New Love Beach Documentary

[Rufus]

UK's Danger Money is more the sort of sound I feel that ELP should have had in the late 70s than Love Beach.

I guess there's a question over whether this album would be quite so disliked without that cover and title? I think it would. The first few songs just aren't good. I don't really think there's anything on it that I would call great.

ELPowell had a better US chart placing than the last few 70s ELP albums did (and deservedly so). But it wasn't by any means a blockbuster- and the 90s reunion albums did far worse commercially. ELPowell is IMHO easily the best ELP-related album after Works Volume 1, and I only really play the group tracks on the latter.

To the Power of 3 has "Desde la Vida", its own proggy mini-epic, and I just love their version of "Eight Miles High".

Desde La Vida is indeed a great track, a well structured mini epic but the cover of Eight Miles High not so much.
Robert Berry's Pilgrimage To A Point is a much stronger album that contains tracks written for both 3 & GTR albums. Some co-written with Emerson, Palmer & Howe.

[yesstiles]

Agree about In the Hot Seat. People who call Love Beach "among the worst albums ever made", have you heard In the Hot Seat??? LB is a shining star of excellence in comparison.

Absolutely

[Kcrimso]

I relistened Black Moon yesterday. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. Solid three star album.

[Sputnik]

Here's Progland's broader consensus on these post Works ELP and related albums. Obviously, not a scientific study, but I think it pretty accurately represents the trends, and is remarkably consistent between the two sources.

Despite some individual listener's unusual enjoyment of particular records in this bunch, I think this will essentially be these album's legacy. LB and Hot Seat really do emerge as the dramatic stinkers, with negligible statistical difference between them, and only ELPowell gets into what one might consider an "average" score on both sites.

Prog Archives

Love Beach - 2.12
ELPowell - 3.11
Three - 2.31 (only 80 ratings)
Black Moon - 2.77
In the Hot Seat - 1.79

Gnosis

Love Beach - 5.07
ELPowell - 7.94
Three - 5.87
Black Moon - 6.18
In the Hot Seat - 4.80

Bill

[JJ88]

^I'm glad To The Power Of Three is better thought of than this or ...Hot Seat. It's one of those albums which sometimes got the 'worst album ever' treatment on here. I found a cheap second hand CD copy (it was out of print then, more widely available now) and thought there were some good songs on it. The production is admittedly very 'of its time', which I struggle with when it comes to the 80s.

I played Love Beach again a few days back as I said. Some of these songs can never be reclaimed IMHO. 'The Gambler' is better than what preceded it but I don't care for the backing vocals. 'For You' is OK. That's closer to Asia than 'All I Want Is You', I'd say.

I do like some of Emerson's work on the 'Memoirs...' suite but I don't like the lyrics. I particularly dislike that repeated 'see you soon...', which is what I meant by finding it mawkish in places. And that section is somewhat musically bare, with Emerson only on electric piano.

[Splicer]

I'll have to give Black Moon a listen again.

[progmatist]

To the Power of 3 has "Desde la Vida", its own proggy mini-epic, and I just love their version of "Eight Miles High".

I'm also quite fond of the closing track On My Way Home. Given it was made in the late 80s, a difficult period for prog in general, the album is a prog masterpiece. In the Hot Seat on the other hand came out a year before the 3rd wave of prog hit. There's no excuse for it being so lame.

[Sputnik]

I'm also quite fond of the closing track On My Way Home. Given it was made in the late 80s, a difficult period for prog in general, the album is a prog masterpiece. In the Hot Seat on the other hand came out a year before the 3rd wave of prog hit. There's no excuse for it being so lame.

The "Third Wave" was in full swing by the time Hot Seat was released, Anglagard 1992, Anekdoten 1993, Ars Nova 1992, Il Berlione 1992, Echolyn 1991, Landberk 1992, Nuova Eva late 1980s, A Triggering Myth 1990, Il Trono dei Ricordi 1994 (the year Hot Seat came out, but by then, you're already having specialty Prog labels developing).

Not that you're wrong about it being lame, it's just that it's even less of an excuse for it being so lame.

Bill

[Vic2012]

What the heck. Like I mentioned earlier, not a big fan of ELP. Since it was mentioned I played Pirates on YT. It's pretty good. It gets a bit cutesy in the middle. Kind of Tormato-ish sounding. It's better than Canario or Officer Gentleman......

[Splicer]

I'll have to give Black Moon a listen again.

So I gave it a listen and dammit this thing sounded a lot better in my old age than it did at the time. It's not classic balls-to-the-wall ELP, but it's not bad at all. Greg's voice was already showing a problem and I think at the time that bothered me. Now I'm kind of OK with it not sounding as powerful as it did twenty years before. In all honesty, the first three songs were bang, bang, bang good enough for me to keep listening to the whole thing.

Note to the memories of Emerson and Lake: I was wrong at the time. I like this record.

