Trilogy | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 23 June 1972 | |||
Recorded | October–November 1971; January 1972 | |||
Studio | Advision, London [1] | |||
Genre | Progressive rock | |||
Length | 42:23 | |||
Label | Island | |||
Producer | Greg Lake | |||
Emerson, Lake & Palmer chronology | ||||
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Singles from Trilogy | ||||
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Trilogy is the third studio album by English progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in June 1972, by Island Records. The group had spent most of 1971 touring, and paused in September so they could record a new album at Advision Studios with Eddy Offord resuming his role as engineer. It would be his last with the group, as he later elected to work full-time with Yes. The album features "Hoedown", an arrangement of Aaron Copland's ballet composition which became a live favourite.
The album was a commercial success, reaching No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 5 on the US Billboard 200. Lake's acoustic song, "From the Beginning", was released as a single in August 1972 and became the band's highest charting US single, reaching No. 39. Lake later picked Trilogy as his favourite Emerson, Lake & Palmer album. [2]
In September 1971, the band took a break in their tour promoting Tarkus (1971) and Pictures at an Exhibition (1971) to start work on a new studio album. They returned to Advision Studios in London, once again with Lake as producer and Eddy Offord as their engineer. In early 1972, New Musical Express falsely reported that the group were splitting up, causing the band to issue a statement. Keyboardist Keith Emerson had planned to do a solo album of jazz music, but the project was shelved and the band turned down a lucrative offer to write the score to a racing film entitled Fangio. [3] The band recorded the album in October–November 1971 and January 1972. [4]
The album was particularly difficult for Lake to record, as he described the album as "such an accurate record." [3] Palmer noted Trilogy had the most number of overdubs put down on an Emerson, Lake & Palmer album, owing to the "enormous detail" put into the arrangements of the songs. [3] Emerson was pleased with the album after it was completed, noting its varied arrangements and difference in style compared to Tarkus. [5] Greg Lake also later identified it as his favorite ELP album. However, the extensive use of overdubs on 24-track machines meant that many pieces including "The Endless Engima", "Trilogy" and "Abaddon's Bolero" proved difficult to play live and were consequently dropped from live performance early in the accompanying tour. As a result, the band vowed that their next album would be one they could reproduce entirely on stage.
References to a quad version of this album appeared in 1974 Harrison or Schwann record and tape guides, listing Trilogy in the Quadraphonic 8-track tape cartridge format. Collectors report never seeing a Trilogy Q8 at retail, despite its having a catalogue number "Cotillion QT-9903".[ citation needed ]
"The Endless Enigma" is a suite in three parts; the first section begins with the sound of a beating heart, an effect sometimes claimed to have been created by the Ludwig Speed King bass drum pedal of Palmer's Ludwig Octaplus kit. However, in the sleeve notes to the 2015 CD/DVD reissue, remix engineer Jakko Jakszyk is quoted as saying "I've discovered [it is] actually Greg playing... muted strings on his bass guitar". Emerson can also be heard playing a zurna, a Eurasian wind instrument. The second part, "Fugue", is a classical fugue with Emerson on piano and Lake playing counterpoint on bass. The third section returns to the "Endless Enigma" theme, ending on a series of horn-like synth fanfares.
"From the Beginning" is a soft, acoustic guitar-based ballad that peaked at No. 39 on the US charts. [6] More often appearing in ELP compilations than live concerts, the track lent its name to a 1997 retrospective of Greg Lake's work. [7] An alternate version of the song featuring a different take of the closing Moog solo is found on the 2015 deluxe reissue.
"The Sheriff" was written as a prelude to the country-themed "Hoedown", which closes the side. [3] During the opening drum solo, Palmer accidentally[ citation needed ] hit the rim of his tom-tom with a drumstick, and he can be heard responding with "Shit!". The song ends with a honky tonk-type piano solo with Palmer playing woodblocks.[ citation needed ]
"Hoedown" is an arrangement of "Hoe-Down" from the ballet Rodeo (1942) by American composer Aaron Copland, who gave the band permission to adapt the piece. [3] It became a live favorite and opened the band's shows between 1972 and 1974.
