I'm not so sure anymore. In any case, ELPowell just makes LB look worse in my mind... a missed opportunity, and a true waste of talent and electricity.
Bill
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