I have enjoyed, increasingly, so many of your "Unshuffled" episodes. And I couldn't be more in agreement about your assessment of the "Love Beach" album. There really is some great stuff on there, even if the album as a whole is not up to the standard of the albums in your top 4.
Love your critique and mostly agree. thanks for putting Love Beach in the middle A lot of prog snobs will give you flack for that. . I saw ELP live the first time in 1972 and Trilogy had just come out. what a show that was.
Love ELP. I agree that Trilogy is their overall best album, just ahead of Brain Salad Surgery for the reasons you stated, but all of those top 4 are just sensational and among the alltime great prog albums. However, I also love both the Works albums and think they get a bad rap because they are different, but are actually very successful at what they are trying to achieve. Works 2 may be a compilation of miscellaneous tracks, but most of those tracks are great (just adore Keith’s honky think piano numbers), so I think it is still very strong. After that, quality does diminish, but as you said, Love Beach actually is pretty good (but not better than the Works albums). Overall, great job and great appreciation for this great band.
Hi Nathan. Dave here. Another excellent video. Mostly I agree with your rankings, but I would put ELP above BSS. And I'm a fan of Pictures, and would put it third.
Great ranking Nathan! My own ranking would be identical, though sometimes I put Brain salad above Trilogy. I also agree that Love Beach is underrated, Canario and Memoirs of an officer and a gentleman are really great.
great ranking!!! my top 4 would be: 1. Tarkus 2. Brain Salad Surgery 3. Trilogy 4.Debut I can't relate to people not liking side two of tarkus. Bitches Crystal, The Only Way and A Time and A Place are all awesome. Jeremy Bender and Are you ready, eddy are kind of desserts after a big meal, I like them, even if they feel like they don't fit in with the rest of the album. 4 of my favorite albums ever.
For some reason I prefer ELP' when they do other composers: Pictures, Jerusalem, Toccata, Peter Gunn, though I do love side one Tarkus and Trilogy. I'm with you on the Carl Palmer side of Works being the most interesting. Brain Salad has lost some steam for me over the years. Feels very ADD. BTW, I saw the Works tour in '77 and it was wildly entertaining.
Nice review and about right , the top 3 I also have, but a different order. 9) In the Hot Seat ( awful) 2/10 8) Works 1 , (an abomination of bloated overblown prog ) 3/10 7) Black Moon, (average at best ) 4/10 6) Works 2 , (hotchpotch of outtakes) 5/10 5) Love Beach , ( I completely agree Canario and Memoirs are v good) 6/10 4) Tarkus , ( brilliant, again side 2 not as good) 7/10 3) Brain Salad Surgery ( I hate Tocatta and the sound is substandard , but a classic) 8/10 2) Emerson,Lake & Palmer ( excellent debut ) 9/10 1) Trilogy , ( no faults Trilogy and Endless Enigma are brilliant) 10/10
Oh no, not Love Beach! 😏 I feel like the first five albums (including Pictures) are all pretty interchangeable, in terms of ranking. They're all classics. Some are more consistent, but perhaps don't reach the ceiling of the lesser consistent. But on balance, I'd put them all about equal. I'd probably give the nod to Brain Salad Surgery at the top, but it's very, very close. I like Works Vol. 1 a lot more than you do. It's definitely a step down from their classic period, but I think it's better than anything that followed. I think it sits perfectly in that transition from Gods-era to Humans-era, because it has a lot of both.
I do wish I liked Works Vol. 1 a bit more, maybe it'll grow with time. My friend who I talked with about this ranking made a good point that Works Vol. 1 should probably rate above Love Beach just for the fact that the band were much more engaged and excited during the writing of Works vs. Love Beach...but I think a lot of my ranking came down to my own expectations...I thought I'd like Works a lot more due to how close it is to their classic period and I thought I'd struggle to appreciate Love Beach because of how much people seem to dislike it...which made it a pleasant surprise when I didn't hate it...
Greg Lake could have taken the names out of the phone book in the Bahamas where Love Beach was recorded and sung them as an opening tract and I'd still would have liked it This was ELP last album for Atlantic records and they were told No concept pieces. hence the pop tunes. this band earned the right after nearly ten years of touring writing and performing to do this kind of record and I don't mind the Bee Gees album cover either. end of rant
Help me like ELP. I never got into this band, apart from the song Tarkus... which I realize is like saying you don't like hot food but love carolina reapers.
I can understand not being able to get into them, they have a pretty eclectic catalog and I struggle still with appreciating certain songs...but when it all comes together (like on Tarkus for example) it can be rather fantastic...
I have enjoyed, increasingly, so many of your "Unshuffled" episodes. And I couldn't be more in agreement about your assessment of the "Love Beach" album. There really is some great stuff on there, even if the album as a whole is not up to the standard of the albums in your top 4.
Love your critique and mostly agree. thanks for putting Love Beach in the middle A lot of prog snobs will give you flack for that. . I saw ELP live the first time in 1972 and Trilogy had just come out. what a show that was.
