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| Track by Track Review
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Fanfare for the Common Man
This instrumental opens the set in style. I’ve always loved ELP’s arrangement on this one. This particular take has a bit more of a hard blues based rock sound built into it. |
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Karn Evil 9
This rocker is listed as part of the first track, but it’s actually attached to track number two. They do a cool excerpt. |
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Nuclear Attack
The second part of the second track, this is a mainstream stomper. It’s a more metallic anthem than it is prog rock. Whatever you call it, though, it’s a hot piece. |
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The Lie
A bit more of a mainstream rocker, there is still prog in the mix here. I guess you’d have to call it AOR prog really. |
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Retribution Drive
Much less a prog rocker, this is more pure hard rock jam. It’s quite cool, too. The mid-section, though, works out to something more like fusion. |
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Lucky Man
Here we get a slow version of the ELP classic. I’ve always loved this song. I don’t like this version as much as I do the original recording, but it’s solid. I dig the rocking guitar solo, though. There are some cool prog rock bits of jamming, though. |
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Parisienne Walkways
This time around, they turn their attention to one of Gary Moore’s killer blues tunes. It’s definitely a change to hear it sung by Greg Lake. The instrumental section features some smoking hot soloing. |
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You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me
Here’s another blues rocking kind of song. This time, though, they’ve turned to Smokey Robinson for material. I like this one pretty well, but it’s not at the same level as the original. I do like the killer guitar solo a lot, though. The multi-layered vocal arrangement is cool. |
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Love You Too Much
Another hard rocking tune, this really screams. It’s not prog, but it’s great. |
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21st Century Schizoid Man
The first of two nods to Lake’s time as the lead singer for King Crimson, this gets a cool treatment. It really does feel a lot like Emerson Lake and Palmer. I really like this version. It’s got the flavor and prog intensity of the original, while feeling fresh and different. They make some cool changes to the instrumental section, too. |
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The Court of the Crimson King
Here’s the other King Crimson tune presented in this set. This is more of a faithful rendition. It does get hit with a blast of feedback mid-track, though. There are some changes to the instrumental section, too. |
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C est La Vie
I’ve always loved this ELP song. At first, the recording feels really distant here, though. It’s obvious they went from a board recording to an audience one. Where the rest of the set has had a great sound, this feels like a bootleg. That said, this is from a different concert, so it might be an audience boot. As a boot it sounds good, but it’s a let down from the quality of the rest. The song is performed well, and the arrangement is quite pretty. When the guitar solo fires out into a harder rocking section, it definitely rises above the crowd noise. The cut gains intensity and passion going forward from there. |
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