The title track is divided, as per its name, into three distinct sections. The first section is a romantic piano ballad a la "Take A Pebble", with lyrics about a broken relationship. The full band abruptly enters with bass, drums, and layers of Moog synthesizers for the second part, which is played in a robust 5/8 and features extensive soloing from Emerson. For the final section Lake's vocal returns as the full band continues to play, now in 6/8, before ending on a showbiz coda. "Trilogy" was attempted on the spring 1972 tour but proved difficult to recreate without the extensive studio overdubs and was dropped from the set list after only two shows. Despite this, the track remains popular with ELP fans and is included on almost all compilations.
"Living Sin" is a hard rock number about an aggressive groupie that was never played live by the group, although a version with Marc Bonilla on guitar was attempted by the Keith Emerson Band. The remix of "Living Sin" on the 2015 reissue features an additional section of Emerson's solo.
"Abaddon's Bolero" sounds like a bolero turned into a march (in 4/4 rhythm rather than the usual 3/4). The piece was originally titled Bellona's Bolero after the goddess of war. [8] A single melody containing multiple modulations within itself is repeated over and over in ever more thickly layered arrangements, starting from a quiet Hammond organ making a flute-like sound over a snare drum, and building up to a wall of sound – Maurice Ravel's famous Boléro uses a similar effect. There is also a quote from the British traditional song "The Girl I Left Behind". "Abaddon's Bolero" is replete with overdubs. Almost every time an instrument comes in, another overdub follows. Like the title track, "Abaddon's Bolero" was only played live a handful of times, with Greg Lake handling Mellotron, bass pedals, and additional Moog synthesizer duties (other synth parts accompanied them from a reel-to-reel tape playing off-stage which Emerson had pre-recorded); the song turned out to be a disaster, and led to a heated backstage argument when the tape stopped mid-way through the song during one show, after which, it was cut from the set list. [9] [10] The band brought the piece back for the start of their 1977 tour, during which they were accompanied by an orchestra.
The artwork was designed by Hipgnosis. It depicts a combined bust of the three members, while the interior of the original gatefold sleeve features a photomontage of the three in Epping Forest. [11] Spanish artist Salvador Dalí was approached to design it, but he requested $50,000 to do it and was subsequently turned down. The front cover depicts each of the band members' faces; Emerson said this was because their previous albums had not featured them. [5]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [12] |
Christgau's Record Guide | C− [13] |
The Daily Vault | B− [14] |
The New Rolling Stone Record Guide | [15] |
The album reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 [16] —their highest charting studio release in the US—and peaked at No. 2 on the UK Albums chart. [17] It appeared in the Top 10 in Denmark for 4 non-consecutive weeks, peaking at No. 6. [18]
Robert Christgau said in his review that "anybody who buys a record that divides a ... composition called 'The Endless Enigma' into two discrete parts deserves it." [13] Billboard praised the album for Keith Emerson's "steady progression" on the Moog synthesizer, [19] while Cashbox called the group "rockdom's most explosive trio", found "From The Beginning" especially favorable and predicted the album would "find its way onto the top ten in nothing flat." [20] Tony Palmer of The Observer thought the group "demonstrates an extraordinary degree of bombast with little or no creative imagination at work to justify all the sound and fury." [21]
Retrospectively AllMusic commented that engineer Eddie Offord "provided a lush, comfy finish to the album that made it particularly suited for living room listening and the FM airwaves." [12] Consequence of Sound wrote that the album found the group at the height of their powers, which cemented them as "one of the most experimental and ambitious groups in rock." [22] When reviewing the 2015 deluxe reissue for Louder , Philip Wilding noted that 40 years on, the album's "bravura, pomposity and daring experimentation remain intact." [23] Conversely, The Daily Vault gave the album a mixed B- grade with the summation "There are a handful of moments to make it interesting, and the band's professionalism and chemistry makes it listenable, but it rarely reaches the brilliance of the debut or the overblown grandeur of Brain Salad Surgery . [14]
The album has been reissued a number of times, the most recent as part of a deluxe edition release campaign by Sony Record Group on the 27 April 2015. The original mix was included along with a brand new stereo mix across two CDs and featuring both on an audio DVD.
