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Thread: If the album "Love Beach" were called "Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman"….

  1. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by undergroundrailroad View Post
    Wouldn't that be like having your dessert first, if you know what I mean? ;-)
    I always find it amazing that it apparently took two of them to write those lyrics.

  2. #27
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    ^Well, quite.

    And even 'Memoirs...' has some really good music with some very iffy lyrics. So it's kind of only a qualified success for me.
    Last edited by JJ88; 03-19-2016 at 01:54 PM.

  3. #28
    Member progholio's Avatar
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    lovebeach.jpg

    Just curious, there should be plenty of you here that bought this on vinyl when it came out, how many of you went for the custom satin jacket or those lovely skin tight track shorts (great to wear with color matched tube socks & Addidas tennies for a jog on Love Beach!)

  4. #29
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    I think you guys are saying that Thomas means it would be a great album if this were done. I think he's right that it would have been accepted better if it were dressed up better. I think this is what Yes have been going for with the Dean covers on their last few releases. It's a matter of making the album more professional and thoughtful looking. The title and cover are just downright awful and even embarrassing. I agree with him for the most part, but I like side two of Tarkus a lot except for Are you ready Eddy which I wish wasn't put on there at all.

  5. #30
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    ^I'm not fond of 'Jeremy Bender' but I can take it for what it is, a bit of light relief after 'Tarkus'. But 'Are You Ready Eddy' is one of the most blatant 'will this do' album fillers ever recorded- up/down there with 'Seamus'!

  6. #31
    I've thought a very similar thing about Tormato, once again admitting that the music is definitely part of the problem, although I do like a good amount of the tracks. If it had been named something like "On Silent Wings" or "Madrigal" and had a great cover I don't think it would be slagged quite as much. Yes often have the "epic" at the end of the album, so I'm not sure about putting OtSWoF first, but maybe it could have helped. Once again, I realize there are issues with the music on Tormato (bad keyboard sounds, unfiltered excess in the solo instruments, some silly themes, etc.), but we're just talking about the album not being reviled - not about it being considered a masterpiece.
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  7. #32
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    ^There are indeed major similarities with Tormato. Both have this kind of 'where do we go now' vibe to them. I think it's slightly better on balance than Love Beach, but it's not by much, and it too doesn't really have anything much comparable with their best to these ears. I actually like 'Onward' best.

    Did ELP ever play anything from Love Beach live?

  8. #33
    What is blatant to me is not all this concern about Love Beach, but some PROG rock albums that never get sufficiently dissected by the prog communities . Tarkus is sure one of them.

  9. #34
    Quote Originally Posted by JJ88 View Post

    Did ELP ever play anything from Love Beach live?
    Canario - you can check it out on the 2007 From the Beginning anthology CD 4, even though it seems to be just a rehearsal.

  10. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by MusicWarrior View Post
    What is blatant to me is not all this concern about Love Beach, but some PROG rock albums that never get sufficiently dissected by the prog communities . Tarkus is sure one of them.
    It's a good point as we tend not to analyze the well thought of albums so much. It seems to be easier to tear away at the lesser works. As for 'Tarkus', much like of ELP's other work, it hasn't perhaps aged well, but for what it is, it's a great work IMO. Definitely an example of a young band going for it and making a definitive and adventurous statement. I always thought that Tarkus had a bit of an aggressive tone about it. Sort of a "were doing what we want to do" nature to it.

  11. #36
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    Does anyone know why there was no producer credited for the album?
    I see "arranged by Emerson, Lake & Palmer", but no producer. Even tracks
    on compilations don't list anyone.

  12. #37
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    Love Beach was a contractual obligation album. The band effectively had broken up during the Works tour --Lake even asked Robert Fripp about a King Crimson reunion but was turned down flat-- but the record companies insisted they make another album and then put it out with that cover and title, at the height of disco. ELP actually had people go to an airport, I think, and ask "Do you know this band? You do, what should the title of their next album be?". Love Beach came last, but oh well.

    It's a poor album compared the previous stuff, but I think For You is a terrific song, as is the title track. I think Peter Sinfield wrote all the lyrics (Lake doesn't get a credit on Memoirs...) but it sounds like a band that has run out of ideas and inspiration.
    ...or you could love

  13. #38
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    ^As for lack of production credit, nobody wanted the blame.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jeremy Bender View Post
    Love Beach came last, but oh well.
    Probably one of those 'the only thing we could agree on' deals!

  14. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by progholio View Post
    lovebeach.jpg

    Just curious, there should be plenty of you here that bought this on vinyl when it came out, how many of you went for the custom satin jacket or those lovely skin tight track shorts (great to wear with color matched tube socks & Addidas tennies for a jog on Love Beach!)
    I do recall that flyer. Wow, those shorts are something else. I had forgotten how much people liked showing off their buldges back in the day.

