Pictures At An Exhibition

It's a live album of a keyboard-driven progressive rock band covering a 150 year old Russian romantic composer, and it sounds like video game boss music.

This fun rock opera makes up for all the crap I’ve sat through in this challenge. It has elements of classical music, metal, punk, blues and 60s funky keyboard jazz. Even if it is perhaps slightly pretentious and overambitious, it doesn't get boring for the duration, and what's wrong with being slightly pretentious and overambitious when you're obviously having a great time doing it? I literally burst out laughing at the start of Blues Variation because it was such a completely unexpected gear change. This is exactly the kind of stuff I started the challenge to hear.

I haven't heard this for over 40 years. It's still awful

I hated - and I really do mean HATED - so much of this. Yet it avoids a one star review because it was also really interesting, intriguing, impressive and even enjoyable in parts. A bizarre album

2/17/22 “What do you think it would sound like if aliens invaded the Catholic Church?” This is how I picture the idea for this album came about. Not my vibe at all, could not take it seriously, but they get partial credit for playing the whole thing live and making it a continuous piece. Favorite song: Nut Rocker

Incoherent, pretentious, noodling.... this really isn’t for me. Why play 1 note when you can play 27!

From the first song, this album demanded my attention. Mussorgsky? Synths? Influential rock musicians? What is this? This is the first album on this list that I think was truly new to me; I have never heard anything like this before. I listen to most of these albums while working. Not this one, this is a spectacle in itself. The music is less so distracting from the work as the work is distracting from the music. My mind is blown.

Thats it, this is the BEST album i have ever listened to so far (I know i will change my mind someday) BUT SERIOUSLY!!!! Fuck y'all who hate this you just dont understand! This is a really great rock opera! I just wish this album was more popular and appreciated!

Good lord in heaven. This was… something. It reminded me of that scene in friends where Ross plays his “soundscapes” on the keyboard. Some of this was almost passable to listen to but a good portion was absolutely atrocious with heavy doses of sounds that could only be the band’s interpretation of what a UFO sounds like.

What an amazing recording of an amazing live performance! After listening to this the first time I put on Pictures at an Exhibition by the Vienna Philharmonic (itself a re-arrangement of the source piano version by Mussorgsky). I really loved both and it made this work all the more impressive. By the time I had done all this listening and reading about Pictures At An Exhibition I was completely enthralled. It takes a certain kind of hubris to do something like this. It’s impressive when it pays off. This is a wildly ambitious endeavor that created something really interesting and unique. I’m fairly certain I would never have known about this had it not appeared here. Bravo!

Fascinating album enjoyed every minute

I'm a sucker for prog rock, I love this reimagining of classical songs. Will def revisit this one many times

Absolute garbage and I mean garbage - prog nonsense with piles of shitty organ, barely audible vocals, no songs worth a toss

Incredible live album, makes me miss live music for the sake of watching artists at the peak of performance, feels like it's becoming more of a marketing vehicle now. I had never heard this band but plan to listen much more!

Nope. Didn't like this at all. Who told them they could 'rock' out the organ? (1/5) I thought **I** was a nerd, but nooo... Emerson & Co. come along and make the dorkiest, dork-fest of an organ album they could imagine with tracks like "The Curse of Baba Yaga". Alright, guys. You failed your saving throws and it's time to leave the church. Get off the organ/synths... Step away from the keyboard, please...

Nice!

Now this is more like it! I will always have a soft spot for the "Promenade" theme thanks to The New Statesman (hilarious, if you don't know it), the Madeleine of my staying up late on a Sunday school-night. Shameless overblown and pretentious prog indulgence gets the approval of this old B'Stard. And "Nutrocker", perfect from conception to execution; as someone observes in the reviews, how did they make it out of Newcastle alive?!

