Review:

on 2011-04-21 CharlesMartel Said:

Anyone who has seen my list of albums will note that there is a sprinkling of progressive rock albums throughout. Two are from Yes (OK, I admit to it. So Sue Me), one is from Pink Floyd, while Barclay James Harvest and Camel get a look in as well. Thankfully, I avoided Genesis, but did succumb to this offering from ELP, as the trio were usually known. Now why would I do that?

Good question? One I cannot really answer. There was a phase I went through of liking this a lot. This was largely due to the crowd I was hanging out with at the time. These kids were slightly older than me at school and were all into progressive rock. Partly because I felt a need, as kids often do, to fit in, I suppose gave me some impetus for buying this and many of the other prog rock records I have in my collection. In many ways, looking back, these are some of the worst records I have in my collection.

However, I believe it is mainly because the "Karn Evil 9" tracks have some absolutely inspired work in them. I am not sure what "Karn Evil 9" is: it probably refers to some sort of sci-fi planet thingy, but that is not really the point here. The first and the third impressions in particular are worth listening to, but it seems as if the division of the first impression into two parts has been done to fill out an otherwise short album. This was as close as rock came to writing classical, if you get my drift. The second part always left me a bit cold, but I am prepared to overlook that. The music was inspiring, soaring and at times melodramatic, but it always held your attention.

Then there are the other tracks. "Toccata" is an overly long and rather dull Keith Emerson instrumental, an interpretation of a modern classical piece and an exercise in virtuosity for virtuosity's sake. "Jerusalem", in case you don't know is a jingoistic hymn. Not very PC these days, but the version here conveys some of the sense that the original did. "Still.. You Turn Me On" contains some truly awful lyrics:

"When your skin has crystallised,
Still you turn me on."

Yeugh. Just thinking about it makes my flesh creep. As for "Benny the Bouncer", we won't say anything. About the same time Benny Hill came out with a comedy song about the fastest milkman in the west. ELP's offering reminds me too much of Benny Hill's to be taken at all seriously.

So we are just back with the "Karn Evil 9" tracks. And I suppose that is just it. That is the substance, the rationale and the purpose for this album. All the rest is there to plump up the numbers. And for that reason, all the rest drags down the rating. Like my other adventures in prog rock at the time, I was trying to force myself to like it. Unlike other prog albums in my collection it turned out to be not too difficult to do as this was one of the better outputs. Even so, it suffers from the usual failings of prog rock in my view which can best be summed up in the phrase too far up their own arses to be of any lasting affection on my part.
Rating: 5/10