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Endless Enigma (Part 1)" | Greg Lake [11] | Keith Emerson | 6:41 |
2. | "Fugue" | instrumental | Emerson | 1:56 |
3. | "The Endless Enigma (Part 2)" | Lake | Emerson | 2:03 |
4. | "From the Beginning" | Lake | Lake | 4:16 |
5. | "The Sheriff" | Lake | Emerson | 3:22 |
6. | "Hoedown" | instrumental | Aaron Copland, arr. Emerson, Lake, Carl Palmer | 3:47 |
Total length: | 22:05 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Trilogy" | Lake | Emerson | 8:54 |
2. | "Living Sin" | Lake | Emerson, Lake, Palmer | 3:13 |
3. | "Abaddon's Bolero" | instrumental | Emerson | 8:08 |
Total length: | 20:15 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Endless Enigma (Part 1)" | 6:41 |
2. | "Fugue" | 1:56 |
3. | "The Endless Enigma (Part 2)" | 2:02 |
4. | "From the Beginning" | 4:13 |
5. | "The Sheriff" | 3:22 |
6. | "Hoedown" | 3:45 |
7. | "Trilogy" | 8:52 |
8. | "Living Sin" | 3:10 |
9. | "Abaddon's Bolero" | 8:07 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "From the Beginning" (Alternate Version) | 4:16 |
2. | "The Endless Enigma (Part 1)" (New Stereo Mix) | 6:43 |
3. | "Fugue" (New Stereo Mix) | 1:57 |
4. | "The Endless Enigma (Part 2)" (New Stereo Mix) | 2:03 |
5. | "From the Beginning" (New Stereo Mix) | 4:17 |
6. | "The Sheriff" (New Stereo Mix) | 3:24 |
7. | "Hoedown" | 3:46 |
8. | "Trilogy" (New Stereo Mix) | 8:58 |
9. | "Living Sin" (New Stereo Mix) | 3:11 |
10. | "Abaddon's Bolero" (New Stereo Mix) | 8:13 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Endless Enigma (Part 1)" | 6:41 |
2. | "Fugue" | 1:56 |
3. | "The Endless Enigma (Part 2)" | 2:01 |
4. | "From the Beginning" | 4:14 |
5. | "The Sheriff" | 3:22 |
6. | "Hoedown" | 3:46 |
7. | "Trilogy" | 8:52 |
8. | "Living Sin" | 3:11 |
9. | "Abaddon's Bolero" | 8:08 |
10. | "The Endless Enigma (Part 1)" (New Stereo Mix) | 6:45 |
11. | "Fugue" (New Stereo Mix) | 1:57 |
12. | "The Endless Enigma (Part 2)" (New Stereo Mix) | 2:02 |
13. | "From the Beginning" (New Stereo Mix) | 4:17 |
14. | "The Sheriff" (New Stereo Mix) | 3:24 |
15. | "Hoedown" | 3:46 |
16. | "Trilogy" (New Stereo Mix) | 8:58 |
17. | "Living Sin" (New Stereo Mix) | 3:14 |
18. | "Abaddon's Bolero" (New Stereo Mix) | 8:22 |
19. | "From the Beginning" (Alternate Version) | 4:16 |
Credits are adapted from the album's 1972 liner notes. [11]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [38] | Gold | 100,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [39] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
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 Best of Emerson, Lake & Palmer is an album by British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1980. Another compilation with the same title was released in 1994.
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, the piano suite by Modest Mussorgsky, performed at Newcastle City Hall on 26 March 1971.
Tarkus is the second studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released on 4 June 1971 on Island Records. Following their debut tour across Europe during the second half of 1970, the group paused touring commitments in January 1971 to record a new album at Advision Studios in London. Greg Lake produced the album with Eddy Offord as engineer.
Brain Salad Surgery is the fourth studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released on 7 December 1973 by their new record label, Manticore Records, and distributed by Atlantic Records.
Works Volume 1 is the fifth studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released as a double album on 25 March 1977 on Atlantic Records. Following their world tour supporting Brain Salad Surgery (1973), the group took an extended break before they reconvened in 1976 to record a new album. They were now tax exiles and recorded new material in London and overseas in Montreux, Switzerland and Paris, France. Works Volume 1 features a side dedicated for each member to write and arrange their own tracks, while the fourth side features songs performed collectively. Keith Emerson recorded his Piano Concerto No. 1, Greg Lake wrote several songs with lyricist Peter Sinfield, and Carl Palmer recorded tracks of varied musical styles.
