Emerson, Lake and Palmer Albums Ranked — An In Depth Analysis into Prog’s Supreme Supergroup
I n this series so far, we’ve covered Rush and Dream Theater — so we’re starting it off strong with some prog, and naturally the supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer comes up. Formed in 1970 by keyboardist Keith Emerson (The Nice), bassist and guitarist Greg Lake (King Crimson), and drummer Carl Palmer (Atomic Rooster), the term supergroup is just about as useless as it is when talking about Led Zeppelin or Cream. I mean sure, you had The Nice and Atomic Rooster, and Greg Lake had previously headed King Crimson in perhaps the most iconic Progressive Rock album ever — In The Court of the Crimson King (1969) — but Emerson, Lake and Palmer became the legacy of these three astonishing musicians. And with many prog musicians listing them as an influence, many non-prog musicians listing them as an influence and even a Karn Evil 9 movie supposedly in the works, ELP has cemented their legacy. So yes, it’s about as supergroup as a band like Led Zeppelin.
In this ranking, all the usual rules apply — no live albums, compilations, singles, EPs (although ELP never released any EPs), which means: no Pictures at an Exhibition, as great as it is (not only is it a live album, it’s also an adaptation of a piano suite from composer Modest Mussorgsky). I will also not be covering the Emerson, Lake and Powell album. Sure, one can make the argument that it’s an Emerson, Lake and Palmer album in everything but its name, but I don’t know, it’s different in my eyes. So with all that out of the way, let us get started with the ranking!
9 — Love Beach (1979)
Best song: Canario
Worst song: Love Beach
There are happy accidents, and there is ELP’s 1979’s conceptual Love Beach. Yes, never judge an album by its cover, but whatever you thinking based on the abysmal cover, the album is exactly that.
By far the most glaring issue with this album is how drained creatively the group was by this point, which ultimately led to the group’s first disbandment later in the year. This album is nothing more than a contractual obligation. Most songs on this LP are straight up bad, though the twenty minute Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman is solid enough, and then Canario is pretty good.
The concept is as bland as it gets; it’s just a basic military love story. And the album isn’t abstract with it at all, with the title track bizarrely featuring Greg Lake yell at multiple points, ‘I’m going to make love to you on Love Beach’. It is unbelievably rare for me to want one of the greatest vocalists of all time to shut up, but that song is terrible.
It makes sense that this album is disliked by fans, critics, and even the band alike, with Keith Emerson describing Love Beach as ‘an embarrassment against everything I’ve worked for’.
It’s a shame, really, that not even Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s musicianship could save a train wreck such as this.
8 — In the Hot Seat (1994)
Best song: Change (fight me)
Worst song: Man in the Long Black Coat
Now, I enjoy cheesy, boomer pop as much as the next guy, but Emerson, Lake and Palmer?
The album starts off with Hand of Truth with odd time signatures, and some other proggy elements, then it goes into Daddy, which is based on a true story from the perspective of Robert Wood, whose daughter Sara Anne Wood is abducted and is missing, presumed dead.
Rest in Peace and continued well wishes to the family.
My favourite song is Change, with a decent structure, and a super catchy chorus. I don’t hear pretty much anyone talk about it, but I really enjoyed upon first and future listens.
Overall, this album is just alright in my opinion, but as an ELP album, I can see why people see it as bad. To me, however, it’s just sorta… there.
7 — Black Moon (1992)
Best song: Paper Blood
Worst song: Changing States
Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s 90’s reunion kicked off with 1992’s Black Moon, and it’s not a bad start whatsoever.
It has most of the elements of a standard ELP album: Keith Emerson’s classic Hammond sound, the clever, grounded bass lines and iconic vocals of Greg Lake, and Carl Palmer’s classic prog drums. But it doesn’t carry as much magic as the groups first few albums in my opinion. It’s not soulless by any means, but I don’t feel the same desire to revisit as an album like Brain Salad Surgery in my opinion.
In saying that, however, Paper Blood is one of the greatest ELP songs, and I will carry that opinion to the grave! The title track is an epic opener, and Romeo and Juliet is a fantastic instrumental. Sure it’s an adaptation of a Prokokiev piece, but it’s fantastic nevertheless. Affairs from the Heart was cowritten by Geoff Downes of Yes, when him and Lake were working on a solo project, and it’s a solid ballad. So there are good tracks on this album, but I never really feel like revisiting this album.
6 — Works Volume 1 (1977)
Best song: Fanfare for the Common Man
Worst song: Nobody Loves You Like I Do
You could probably blame the ‘Works’ project on the creative flop that was Love Beach, because, like it or not, it was certainly an opus.
