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| Ars Longa Vita Brevis | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1968 | |||
| Recorded | 1968 | |||
| Genre | Psychedelic rock, progressive rock | |||
| Length | 40:13 | |||
| Label | Immediate | |||
| Producer | The Nice | |||
| The Nice chronology | ||||
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Ars Longa Vita Brevis is the second album by the English progressive rock group the Nice.
Guitarist David O'List left the band during the recording of the album, leaving the remaining three members to complete it. After flirting briefly with replacement guitarists (including Steve Howe, later to join Yes), the Nice decided to carry on as a keyboard-led trio. The title is an aphorism attributed to Hippocrates usually rendered as "Art is long, life is short"; Keith Emerson's interpretation of this can be gauged from his sleevenote:
Newton's first law of motion states a body will remain at rest or continue with uniform motion in a straight line unless acted on by a force. This time the force happened to come from a European source. Ours is an extension of the original Allegro from Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. Yesterday I met someone who changed my life, today we put down a sound that made our aim accurate. Tomorrow is yesterday's history and art will still be there, even if life terminates. [1]
Structurally the album picked up where its predecessor left off – shorter psych-pop numbers ("Daddy, Where Did I Come From", "Happy Freuds") and extended workouts based on classical themes ("Intermezzo from the Karelia Suite") – but a significant step forward was taken on side two with the appearance of the multi-sectional suite "Ars Longa Vita Brevis". The suite begins with a prelude featuring a full orchestra followed by an extended drum solo ("Awakening"), a more conventional rock number ("Realisation"), a rock adaptation of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in G Major featuring a return of the orchestra ("Brandenburger", released as a non-charting single in November 1968), a fast-paced jazz-fusion Hammond jam ("Denial") and an orchestral coda. "Ars Longa Vita Brevis" was, along with Procol Harum's "In Held 'Twas In I" released around the same time, the first side-long progressive rock suite and served as a template for Emerson's later efforts on Five Bridges , Tarkus and "Karn Evil 9".
The album unusually contains some songs in which Keith Emerson sings lead vocals: he shares the singing with Lee Jackson in "Daddy, Where Did I Come From", sings all lead vocals on "Happy Freuds" and takes the bridge in "Little Arabella". An earlier outtake of "Daddy, Where Did I Come From" featuring David O'List on guitar was later released on the compilation Autumn '67 - Spring '68. The original US version of the album added in the non-LP single "America", released in June 1968 and also including O'List, which became the group's commercial breakthrough when it hit #21 in their home country. "America" is a cover of the popular West Side Story number re-imagined as a heavy instrumental acid-rocker similar to the group's cover of "Rondo" on the previous album, while its B-side "Diamond Hard Blue Apples of the Moon" (found on certain CD reissues of the debut album) adheres to their early psych-pop leanings.
Guest guitarist Malcolm Langstaff, who played on the second movement of the suite titled "Realisation", died in 2007. [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [3] |
| Rolling Stone | (neutral) [4] |
| TopTenReviews |   [5] |
Allmusic's Bruce Eder described the album as "a genuinely groundbreaking effort". [3]
All songs written by Keith Emerson and Lee Jackson, except where noted.
Added to side one (tracks 1 and 2) on the Columbia Records release via their Columbia Special Products subsidiary. [6]
with:
Emerson, Lake & Palmer were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards) of the Nice, Greg Lake of King Crimson and Carl Palmer of Atomic Rooster. With nine RIAA-certified gold record albums in the US, and an estimated 48 million records sold worldwide, they are one of the most popular and commercially successful progressive rock groups of the 1970s, with a musical sound including adaptations of classical music with jazz and symphonic rock elements, dominated by Emerson's flamboyant use of the Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer, and piano.
Keith Noel Emerson was an English keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became internationally famous for his work with the Nice, which included writing rock arrangements of classical music. After leaving the Nice in 1970, he was a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), one of the early progressive rock supergroups.
The Nice were an English progressive rock band active in the late 1960s. They blended rock, jazz and classical music and were keyboardist Keith Emerson's first commercially successful band.
Pictures at an Exhibition is a live album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in November 1971 on Island Records. It features the group's rock adaptation of Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky, performed at Newcastle City Hall on 26 March 1971.
The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack is the 1968 debut album by the English psychedelic rock and progressive rock group the Nice.
Karelia Suite, Op. 11 is a subset of pieces from the longer Karelia Music written by Jean Sibelius in 1893 for the Viipuri Students' Association and premiered, with Sibelius conducting, at the Imperial Alexander University in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, on 23 November of that year. Sibelius first conducted the shorter Suite ten days later; it remains one of his most popular works.
