You Got A Smoke?

Black Moon - Emerson, Lake And Palmer

Black Moon was the last studio album released by ELP coming at the end of a long period during the eighties and nineties which saw three albums (one of which was from Emerson, Lake and (Cozy) Powell) released. Since Black Moon there has been the endless rumour treadmill of further reformations and releases, but isn't there always?

As a last album release, this is quite a one. Ten tracks with the standard ELP mix of song types and a slightly non-standard ELP sense of unity. This album has a definite sound and feel and it pervades all of the various output, the full group compositions, the Lake ballads, the classical arrangements and the Emerson output. This is something that wasn't always there in classic ELP albums in my opinion, with the possible exception of Trilogy (and Pictures of course, but that doesn't really count).

The sound itself is again different from classic ELP, it is quite hard edged, mostly very tight and almost lyrically depressing at times although that is more a comment on the differing times of writing I suspect.

One thing that is notably subdued is Keith Emerson's usual virtuosity. There aren't many points where he really lets himself go, some may claim age and he was having some medical issues with his hands around this point, but having seen him live toward the end of 2003 he got over it. But I digress, to be honest you don't really notice, in some ways it is even a good thing, the overall sound is much more unified at times which aids the format of shorter tracks. Emerson's slightly slower and more controlled style always adds to the harsher edge of the album, although in some tracks he still plays as openly and warmly as we are all used to.

Lake and Palmer shine in this album. Carl Palmer is as varied and adaptable as ever, moving around his kit as the atmosphere of tracks requires and going for his synth drums as much as ever. Greg Lake's guitar work is still nothing special, but who cares about that. His voice has dropped even further and he sounds utterly lovely. Definitely someone you would want to be singing your bedtime lullaby.

The individual tracks are well formed. Of the group tracks, Black Moon and Paper Blood shine through, but all are strong. The two Greg Lake ballads are fairly standard fare, but with the added bonus that the lyrics are good, Close To Home stills shows what a great pianist Emerson is, even when not at top speed. I always used to think that the arrangement of Romeo and Juliet was incredibly heavy handed and clunky, but more recently I heard the original again and realised that Prokofiev was possibly even more heavy handed and clunky himself. Still a corking arrangement.

Overall, one of my favourite ELP albums. Some fans may find the tightness of the tracks, the more moody feel and the relatively subdued nature of Keith Emerson's playing detracts from it. This isn't classis ELP, but I like the slightly different side to the music. Did I mention how gorgeous Greg Lake sounds?

Recommended to:

ELP fans.
Greg Lake groupies.
People looking for a very talented keyboard playing without too much prog rock pomposity.
Those who love a wonderful baritone singing voice.

Not recommended to:

People who think post-Tarkus ELP is heresy.
Those who consider 'arrange' to be a dirty word.
Anyone who can't appreciate the male voice at its lovely best.