Works Volume 1 is probably ELP’s most polarising album. I mean, you either can’t get enough of it, you enjoy a couple songs of each side, or you hate three individual sides. Yes, Works Volume 1 was released as a double album, with three individual sides and one collaborative side. It starts out with Keith Emerson’s side, with a Piano Concerto, then Greg Lake’s side, then Carl Palmer’s side, then the collaborative ELP side.
Now, I get why this can be frustrating. I mean, you’d expect Emerson, Lake and Palmer throughout this album, not Emerson and Lake and Palmer here, and for the majority, it’s the latter.
If I were to rank the sides, I’d say the collaborative side comes in first place, then Keith Emerson’s in second, Carl Palmer’s in third, and Greg Lake’s fourth.
Highlights of this album for me include Keith Emerson’s Piano Concerto №1, Greg Lake’s C’est La Vie, and Hallowed Be Thy Name, Carl Palmer’s version of Prokokiev’s The Enemy God Dances with the Black Spirits, LA Nights, and the remake of Tank, and both songs of the collaborative side, Pirates and Fanfare for the Common Man. Obviously, the Emerson, Lake and Palmer side is the best side, and the public clearly thought that as well, as the group’s version of Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man one of their greatest hits. How did the group turn a three minute fanfare into a 9 minute prog epic? Who knows! It was great anyway! It was so good that it even got the nod of approval from Aaron Copland himself. Not to mention Pirates , you know, being one of the greatest prog epics ever.
Yes, this album is polarising, but there is no denying the value it has, particularly in the final collaborative side.
5 — Works Volume 2 (1977)
Best song: Tiger in a Spotlight
Worst song: Maple Leaf Rag
Volume 2 of the Works project, unlike it’s predecessor, is a single disc compilation of leftover from various points throughout their career, with tracks like Tiger in a Spotlight, When the Apple Blossoms Bloom… and Brain Salad Surgery recorded as early as 1973.
I ranked it higher than Volume 1 because, as much as I thought it was cool, a single disc of Emerson, Lake and Palmer is better than two discs of Emerson and Lake and Palmer and ELP. And also because this album is consistently good. It’s got some great tracks, Tiger in a Spotlight, Brain Salad Surgery, I Believe in Father Christmas (Without Orchestra), and Honky Tonk Train Blues to name a few.
Perhaps, the most interesting track is I Believe in Father Christmas (Without Orchestra), as it’s a rendition of one of Greg Lake’s solo pieces, just without the orchestra as the name suggests. Which only makes sense, I mean Greg Lake released it as a solo single in 1975 with an orchestra, so why not release one under ELP and do it without the orchestra?
Works Volume 2 is a great leftovers album, and it’s sort of hilarious that most, including myself, consider it to be better than Works Volume 1.
4 — Trilogy (1972)
Best song: Hoedown
Worst song: Fugue
We’re now in the masterpieces zone, and it was really hard to rank these next four albums, because all of them are spectacular.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s Trilogy is an absolute masterpiece in every sense. And it was difficult to put it at №4 on the list, but this album is one of my favourites nevertheless. Starting out with the fantastic Endless Enigma collection, and then going into one of the groups biggest hits, From the Beginning, this album kicks off perfectly, and it never lets go until the end.
It was hard to pick a best song, but I settled on the groups version of Aaron Copland’s Hoedown, as it’s got great energy, and it eventually became a staple of the group’s live shows, but it was hard to pick a favourite, as there are so many awesome songs here. The Endless Enigma (Pt. 1), From the Beginning, The Sheriff and Trilogy were my runner ups.
This album is an absolute masterpiece, and every single song is a highlight in my eyes, and the next few albums are merely ranked on personal enjoyment rather than objective greatness.
3 — Emerson, Lake and Palmer (1970)
Best song: The Barbarian
Worst Song: The Three Fates
Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s 1970 self-titled debut remains one of group’s most appraised works (no pun intended).
Back then, the term ‘supergroup’ was new, but even back then, no one could predict that the group would last as long as it did. I mean, you had Keith Emerson’s The Nice fall apart, you had Greg Lake who’d just left King Crimson after their big break, and you had Carl Palmer who did the same with Atomic Rooster. Would Emerson, Lake and Palmer rely on those names to sell records? No, actually. The organ trio would make their name, and the names Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, and Carl Palmer would become synonymous with progressive rock. And that is mostly due to this record.
From the proto-metal arrangement of Béla Bartók’s Allegro Barbaro, aptly titled The Barbarian, to the smash hit that was Lucky Man, this album cemented the group’s place in not only progressive rock, but also 70’s popular music.
