In 1984 Keith Emerson and Greg Lake had plans to reunite Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Carl Palmer was unavailable, though, so they recruited Cozy Powell. They released one studio album. For all intents and purposes, it feels like an Emerson, Lake and Palmer album. Well, now we get this great box set. It includes the original album with three bonus tracks on the first CD. The second disc is made up of rehearsal tapes. Disc three is a live album recorded by the group. It's all enclosed in a cardboard clamshell box and includes a great booklet. This is a must have for fans of ELP, as far as I'm concerned.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2024  Volume 3 More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2024.

Dramatic synthetic elements start things off here. They launch out from there into something that makes me think a little of the ELP take on "Fanfare for the Common Man." It works through some shifts and changes, getting into less bombastic, but no less interesting, territory. This piece is trademark ELP. It seems to be meant to offer call-backs to other ELP songs, especially once the vocals join.

More mainstream rocker, this still has some ELP trademarks in place. It's an energetic cut with some great moments. The instrumental section moves toward classical zones at times. This segues into the next song.

I really love Greg Lake's vocals on this track. The number has the slower sort of vibe that ELP always did so well. It feels evocative and powerful. The somewhat blues jamming later is on fire.  As much as I enjoyed the two openers, I think I like this track even more. In fact, this is one of my favorites of the whole album.

I remember hearing this on the radio at the time. It's a solid rocker with great hooks and a lot of real ELP meat on its bones. It drops back to vocal over keyboard backdrops at times. The keyboard melodies and sounds on this are trademark Emerson.

More of the arena rock or pop rock type of thing is on display here. It still has plenty of ELP trademarks, though. It's not one of my favorites here, though.

There is a bluesy jazz arrangement to this track. The vocals are great, and the tune is very much the kind of thing you expect from ELP. The piano soloing on this is so classy.

I have loved this piece since the first time I heard it. They bring it in with all that majesty and sense of drama the original classical piece had. It drives forward with so much style. This instrumental is a classic example of taking a classical piece and turning into progressive rock magic.

Coming in with a full-on ELP arrangement, this is a cover of an old chestnut. They play it instrumental, and it works pretty well, but seems a little pedestrian at times for this group.

This cut has some of that pop rock vibe, but it's also meaty. It is classic ELP to me. It's a great addition to the release. It has some particularly powerful vocals. The instrumental break is great.

This might be a single version, and might be three minutes shorter than the full take of the song, but it's also still six minutes long. This works well in this configuration. In fact, it might actually be a stronger piece with some of the less direct stuff trimmed from it.

This version feels less filled out and more electronic in nature. I definitely prefer the other rendition.

While I prefer the version on the other CD, this one works better for me than the opener does. This feels more stark and electronic than the other one did.

In some ways this doesn't stand as tall as the other version. That said, some of the keyboard work on this seems to shine even brighter. There are definitely some things here where the charms are upgraded from the other one.

I really like this version of the classic ELP tune a lot. It works very well. Then again, as strong as the tune is, it's hard to go wrong.

Here we get another killer rendition of an ELP classic. This song is packed full of intriguing changes and variety, and they do a great job of capturing it all here.

Here get a sort of condensed version of the epic work. It is effective and pretty cool.

This instrumental clip from "Lucky Man" includes one of the most memorable instrumental passages from the piece.

I've always liked this classic ELP tune. This version works reasonably well. That said, it's more of a stripped back arrangement, and I definitely prefer the original version of the tune.

This tune rocks out nicely here. I like this rendition quite a bit.

Starting with space launch sounds, this has a sound effect similar to warp engines in "Star Trek" at times in the introduction, too. We hear a launch and a building intensity as some sort of warning beeps ever faster and more urgently. That all drops away and the a mellow building process brings the track into being from there. While I definitely prefer the other version of this piece, there are some real charms to this. At times it feels more symphonic, and intro is pure fire, for instance. This loses me a bit with a full-on drum solo. I'm not really a fan of drum solos, though, so your mileage may vary. The section that brings out from there has some strangeness to it, but eventually gives way to something closer to the sound of the other version.

I love the keyboard sounds that start this. The tune works pretty well here. There is a bit of a different sonic vibe in some ways.

This is an awesome piece of music. Everyone seems to really outdo themselves on this thing. There are some amazing instrumental moments here. The vocal performance is top-notch, too. I think this might be my favorite thing on this second CD of the set. Of course, at about 13-and-a-half minutes long, this is the epic of the disc, too. 

This live version of the opener from the main album is so strong. If anything, I think it's better than the studio version. There is so much magic and fire in place here.

They definitely elevate this number here. I mean, I like the studio version quite a bit, but this really puts that to shame. It just seems more human somehow.

Going way back to dig up an early classic, they put in a great live rendition of this one.

This works even better here than it did on the previous disc. Again, it just seems to have more of a human touch. I've always liked this piece, and this just reinforces that.

This is another of my favorites from ELP. I love the intricate, evocative guitar work. The vocal performance is great, too. They take it into some almost jazz zones late, and this version works really well.

Here we get another classic song from ELP. They include some weird processed vocals at one point that might be synthetic. That's a little weird. Beyond that, I like pretty much all the updating here. It's a matter of flavorings for me.

This is without question one of my all-time favorite ELP pieces. They put in a driving, powerhouse live rendition here. This is just so cool.

This grouping of pieces from the group works so well. It really feels like it could have been done in the original run of the band.