Gregory Stuart Lake was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP).
Manticore Records is a record label launched by the Manticore production company in 1973. These companies were owned by the members of the progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer and their manager, Stewart Young. The manticore was first featured in the artwork for the second ELP album Tarkus, as one of the eponymous creature's adversaries. Manticore was initially the name given to ELP's music publishers, credits first appearing in the credits on Trilogy, released on Island in 1972.
Welcome Back, My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends – Ladies and Gentlemen is the second live album by the English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released as a triple album in August 1974 on Manticore Records. It was recorded in February 1974 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, during the group's 1973–74 world tour in support of their fourth studio album, Brain Salad Surgery (1973).
Emerson, Lake & Palmer is the debut studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It was released in the United Kingdom by Island Records in November 1970, and in the United States by Cotillion Records in January 1971. After the group formed in the spring of 1970, they entered rehearsals and prepared material for an album which became a mix of original songs and rock arrangements of classical music. The album was recorded at Advision Studios in July 1970, when the band had yet to perform live. Lead vocalist and bassist/guitarist Greg Lake produced it.
"Tarkus" is the title track of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's second album. The progressive rock epic lasts 20:35. It was the longest studio suite by the band until the three impressions of "Karn Evil 9". The name "Tarkus" refers to the armadillo-tank from the William Neal paintings on the album cover. The artist has explained that the name is an amalgamation between 'Tartarus' and 'carcass'. Consequently, the name refers to the "futility of war, a man made mess with symbols of mutated destruction." The song "Tarkus" supposedly follows the adventures of Tarkus from his birth, through a fight with a manticore, which he loses and concludes with an aquatic version of Tarkus named "Aquatarkus". Keith Emerson, when asked what work he is proudest of, named his "Piano Concerto" and "Tarkus".
Emerson, Lake and Palmer in Concert is a live album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), recorded at their 26 August 1977 show at the Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec, Canada which is featured on the album cover. It was released by Atlantic Records in November 1979, following ELP's breakup. It was later re-released and repackaged as Works Live in 1993. Some of the tracks were not from the Montreal concert, but from other concerts during their 1977–1978 tour, such as "Peter Gunn" and "Tiger in a Spotlight".
Emerson, Lake & Powell, sometimes abbreviated as ELP, were an English progressive rock band, considered by many as a variant lineup of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, that released one official studio album in 1986. The album's debut single was "Touch and Go," which peaked at number 60 on the Billboard charts on 19 July 1986.
In the Hot Seat is the ninth and final studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released on 27 September 1994 by Victory. Recorded at Goodnight L.A. Studios in Los Angeles, it was produced by Keith Olsen.
Qango were a short-lived progressive rock band, a spin-off from Asia. In 1999, an attempt was made at a partial reunion of the progressive rock supergroup Asia involving John Wetton, Carl Palmer (drums) and Geoff Downes (keys), with Dave Kilminster to be on guitar. However, Downes withdrew from plans, choosing to stick with John Payne in their Asia line-up. Wetton and Palmer instead formed Qango with Kilminster and John Young on keys. The band's live set was based on songs by Asia and Palmer's former band Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
"From the Beginning" is a song written by Greg Lake and performed by the progressive rock trio Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It was released on their 1972 album Trilogy. It hit #39 in the United States and was their highest-charting single there.
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.
"Lucky Man" is a song by the English progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), from the group's 1970 self-titled debut album. Written by Greg Lake when he was 12 years old and recorded by the trio using improvised arrangements, the song contains one of rock music's earliest instances of a Moog synthesizer solo. "Lucky Man" was released as a single in 1970 and reached the top 20 in the Netherlands. The song also charted in the United States and Canada. The single was re-released in 1973 and charted again in the US and Canada.
"Fanfare for the Common Man" is an instrumental piece of music adapted and played by the English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, from the group's 1977 Works Volume I album. Adapted by Keith Emerson from Aaron Copland's 1942 piece of the same name, it is one of their most popular and enduring pieces.
I do like Trilogy. It is my favorite ELP album. It couldn't be anyone else. It truly is a definitive album. It is the very best of ELP in a way. It's got flashes of all the best things of what we were.
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