To pick a favourite song here is difficult, because every song here is fantastic. Even The Three Fates, which I picked as my least favourite song on here, but it’s still an awesome keyboard-dominant opus.
This album was also Keith Emerson’s first ever album to use a Moog Modular synthesiser, and it is one of, if not, the first instances of a lead synthesiser on a rock record, and it helped create Keith Emerson’s iconic combination of the Hammond Organ and the Moog.
This album also contains what is arguably ELP’s most famous song, being none other than Lucky Man, which Greg Lake wrote when he was twelve. He would later jam the song with King Crimson, before joining ELP and recording it with them. It’s probably the runner up for my favourite song on the album, and it started a tradition of having at least one Greg Lake acoustic ballad per ELP album. It also features an iconic and hugely influential Moog solo from Keith Emerson.
Overall, 1970’s Emerson, Lake and Palmer was a huge inspiration, and the first rock album to make the keyboards cool again.
2 — Brain Salad Surgery (1973)
Best song: Karl Evil 9 3rd Impression
Worst Song: Benny the Bouncer
These next two albums are both considered to be among the greatest progressive rock albums of all time, and I completely agree with that sentiment.
Brain Salad Surgery is considered by many to be the greatest ELP album, and I can absolutely see why. It’s prog as all hell, it’s shorter songs are incredible, and of course, there’s the 29 minute Karn Evil 9 suite, which is such a good composition that independent film studio Radar Pictures are literally making a movie inspired by it (it’s in development hell, but one can dream). And who knew a song called Karl Evil 9 1st Impression, Pt. 2 could become a hit! The four song collection is synonymous with 70s progressive rock, hell, progressive rock in general.
As for the other songs, they’re fantastic as well! It’s not a 2112 situation where the opus is the only thing that matters (though side two of that album is still good I’d argue, I talk about it in my Rush ranking). Jerusalem and Still… You Turn Me On remain two of my favourite ELP songs, plus the other two songs Toccata and Benny the Bouncer are also fantastic.
Some consider this album ELP’s last great album, and I agree that it’s their last masterpiece. And this album is insanely important to the world of progressive rock. But, if this isn’t my №1, then what is? DRUMROLL PLEASE — !!
1 — Tarkus (1971)
Best song: Tarkus (if you want the best part, then i. Eruption)
Worst song: Infinite Space (Conclusion)
Tarkus… YES. I love this album to death. It was unbelievably ahead of its time. It was the first ELP album I listened to. Sure, I had listened to Fanfare for the Common Man and Lucky Man, but this was my first full album of theirs, and it blew my mind.
The twenty-minute epic about an Armadillo — Tank hybrid is an absolutely brilliant opus, up there with Rush’s 2112, Pink Floyd’s Echoes and Yes’s Close to the Edge; it is phenomenal. And i. Eruption / ii. Stones of Years is peak Emerson, Lake and Palmer in my eyes. To my ears, there is no better ELP album — this is one of the albums that would define progressive rock forever. With Emerson’s powerful Hammond — Moog combo, Lake’s emotive vocals and explosive bass and guitar, and Carl Palmer’s ripping drums that could tear through steel, ELP perfected their craft here, and for a moment, they are peak English progressive rock. And that glorius 10/8 time — it’s such a brilliant song.
And side B features all ripper songs. From the compact Jeremy Bender to the fast-paced 6/8 in Bitches Crystal to the groovy Led Zeppelin-esque A Time and a Place, to the tribute to rockabilly that is Are You Ready, Eddy? — everything is just… perfection.
The group experiment with so many different styles here — they have a brilliant critique of organised religion with The Only Way (Hymn), and they even experiment with rockabilly with Are You Ready, Eddy? — and the best part: it all works brilliantly.
There are no bad songs on this record. I picked a worst song, but it’s just that Infinite Space (Conclusion) the default least good song, but it’s still a phenomenal instrumental.
I could talk about this record for hours, but just listen to it. It’s near-perfection.
Conclusion
Few bands have the influence on the world as Emerson, Lake and Palmer has, and even after the deaths of Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, both in 2016, their work lives on. Carl Palmer still tours with his own band and he is still in the famed supergroup Asia to this day.
You may not know who they were, your favourite artist may not have listened to them, but they’re favourite artist must have. They’re your favourite artist’s favourite artist’s favourite artist. They have influenced popular music more than you could ever imagine. They made keyboards cool again, Greg Lake’s vocals inspired many, as did his instrumentals, and Carl Palmer made many drummers pick up a pair of sticks.
And though they had their lows in the late 70’s and mid 90’s, they had higher highs than 99% of bands. And their influence can be heard in bands like Dream Theater, Rush, and even Muse.