Jackson Heights was a British progressive rock band from England. It formed in 1970 after The Nice organist and pianist, Keith Emerson, decided to leave the trio to form another band, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, leaving bassist-vocalist Lee Jackson and drummer Brian Davison on their own.
Five Bridges is a live and studio album and fourth overall by English progressive rock band The Nice, released in June 1970 by Charisma Records. Most of the album was recorded live in concert at Fairfield Halls in Croydon, London, in October 1969. The final track, "One of Those People", is a studio recording. The album's centrepiece is "The Five Bridges Suite", a five-part composition about Newcastle upon Tyne that features the group performing with the Sinfonia of London session orchestra conducted by Joseph Eger.
Words & Music: John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album by American rock and roll artist John Mellencamp. This two-disc set was released October 19, 2004 on the Island and UTV Records labels. It is a retrospective of Mellencamp's career at the time of its release, and features at least one song from each of his studio albums released between 1978's A Biography and 2003's Trouble No More. Two songs, "Walk Tall" and "Thank You", were recorded exclusively for this album. No songs from Mellencamp's 1976 debut album Chestnut Street Incident or 1977's The Kid Inside are represented. Also omitted is Mellencamp's cover of "Without Expression", which was released on his previous compilation album The Best That I Could Do 1978–1988.
David Kilminster is a British guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, producer and music teacher, who has toured as a sideman to several prestigious musicians, including progressive rock artists Steven Wilson and Roger Waters.
Brian Davison, was a British musician. He is best known for playing drums with The Mark Leeman Five, The Nice, Brian Davison's Every Which Way and Refugee.
Lee Jackson is an English bass guitarist known for his work in the Nice, a progressive-rock band, as well as his own band formed after the Nice, Jackson Heights, and finally Refugee with Nice drummer Brian Davison and Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz. Jackson plays bass left handed.
Nice was the third album by The Nice; it was titled Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It in the US after Immediate broke their distribution deal with Columbia. Nice had been initially released in the US with a slightly longer version of "Rondo 69" not available on the UK or on the independently distributed US versions. The first US version of Nice was briefly reissued in 1973 by Columbia Special Products.
Elegy was the final official album release by The Nice, Keith Emerson having since moved on to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Lee Jackson to Jackson Heights and Brian Davison to Every Which Way. It consists of live versions of songs from earlier releases, a studio take of a Tchaikovsky piece ("Pathetique") that had been released live on the previous album and a previously unheard cover of Dylan's "My Back Pages". Released a year after The Nice's final show in March 1970 in an attempt to capitalize on ELP's burgeoning success, the album achieved number 5 in the UK album chart.
From the Beginning is a box set which presents aural and visual documentation celebrating Emerson, Lake & Palmer's career; consisting of five discs that include a number of single b-sides, significant live recordings, alternative studio mixes and material taken from band rehearsals, plus a bonus DVD featuring 'The Manticore Years' documentary, presented in a deluxe book-style sleeve complete with a 60-page picture booklet containing extensive sleeve notes by the band discussing the ELP years. It also contains rare and previously unseen photographs and images.
Refugee is the only studio album from the progressive rock band Refugee, released in March 1974 on Charisma Records. It was re-released under the TimeWave label on 27 June 2006, and as an expanded three-disc boxed set from Esoteric Recordings in 2019.
Vivacitas is a live album recorded by the Nice, who reformed for a set of concerts, augmented by the Keith Emerson Band for the second half of the concert. David O'List, The Nice's original guitarist, did not take part, and was replaced by Dave Kilminster. The album consists of versions of pieces which had been live favourites during the Nice's heyday between 1967 and 1970, three piano solo pieces by Emerson, some pieces from the Emerson, Lake & Palmer repertoire performed by the Keith Emerson Band, and a 2001 interview with Emerson, Lee Jackson and Brian Davison by Chris Welch.
Autumn '67 – Spring '68 is a 1972 compilation by the English psychedelic rock and progressive rock group the Nice. The album consists of outtakes and alternate versions of previously released songs, which were recorded between Autumn 1967 and Spring 1968.
Live in Concert Newcastle City Hall 1974 is a live album by the British progressive rock group Refugee, recorded on 16 June 1974 onto cassette straight from the soundboard. It was released under the Voiceprint Records in 2007. The album includes The Nice song "The Diamond Hard Blue Apples of the Moon" and a cover of Bob Dylan's "She Belongs to Me", all songs from the debut album and the four-minute "Refugee Jam".
Real as I Wanna Be is an album by Cliff Richard, released in October 1998 by EMI Records. It peaked at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Silver in the UK and Gold in New Zealand.
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