Love ELP. I agree that Trilogy is their overall best album, just ahead of Brain Salad Surgery for the reasons you stated, but all of those top 4 are just sensational and among the alltime great prog albums. However, I also love both the Works albums and think they get a bad rap because they are different, but are actually very successful at what they are trying to achieve. Works 2 may be a compilation of miscellaneous tracks, but most of those tracks are great (just adore Keith’s honky think piano numbers), so I think it is still very strong. After that, quality does diminish, but as you said, Love Beach actually is pretty good (but not better than the Works albums). Overall, great job and great appreciation for this great band.
Hi Nathan. Dave here. Another excellent video. Mostly I agree with your rankings, but I would put ELP above BSS. And I'm a fan of Pictures, and would put it third.
Great ranking Nathan!
My own ranking would be identical, though sometimes I put Brain salad above Trilogy. I also agree that Love Beach is underrated, Canario and Memoirs of an officer and a gentleman are really great.
Glad to see I'm not the only one who finds Love Beach underrated. And yes, Brain Salad vs. Trilogy is pretty much a toss-up...
great ranking!!! my top 4 would be:
1. Tarkus
2. Brain Salad Surgery
3. Trilogy
4.Debut
I can't relate to people not liking side two of tarkus. Bitches Crystal, The Only Way and A Time and A Place are all awesome. Jeremy Bender and Are you ready, eddy are kind of desserts after a big meal, I like them, even if they feel like they don't fit in with the rest of the album. 4 of my favorite albums ever.
Great job Nathan. As usual, I mostly agree with you : )
Thank you kindly!
For some reason I prefer ELP' when they do other composers: Pictures, Jerusalem, Toccata, Peter Gunn, though I do love side one Tarkus and Trilogy. I'm with you on the Carl Palmer side of Works being the most interesting. Brain Salad has lost some steam for me over the years. Feels very ADD. BTW, I saw the Works tour in '77 and it was wildly entertaining.
Great job Nathan. Personally I prefer Brain Salad Surgery over Trilogy but that's just personal taste.
Oh, and it's a much better artwork cover!
Tough call- I can definitely see it! They are both neck and neck for me!
I always liked Memoirs.
Pictures at an Exhibition was original so should have put it in at #1
Agree that it should be in the top 5 because it contains original material even if it was recorded live. But don't agree it's no 1.
what about album live in Montréal at olympique stadium
I'll make my usual gag about Works Vol. 1 - it was the first ever album released on heavyweight vinyl... after you superglue sides 2 & 3 together.
😂
Nice review and about right , the top 3 I also have, but a different order.
9) In the Hot Seat ( awful) 2/10
8) Works 1 , (an abomination of bloated overblown prog ) 3/10
7) Black Moon, (average at best ) 4/10
6) Works 2 , (hotchpotch of outtakes) 5/10
5) Love Beach , ( I completely agree Canario and Memoirs are v good) 6/10
4) Tarkus , ( brilliant, again side 2 not as good) 7/10
3) Brain Salad Surgery ( I hate Tocatta and the sound is substandard , but a classic) 8/10
2) Emerson,Lake & Palmer ( excellent debut ) 9/10
1) Trilogy , ( no faults Trilogy and Endless Enigma are brilliant) 10/10
Oh no, not Love Beach! 😏
I feel like the first five albums (including Pictures) are all pretty interchangeable, in terms of ranking. They're all classics. Some are more consistent, but perhaps don't reach the ceiling of the lesser consistent. But on balance, I'd put them all about equal. I'd probably give the nod to Brain Salad Surgery at the top, but it's very, very close.
I like Works Vol. 1 a lot more than you do. It's definitely a step down from their classic period, but I think it's better than anything that followed. I think it sits perfectly in that transition from Gods-era to Humans-era, because it has a lot of both.
I do wish I liked Works Vol. 1 a bit more, maybe it'll grow with time. My friend who I talked with about this ranking made a good point that Works Vol. 1 should probably rate above Love Beach just for the fact that the band were much more engaged and excited during the writing of Works vs. Love Beach...but I think a lot of my ranking came down to my own expectations...I thought I'd like Works a lot more due to how close it is to their classic period and I thought I'd struggle to appreciate Love Beach because of how much people seem to dislike it...which made it a pleasant surprise when I didn't hate it...
Greg Lake could have taken the names out of the phone book in the Bahamas where Love Beach was recorded and sung them as an opening tract and I'd still would have liked it This was ELP last album for Atlantic records and they were told No concept pieces. hence the pop tunes. this band earned the right after nearly ten years of touring writing and performing to do this kind of record and I don't mind the Bee Gees album cover either. end of rant
And Memoirs and Canario were just awesome
The Greatest 3 piece band NOT in the rock&roll hall of fame!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Help me like ELP. I never got into this band, apart from the song Tarkus... which I realize is like saying you don't like hot food but love carolina reapers.
I can understand not being able to get into them, they have a pretty eclectic catalog and I struggle still with appreciating certain songs...but when it all comes together (like on Tarkus for example) it can be rather fantastic...
@@NathanOnShuffle With you putting Trilogy on top, I'll give that one another spin.
The so called rock and roll hall of fame is a total JOKE. They don't have a clue.
Dude - nothing controversial about Works 2 - it's bloody awful!