Their debut is my favorite, but of these two it has to be Brain Salad, if only for Keith's majestic performance on karnevil9. Trilogy's side B, as mentioned, is a bit problematic.
Their debut is my favorite, but of these two it has to be Brain Salad, if only for Keith's majestic performance on karnevil9. Trilogy's side B, as mentioned, is a bit problematic.
Both are outstanding; both have incredible moments and both have moments that might have been better left on the edit-room floor.
I'm going to call this one a tie and also proclaim the debut album is their best.
BSS by the slimmest of margins. They are both 10/10.
The Prog Corner
Maybe so, but it at least contains ELP's best track.Originally Posted by Zappathustra
before the bracket closes........BSS
G.A.S -aholic
I love them both for different reasons. I do think Trilogy (while I listen to it much more often the BSS) ends on a weak note. The last two tracks are not that good. BSS is far more solid, and KE9 - what more can you say? It's jaw dropping still to this day.
So, BSS wins it.
tight but BSS
Speaking of brain salad surgery -- any volunteers?
True!Maybe so, but it at least contains ELP's best track.
Of the two, the knee-jerk reaction is BSS. But, every time I listen to Trilogy, I wonder....
I have never been happy with the sound of BSS, but I love the sound of Trilogy. I always wonder how BSS would have sounded if Eddy Offord was involved in the recording.
Do you dislike "Abbadon's Bolero"? It's one of my favourite ELP songs with the layers of sound continually added. I can't get enough of that song.
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Laura
Interesting discussion. I am going to have to go with Yngwie Malmsteen's Trilogy as the winner here
When I first saw this thread, that was my thought. Why compare Yngwie to ELP? As a kid, Yngwie's Trilogy was a favorite and probably his most consistent release, IMO.
Anyways, just had to make that comment. Back to your regularly scheduled program..
Rick
I don't "dislike it", it just has never done much for me beyond being... interesting. Endless Enigma, Trilogy, Hoedown, From The Beginning... are the meat & potatoes of the album for me.
Man, tough choice. I love both to death. They have so many similarities, they're almost like two versions of the same album in a way. Agree about the overall sound quality of Trilogy being superior to BSS, which always sounded very harsh to my ears. Musically, though, let's see, in head to head competition (IMO of course):
Epic: Karn Evil 9 > Endless Enigma
Classical adaptation: Jerusalem/Toccata > Hoedown/Abaddon's Bolero
Ballad: Still You Turn Me On = From the Beginning
Humorous Interlude: The Sheriff > Benny the Bouncer
Other: Living Sin - winner by default; no real analog on BSS
So, gun-to-head, I guess I'd have to give the nod to BSS, but just barely.
David
Happy with what I have to be happy with.
Ahmina go with Brain Salad Surgery. I suppose I *respect* Trilogy more, but I don't like it very much, except for the Bolero. It just doesn't move me the way the best ELP (BSS, debut, and "Pirates") does.
Hell, I even like "Bennie."
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
AB is not really a classical adaptation. It has a form similar to the Ravel, but that's about it.
Also, it started as a march. It was Palmer's idea to use a bolero rhythm.
If we're just comparing these two, FTB is much better than SYTMO. However, "The Sage" is his best and "Lend Your Love To Me Tonight" is far and away superior to SYTMO.
It still is a march. Bolero rhythm is 3/4 time. (Except the Cuban "bolero," which is a whole different thing that doesn't resemble AB at all.) Rockers always get that wrong; they're fooled by Ravel's snare drum part into thinking that "rat-a-tat-tat" = bolero.
Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
https://michaelpdawson.bandcamp.com
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...MCD-spc-7.aspx
Good point. I guess I lumped it in that category because I hear it as a classically-influenced composition.
David
Happy with what I have to be happy with.
I guess that one could call it a "bolero-influenced composition" or, possibly, an "electronic bolero-classical synthesis".
I have to say, that Trilogy was the first ELP album I really got into, just like Fragile was with Yes, and those memories I am loyal to today.
"Always ready with the ray of sunshine"
"Benny" - with an 'y'. Best tune they ever did, IMO.
They should have made a triple album with an extended epic on that one alone. Just think about the euphoric ecstasy in reach by the time you get halfway through on side 5 of "Benny".
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
Your comment was so caustic that ended all discussion on the issue - or on any issue (can't say though that I didn't laugh my heart out with it)
^ Ok, but the truth is that I actually do enjoy that tune quite tremendously. I never cared much for their other spoofsongs, but this one works wonders. Not only because it makes for such a dimaterical antithesis to the scope of what follows on the record (which is great, but less so than "Benny"), but because it shows a shade of what might have been.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
'The Sheriff' is the only good 'comedy' one for me. Always thought 'Benny....' was crap. It's unnecessary too as the album is already quite long. For 'breathing space' in between the heavier numbers, 'Still You Turn Me On' already performed that function.
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