[JJ88]

^RE; Black Moon. The title track, 'Changing States' and 'Close To Home' are my favourite tracks on it. TBH other than 'Romeo And Juliet' which is a very rote 'rocking the classics' job, there's nothing bad on it really. I'd have preferred a more organic sounding production though. It still has a bit of an 80s hangover IMHO.

The album did nothing much commercially but the accompanying reunion tour did well, AFAIK.

[Splicer]

^RE; Black Moon. The title track, 'Changing States' and 'Close To Home' are my favourite tracks on it. TBH other than 'Romeo And Juliet' which is a very rote 'rocking the classics' job, there's nothing bad on it really. I'd have preferred a more organic sounding production though. It still has a bit of an 80s hangover IMHO.

The album did nothing much commercially but the accompanying reunion tour did well, AFAIK.

There was no Rock radio anymore in 1992 outside of the vestiges of stations still playing currents and classic rock stations with too-tight playlists. There was no place anymore for DJs introducing audiences to music.

One addendum to my brief review: I think this record is better than Love Beach.

[Bytor]

^RE; Black Moon. The title track, 'Changing States' and 'Close To Home' are my favourite tracks on it. TBH other than 'Romeo And Juliet' which is a very rote 'rocking the classics' job, there's nothing bad on it really. I'd have preferred a more organic sounding production though. It still has a bit of an 80s hangover IMHO.

The album did nothing much commercially but the accompanying reunion tour did well, AFAIK.

Way too much 80s leftover production. Awful drum production + Carl not playing at all, no drive, no nothing. If I had to choose, I'd take ELPowell production over BM.

[JJ88]

Palmer unfortunately had much the same sound on that Albert Hall live album. I'm not a fan.

The only substantial work I'm aware of by any of the three after the 90s is the Keith Emerson Band album. Which is not bad at all. There is a classical interpretation a bit like 'Canario'.

[Kcrimso]

The only substantial work I'm aware of by any of the three after the 90s is the Keith Emerson Band album. Which is not bad at all. There is a classical interpretation a bit like 'Canario'.

I really enjoy that album! Much better than Love Beach, Black Moon, or In The Hot Seat.

[jefftiger]

I really enjoy that album! Much better than Love Beach, Black Moon, or In The Hot Seat.

The extended concept piece, The House of Ocean Born Mary, is very good. I don't think it's up to standards of Tarkus or Karn Evil 9, but I enjoy listening to it on occasion. I particularly like the live version on their Moscow performance, released on DVD/Bluray. I guess that it took the collaboration with Bonilla to get his creative juices back in gear.

[JJ88]

I don't think it's up to standards of Tarkus or Karn Evil 9, but I enjoy listening to it on occasion.

It's definitely not, agreed, but who was expecting that at such a late stage. I appreciated that he'd done a new rock album with some compositional meat to get to grips with. And there's some good stuff on it for sure.

I completely forgot 2002's Emerson Plays Emerson which puts the focus on his piano playing. Although that does have some older tracks on it, much of it was newly recorded I think. I only got that around the Christmas it was reissued- 7/8 years ago or so. It was on EMI originally.

Lake and Palmer...there's nothing 'new' that I know of. Some live albums of mostly ELP material.

[Splicer]

I like ELPowell and parts of 3, but for me they're ELP-adjacent.

[progmatist]

^RE; Black Moon. The title track, 'Changing States' and 'Close To Home' are my favourite tracks on it. TBH other than 'Romeo And Juliet' which is a very rote 'rocking the classics' job, there's nothing bad on it really. I'd have preferred a more organic sounding production though. It still has a bit of an 80s hangover IMHO.

The album did nothing much commercially but the accompanying reunion tour did well, AFAIK.

That may explain In the Hot Seat. Trying and failing to attract a larger audience, while alienating their target audience.

[Batchman]

That may explain In the Hot Seat. Trying and failing to attract a larger audience, while alienating their target audience.

Honestly, has any band been successful at that? Totally changing their style and abandoning their earlier uniqueness? When has that ever paid off commercially?

[Kcrimso]

Honestly, has any band been successful at that? Totally changing their style and abandoning their earlier uniqueness? When has that ever paid off commercially?

Genesis did pretty well with their shitty singles "Jesus He Knows Me" and "I Can't Dance".

[Conti]

Honestly, has any band been successful at that? Totally changing their style and abandoning their earlier uniqueness? When has that ever paid off commercially?

Does "Owner of a Lonely Heart" count?

[Mascodagama]

Well, there is Canario, I suppose. Which could with a favourable wind be described as achieving mediocrity. Most of the rest of the album is so far below that level that the mediocre would only be visible using the Hubble Space Telescope. Embarrassing swill that even the best album cover of all time could not have saved.

[jefftiger]

I had a recollection of seeing a video of "All I Want Is You" from Love Beach. Here's the YouTube link from an old Top of the Pops BBC program.

[Batchman]

Does "Owner of a Lonely Heart" count?

With Genesis and Yes, it was more of a modification (maybe a mollification) of their style rather than a complete turnaround, and in neither case did they descend into total mediocrity (except maybe for half of Union).