Cet album démarrait sur les chapeaux de roue, une excellente musicalité se dégageait de ce dernier, mais un bruit désagréable se faisait de plus en présent au fil des pistes. En effet, tapis dans l'ombre du studio, je devinais une silhouette familière, se rapprochant pas à pas du micro d'enregistrement: cette silhouette, c'etait celle de Manzarek. De quelques sons etouffés sur les premières pistes, il finit peu à peu par devenir omniprésent, jusqu'à ejecter les pauvres Emerson Lake et Palmer du studio pour monopoliser les débats avec son immonde orgue. Un comportement absolument scandaleux qui je l'espère sera sanctionné par Robert Dimery au plus vite.

sounds like what me and my mates used to do in music in 6th form, piss about making noise on instruments. weirdly it's not truly awful and again the final fantasy factor gives it a minor improvement over the 1 it was destined for

I like Prog Rock but this is pretty gratuitous. I groaned when I saw it was LIVE too and was amazed the Geordies let them out alive at the end! Only joking and there's some good musicianship in parts but other parts it's like they're making it up as they go along. I gave it another go and it does grow on you (like what I won't say!) I need to listen to the classical piece it's based on I guess.....

Fantastic

Epic

Funky, trippy, just plain fun!

Such a cool classic/rock blend! Nutcracker rock is such classic, great album.

Progressive rock, my beloved. Is it for everyone? So long as you leave your expectations of “modesty” and “relatability” at the door. ELP remains one of my favourite progressive rock acts, though in my opinion Pictures at an Exhibition may be one of their weaker records. But that’s not to say it’s bad. ELP takes the classical mainstay “Pictures at an Exhibition” and re-arranges it for a rock trio. Some purists may be appalled by this, but for those who have never heard a progressive rock record outside of Pink Floyd or 70s Genesis, this is a great record to start on. And after you finish, look to ELP’s album “Trilogy”, which is probably their most cohesive record, and not weakened by a side-long suite (Unlike the B-sides of Rush’s “2112” and ELP’s “Tarkus”.)

Amazing. It's a live record. It's as metal as you can be without distorted guitars. Favorite part: the gnome.

Hardest five I've given in ages!!!! Hell yeah dude!!! hell yeah!!!

This was absolutely bizarre, but I couldn't help but love it. It was just a lot of fun from beginning to end, and I found myself dancing along to some of the more energetic songs. It's absolutely amazing what ELP were doing with synthesizers over 50 years ago! I think this is a timeless album that I'll surely come back to at some point. I have to say though, that Promenade motif is going to bug me. Where the hell have I heard it before? Favourite: The Old Castle

Here we have another Prog Rock trio, this one much different than yesterday's (Rush). ELP, along with early Genesis and Yes, are my three favorite Prog Rock bands. Keith Emerson has been mentioned as one of the best, if not the most technically accomplished keyboard player in rock history. This live album, of course with no overdubs or retakes, is a great example of the talent, creativity, and imagination of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. The trio plays a tight adaptation of a classical piece by Mussorgski. The pipe organ, multiple synths, acoustic guitar, bass, and drums all contribute to this impressive work.

This was a progressive rock band going full progressive rock band. And me, well, I am a sucker for classical music done by rock bands. I enjoyed this. That acoustic guitar on “The Sage” was a nice piece. The “Live” nature of the recording also added a layer of fun to the whole album too.

Solid 3. Interesting interpretation, damn they're virtuosos, I'm glad I listened, and I'd put this on a 1001 list... but for this piece, one of the best ever, I'd rather just listen to Mussorgsky by a true symphony orchestra.

Very Meta making music inspired by music inspired by art. But mostly it just made me want to listen to Mussorgsky. They really love those synthesis.

This one is far from my favorite of theirs, and frankly ranges from laughably pretentious to downright annoying. There's some decent substance between all of that, and there's obvious proficiency on display, but the tone of the synthesizer lends a cartoonish quality that undermines the overall effect. It's a 2/5 that made me spin Lucky Man just to get the taste out of my mouth.

Amazing discovery for me. Mixture between synth and classical.

Wild love album. Very cool take on some classical classics. There's not nearly enough organ in today's music.

Wonderful stuff.

I really like this! Hadn't heard it before.

ELP are probably my favourite progressive rock band. However, I don't generally like live albums, so I always overlooked this one. I mean, it epitomises everything bad people say about prog... it's overblown, pretentious, self-indulgent... I mean, it's a rock band playing adaptations of of Mussorgsky. C'mon. But in spite of all that, it's a fucking barrelling, irresistible rock show that is fun as hell. I particularly love the organ work, and the fast, choppy bits which sound like proto-math rock. On top of that, it's a live album that actually sounds good and offers something different from their studio records. My only complaint is that some of the slower/quieter parts don't work so well - but they do reflect the source material and they give the album balance. So it's 4.5*, but I'm happy rounding it to 5*.