  15. #40
    Quote Originally Posted by ThomasKDye View Post
    …and had a more dignified cover (maybe with a military theme)… and had the two sides flipped… would it have gotten more respect?

    Because having listened to "Memoirs" I find it a really moving, solid piece, maybe with a different edge than usual ELP fare. It feels like the melodic part of "Trilogy." Plus this album has "Canario" which I really love.

    After all, it's not as if the second side of "Tarkus" is an exercise in sustained brilliance (apart from "Bitches Crystal," maybe). It's a fun side, but it's not super-artistic.
    I proposed this years ago. But, even just changing the cover to gray and calling it "Works Vol.3" would have gotten a better response. Personally, I'm not into MoaOaaG, but for there are those who wanted more like TaP, so ...

    I've also said that it would get a lot more respect if it was a one-off by an obscure Italian band:

    Emersoni, Lago e Palmero
    La Spiaggia Amore

    The single - "Il Giocatore"

    --

    As for Tarkus, it should also be flipped. The title suite is so incredible it diminishes the second side.
    So, save the best for last.

    Side One:
    A Time and a Place
    Bitches Crystal
    The Only Way
    Infinite Space
    delete JB and AYRE and end the side with a serious, mournful, contemplative piano work

    Side Two:
    Tarkus


  16. #41
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  17. #42
    Quote Originally Posted by MusicWarrior View Post
    Canario - you can check it out on the 2007 From the Beginning anthology CD 4, even though it seems to be just a rehearsal.
    On the wikipedia page, the bonus track listing has:

    "Canario (Rehearsal 1978)" - 4:38


  18. #43
    Quote Originally Posted by The Other One View Post
    I always find it amazing that it apparently took two of them to write those lyrics.
    Wait. The lyrics on this album are bad? I've never noticed . . .
    I want to dynamite your mind with love tonight.

  19. #44
    Quote Originally Posted by A. Scherze View Post
    On the wikipedia page, the bonus track listing has:

    "Canario (Rehearsal 1978)" - 4:38

    yeah that's it, the studio recording is just 4:00 minutes long.

  20. #45
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kcrimso View Post
    It would have been crappy record with any name. I like even In The Hot Seat better.
    In the Hot Seat should have been called "Daddy."

  21. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    In the Hot Seat should have been called "Daddy."
    Or "Hot Daddy".
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  22. #47
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    I think 'Compromise' would have been apt for In The Hot Seat, given how many times that word crops up in the lyrics (it's in at least three songs!), and a rather ironic comment on the eventual quality of the album.

  23. #48
    I'm listening to this now, just to see if my opinion of it has changed. Not so far.

    Love Beach and Taste of My Love are pretty awful. Did Gene Simmons write the lyrics on the latter? Canario is pretty cool. It shows they could still play, but that wasn't in doubt. I prefer Fanfare, to compare it to a similar shuffle groove.

    Memoirs is the high point, but it seems a bit forced, particularly in Lake's vocal performance. The melody just isn't very strong and he's over-compensating in his delivery. Nice piano on the 2nd theme and equally nice tuned perc from Carl. Part 2 is catching my ear. Some nice stuff that echoes their heyday, but overall, not quite there.

    Not going to bother with the other tracks right now. I do give ELP credit for trying to make a major transition in their sound. Yes hit it out of the park on their 2nd attempt. Genesis pretty much nailed it. What if ELP had Trevor Horn producing? The timeline doesn't work, as Horn was probably working on the 1st Buggles album around then and hadn't yet emerged as a great producer. Just a what if.

  24. #49
    Weirdly enough I got Tarkus and Love Beach on the same day as second hand cassettes from a market in Manchester when I was 14...and so they are strangely linked as albums for me. Obviously, I could blatantly hear that Tarkus was the superior album but I don't recall violently disagreeing with Love Beach either. There was even a musical connection, as to me the ending march of Memoirs seemed like a very blatant reference to Aquatarkus. I probably spent equal amounts of time trying to learn piano parts for Memoirs as I did Tarkus.

    Weirdly enough again I have a similar connection with Fragile and Tormato which I borrowed together from a friend a year or so before. Great interview vid above

    Matt.

  25. #50
    Quote Originally Posted by A. Scherze View Post


    I've also said that it would get a lot more respect if it was a one-off by an obscure Italian band:

    Emersoni, Lago e Palmero
    La Spiaggia Amore

    The single - "Il Giocatore
    You're definitely onto something here. Everything sounds more stylish in Italian, even the lyrics to "Il gusto del mio amore":
    .
    "Richiamare camera pesche ordine di servizio e crema. Mi piace il mio dessert prima, se sai cosa voglio dire. Mmm, il gusto di esso, il gusto di esso, il gusto di esso."

    "Salire sul mio razzo e ci guidare."

    *Scritto da Lago, Sincampo e Google Tradurre.

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