1986 album has bright moments but isn’t quite essential listening
In 1985, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake had hopes of collaborating with Carl Palmer to reform Emerson, Lake & Palmer, a group that brought fans such tunes as “Lucky Man,” “Karn Evil 9” and “Fanfare for the Common Man,”
But it wasn’t quite meant to be.
The onetime prog rock super group that featured Emerson (formerly of The Nice), Lake (from King Crimson) and Palmer, a former drummer for Atomic Rooster, couldn’t quite pull off a reunion since Palmer was a member of Asia and had contractual obligations with that band, which featured the likes of Steve Howe of Yes, John Wetton and Geoff Downes at the time. Both Emerson and Lake also had tenures in Asia before deciding to reunite the power trio.
So with Palmer out of the picture, Emerson and Lake trudged ahead and tried but were unable to recruit drummers such as Phil Collins and Ringo Starr, so Emerson turned to longtime friend Cozy Powell, who later played on Brian May’s “Back to the Light.”
Emerson, Lake & Powell recorded their one eponymous studio album in 1986, 16 years after the original ELP had released their self-titled debut LP. The work is admirable and even feels a bit nostalgic, as the band used a sample of “Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends,” from “Karn Evil 9.”
The album spawned a pair of singles in “Touch and Go” and “Lay Down Your Guns” and features the same kind of long suites that endured Emerson, Lake & Palmer to fans during the ‘70s. However, it was a commercial flop and received mostly lukewarm reviews from critics, many of whom maintained that the album hadn’t broken new ground.
This LP’s place in history probably represents little more than a blip on the radar screen, and the album probably isn’t even an afterthought at this point. That’s too bad, though, because it’s worth a spin if you’re a fan of the original ELP or just a prog-rock enthusiast.