This might be one of the easiest 5s to give. Narrative, unique sounds, and excellent performances, ALL ON A LIVE ALBUM. Concise Beast.

A wild album. Classical music flowing into rock, that suddenly opens up with extraterrestrial funk at times. But the construction of the album itself truly is solid.

Variety: 3 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 3 Uniqueness: 3 Emotionality: 1 = 3 “I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it." My familiarity with ELP is a little scattershot. I've heard and enjoyed their big ones that get radio play, I love Tarkus, and parts of several other albums by them, but I've never done a deep dive, and this one caught me buy surprise. I was not even aware this one had any particularly esteemed reputation. Odder still is it seems to be entirely covers pulled from a classical composition by Mussgorsky ( not a favorite) with an additional cover of Tchaikovsly's "The Nutcracker" While I've made my distaste for most live material know, I was prove quite wrong very recently, so maybe this will be a pleasant surprise as well. THE TRACKS Side One "Promenade" - Without listening to the original for comparison ( I will likely not be doing this), and taking on its own as a prog rock piece, this is ... ok stuff. Lots of noodling from all hands, and given to the most self indulgent bits of prog wankery. "The Gnome" - This one gets into a groove at one point that I was digging. The tumbling down the stairs drums and the impish synth that wibbles and wobbles all over the place works. This felt a lot more cohesive like a mood was being built up. "Promenade" - Seems very face value and not sure what, if anything they did with the original piece, but guessing this motif will get called back a few more times based on the song titles... "The Sage" - This gave me strong video game vibes. I have read before that ELP were HUGE influences on the first wave of Japanese video game composers ( see this video that mentions Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu's love of their music ( and prog rock in general) here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUItTrVCkZQ&t=165s) , so I guess this shouldn't come as much of a surprise. This worked really well though. I could easily imagine wondering into the mystical woods to receive a magical weapon from some old beardy wizard as this played over top. "The Old Castle" - Audience noise at he beginning aside, this was a lot of fun. There was some tension for a bit here when I thought it was just going to be atonal synth soundscapes, but it switched gear into a pretty groovy number just before it got worrying. "Blues Variation" - This is not my thing though. Proggy electric blues/ jazz piano. I'd much rather just hear the real thing. Technically impressive, but kind of boring. Side Two "Promenade" - Yeah, yeah... I understand the assignment here, but the recurring theme is trying my patience. Maybe the best of the three though? I guess that's something. "The Hut of Baba Yaga" - This is the stuff. Endlessly boucing off the walls of a maze, with no sign of an exit. Short and sweet, "The Curse of Baba Yaga" - Things slow way down and we get some dark moods, until the funky synths kick in and this turns into some sort of psych prog fever dream. Carl Palmer is the star on this track. Not even Emerson's moog freak out can steal the spotlight. "The Hut of Baba Yaga" - Largely continues on the same note, but starts hot and fast. Prog rock rarely gets thought of as a danceable mode of music, but this is as close as it gets. It mike look like someone having a medical event, but I might even find myself nodding to this. "The Great Gates of Kiev" - We get a little into Procol Harum-y here, and Lake's most soulful vocals on the album. And the arrangement on this does give it some church-adjacent vibes. "Nut Rocker" - Alright. I'm gonna call this out as being pretty interesting take on the piece, but I can't say I enjoyed it. And this is literally the day after I rocked the fuck out to a live band who played a very proggy cover of "My Favorite Things" ( Doom Gong - check them out). Not that big a fan of the original composition, and this gets very silly, very quickly. Like "Crocodile Rock" silly. HIGHLIGHTS - "The Gnome" -"The Sage" - "The Old Castle" - "The Hut of Baba Yaga" - "The Curse of Baba Yaga" MIDLIGHTS - "Promenade" - "Promenade" - "Promenade" - "The Great Gates of Kiev" LOWLIGHTS - "Blues Variation" - "Nut Rocker" FINAL THOUGHTS Certainly should not have been worried about the live production here. It was pretty impeccable. ELP have proven themselves over and over again to be top tier musicians. And while I was thinking this might veer completely into a cold demonstration of music theory, there was actually quite a bit of material on here that was fairly audience friendly. For a dyed in the wool prog audience only, maybe, but still there. They did not come here to make any new friends, and can see anyone not already on board with their whole thing wrinkling their nose and scoffing before even finishing half the thing. I am not averse to such nonsense, and in fact can enjoy it quite a bit, but usually when there's some attempt to meet the audience half way, and provide some sort of melodic hand holds. As much as I really dug parts of it, overall it felt like an academic exercise. This will never be one of my favorites from ELP, but glad I listened to it, and it wasn't an entirely unpleasant experience. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Just the highlights please FURTHER LISTENING - In the Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson - In Hearing Of by Atomic Rooster - Ars Longa Vita Brevis by The Nice - Tarkus by Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Illusions On A Double Dimple by Triumvirat

Malgré les nombreuses réprimandes adressées à Robert au sujet de l'inclusion de l'album The Doors dans ce classement, album qui, dois-je le rappeler, fut souillé des doigts de l'organiste Manzarek, notre cher éditeur semble encore une fois n'en faire qu'à sa tête avec l'ajout de l'album qui nous intéresse aujourd'hui. Pictures At An Exhibition est en effet lui aussi gangrené par un orgue, celui de Keith Emerson. Vous l'aurez compris, la liste des personæ non gratæ de ce générateur accueille un nouveau membre en la personne dudit Emerson.

Pictures at an Exhibition? More like Pictures of me checking my watch every five minutes. Live albums already test my patience, but this one felt like a very loud museum tour I couldn't escape.

Really unenjoyable

I'd rather listen to a classical piano suite than listen to someone wank off a keyboard to it

Overblown, bloated, overproduced rubbish

Amazing album. I can’t even imagine how sounded in 1971. This album made me feel anxious and nervous at points. Can’t think of many albums that were able to do that while also drawing me in to listen further.

имба. русские вперед! the sage - одна из любимых песен, даже на гитаре ее играл когда-то) советую сразу смотреть live.

9.5/10. Fuck it. I'm a prog fan, and I will gladly listen to just about any prog album with my head up my ass. I bloody love this shit!!!!! :)

Emerson, Lake, Palmer (nods sympathetically), thanks for coming in. I'm afraid this is an intervention.

Good

Nice one, really like the instrumentation

мечтательно и вау

Ge Wel Dig!

orgaanista musiikkia. massive sound... mieletöntä instrumentointia genrehyppimistä ja kaikki kuulostaa niin hyvältä.. Incoherent, pretentious, noodling, kolmen adjektiivin quota täytetty, tarkennusta? ei saatana ole tulossa.. sanotaan vaan...jotain... järisyttävä yleisön tuomio taas britpop faneilta... lampaat (three different ones) vai oliko siat heh... attack of the clones... protestivitosta tähän väliin ei muuta mahdollisuutta MIKÄ VITTU ON TÄÄ PRETENTIOUS SANA JOTA KÄYTETÄÄN VITUN USEIN NOISSA ARVOSTELUISSA??? HÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄH NYT JÄI AIVOIHIN LUKKOON JOKU TERMI TAAS POIS SIELTÄ POIS HUS!! the gnome

Très solide, du prog de fou a l'état pur. Liven plus ayoye. 5

so, so proggy a flawless, phenomenal record 10/10

sonzao tri, progressivo e tal, tocam muito

Long loved this since I got on vinyl back whenever!

Cool cool cool. Bardzo ciekawe progrockowe wykonanie Musorgskiego. 1971 rok, a czułem, jakbym słuchał czegoś świeżego - ale już mnie przestał dziwić fakt, że większość NOWOŚCI w muzyce pochodzi z lat 60 i 70 :P Przyjemne dla ucha, momentami zaskakujące, wciągające. Bardzo miła niespodzianka na liście.

I liked this album, but there's prog out there I'd rather listen to. Possibly my favorite thing about prog is how much it makes people mad. My favorite review someone wrote of this album was just: "Not fun at all. Weird and boring." God, I love the simplicity of that. "This music is yucky to my ears, it made me feel bad :("

I was the sort of pretentious twat who listened to this and loved it when I was a student. 20 years on and it's still great. There's nothing else quite like it. Not perfect but definitely one worth hearing.

Honestly not sure what to make of this! Some of it was honestly godawful and I had to skip through, but other parts were really cool. I guess that’s prog for you?!

Having known the band without ever hearing a single album, it's interesting that the first album to pop up on this challenge from them is a live one. I'm generally not a fan of live albums, or of live albums appearing on such lists - they need to be exceptional or have some exceptional story behind them for me to agree they should be included, rather than the usual 'important band released live album' shtick. Having now listened to this album, my review can be summed up in two words - 'mad bastards'

I liked parts of this - Rush is a favorite band of mine, so the prog rock elements shared between these two groups were welcome. But nothing really stood out as a rockin' good time for me. I am glad to have listened to EL&P finally though. Not sure how these staples of the prog rock community have fallen through the cracks in my listening experience.

This made me wonder how tastes change, and whether such a super nerdy call to play air organ could ever be hip again. I had fun with this, though it felt like the volume knob had been possessed by malign spirits at times. Fried keyboard blasts particularly pleased me.

I generally like prog rock, but there is something quite pretentious about ELP, so i've never really gotten into them and this album doesn't change things.

I wasn’t sure what to make of this performance until I learned Emerson, Lake & Palmer were reworking Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, a composer I’m not familiar with. The crowd is clearly into it, and I can respect what it must have taken to pull off something this elaborate live. Still, the art-rock theatrics and experimental stretches were off-putting to me—it often felt too artsy and self-indulgent for my taste. Impressive concept, but not a show I’d have wanted to sit through.

Not really sure how this adds to the original

This just isn't my thing. There were a couple of moments that I didn't mind. "The Sage" was alright, and so was "The Great Gates of Kiev". 2 stars.

Ok but not what I wanted for 500 albums!

Sometimes this album reminds of what it sounds like inside a music store. Sometimes relatively quiet, sometimes a lot of sounds, in your face drums next to what sometimes sounds like someone testing each of the many settings on the synthesizer. Occasional strains of familiar melodies. When the musicians are playing together, abrupt stops and starts and stylistic changes on a dime. The only throughline here is that the every musician uses every moment to beseech you to appreciate their chops. In fairness to them, I can hear the desperate psychology behind this music because I have been more generous than most in dedicating my youth to a similar cause. Another take: the difference between ELP and the Allman Brothers explains the difference between UK and USA. Thirdly: Where is the ELO-ELP supergroup? Finally: I'm razzing them, but any band that has an album titled Brain Salad Surgery deserves some respect.

Jesus

Prog rock at its toughest; classical work reimagined w lots of virtuosity and bravura. You need some guts to keep it from the beginning to the end

🤷🏻‍♂️ Yeah, not for me. I know this was a event where they were essentially performing some one else’s music, but it really just seemed like like a lot of random electric twitching for extended portions. Started to focus a bit near the end, I liked the portion about the Baba Yaga, the nutcracker portion was interesting.

Well that was silly.

Part of me wants to grade this higher, as it's an interesting idea and I feel like we should be rewarding ambition. However, I really didn't enjoy listening to it.

Quite shit

My toddler pulled the cord out of my sound dock while listening to this Nuff said

eugh that was nonense. Emerson, Lake & NONSENSE.

All instrumental prog rock. Just the worst part of the Pink Floyd records. Pass.

Not fun at all. Weird and boring.

Awesome stuff! Yet another reason I joined this project and have lasted nearly 900 albums though - to hear music like this. I had no idea this existed. The whole concept of taking a recognizable piano suite by Mussorgsky and converting it into an epic prog rock performance was one I wholly agreed with and appreciated. To finish it off with Nut Rocker was the cherry on top. This one has been added to my library. I didn’t get time yet to listen to the remaining tracks on the extended version but I have it bookmarked for one day soon.

About time a truly classic prog rock album came up in this thread. For their second album ELP chose to present a live interpretation of Mussorgsky's late nineteenth century piano suite. A bold move maybe, but they were ELP, a genre defining supergroup, and it was 1971 so they could do whatever they wanted! it's an album I've always loved, a bold interpretation of what was already a striking composition. They went on to make some epic records, (and at least one really dodgy one). ELP and other prog bands were also a gateway into a lot of classical music for me.

Rating this is a bit weird, but I guess I'm rating ELP'S cover rather than Pictures itself. I ended up listening to an orchesteal arrangement (Karajan on YT) just to compare ELP's version to something more traditional, even if the original song apparently was a piano arrangement. I really like ELP's take. It sounds very similar and I don't think their additions detract anything from the original piece. I'm not sure the vocals were strictly necessary, but I like Lake's voice, so I'm not complaining. Obviously, ELP's arrangement is more rock-y, but the original already goes kinda hard in places, so again, I don't feel like the electric guitars, synths and solos detract anything. I do think this still captures the feeling of walking through a museum, going from painting to painting, losing yourself inside their worlds. Overall, I ended up liking this way more than I expected - I really liked the way Pictures build up throughout the song, and finally ends in a bombastic manner. Also, I think this being a love album really elevated this - I'm not sure I would've liked it as much if it had been a studio album. Also, Nutrocker at the end was pretty funny.

This shit was crazy as fuck! I suspect that drugs were involved. 5

This was an adventurous album in it's day and ELP were a true super group. Emerson is the best keyboardist in my opinion. Lake a guitar virtuoso and Palmer a fantastic drummer. Hardly any vocals on these tracks of beautiful and emotional music.

It's prog! It's very pretentious, Rush-y, epic-scope sound that is all energy from moment one. So cool having a coked-out electric organ playing old Russian music and mixing that with 'modern' rock sensibility, it's so impressively coherent even if it gets a bit lost in its own sauce at times. But that's part of the incredibly sincere charm of the old-school analogue Moog voice. God, the Moog sounds absolutely magical here. Three talented musicians trying their absolute best to reign in a score that demands some incredible talent and they manage to barely hold it together. The crowd noise is somewhat of a distraction, but otherwise this one's great. It probably would have benefitted from a more thoughtful, more curated sound in a studio, but then it wouldn't really be invoking the kind of orchestral style it's aspiring for. The kind of music this list exists to surface. Fav tracks: The Hut of Baba Yaga, The Curse of Baba Yaga, The Sage, The Old Castle

Another gem! 5 stars! I love it when the album is so good I have to listen to it multiple times <3 I can't believe how similar some passages of The Sage are to some of the riffs in Dream Theater's A Change Of Season, DT surely had to take inspiration from this album. I also can't believe I didn't find anyone on the internet saying the same thing...

dvije petice za redom, je li moguće? da, jer je ovo naprosto nevjerojatno. odlično. možda zato što sam mislio da će bit sranje. elp me uopće nije privlačio, premda ih nisam slušao, činio mi se kao mim bend. a ovo je genijalno, divno. nadam se da su im ostali albumi podjednako dobri

BEST SONGS: - The Gnome - Blues Variation

Energetic, experimental, and phenomenal keyboard playing. This album was a treat to listen to. It was lively but also a but ominous at times but I still loved the shift between those dynamics and made the listening experience special. Also the fact that it was live and transitioned so beautifully. 9/10, Favorite Song: Blues Variation

This is fantastically wonderful. I love that the reviews on here describe the record as well if not better than the positive ones. Video game boss villain aliens invading the Catholic Church indeed!!!

excellent

4.7

This album grows roots in you. The classical and organ elements provide an anchor to the out-of-this-world keyboard and synth. Some jarring moments that make for interesting bites at you and lead seamlessly into mesmerizing sequences. The extreme pivots make for an addicting experience. Goes by too quick!

That was unexpectedly Epic.

wow, i'm a little blown away by this one. i am familiar enough with ELP, but haven't listened to anything beyond a couple of albums and a compilation here and there. this album rules! the live energy adds something great to this recording, and everything on here is super cool. i love the prog treatment of some classical classics. the musicianship is incredible, but that goes without saying. hidden gem!

How do you describe an album as "It's a live album of a keyboard-driven progressive rock band covering a 150 year old Russian romantic composer, and it sounds like video game boss music" And then GIVE IT A TWO⭐??? Crazy work.

This is a really cool fusion of classical music, jazz fusion, and Prog. Reminds me a lot of Return to aforever (specifically Romantic Warrior). Favorite Track: Blues Variation