Pictures At An Exhibition

Pictures at and Exhibition ‘Is this a joke, is this some kind of joke?’ I didn’t not enjoy this, but I didn’t quite enjoy it either. It’s not Keith Emerson’s fault that at the time all the noises he was making on his Moog were novel and futuristic, but now they sound completely daft, and they undercut the proggish self importance and seriousness with which they tackle Mussorgsky’s music. This is most egregious on The Gnome, where it also sounds like the bass is imitating springs pinging off the Hammond while Emerson presses ‘space laser’ on his Moog. There’s no questioning the virtuosic skill of ELP, and on the Great Gates of Kiev Greg Lake and Carl Palmer hit a superb groove, and there are moments, when they and Emerson’s organ and vocals come together, that are genuinely fantastic. But then they too often thwart themselves by adding absurd noises or fall into overwrought Prog cliche and melodrama and when you factor in that it's an uneven live recording it all just feels rather silly. I didn’t enjoy Tarkus much, but I would probably be interested in hearing this as a studio album. But as it is I don’t think I’ll come back to it, so I’ll go 2. 🖼️🖼️ Playlist submission: The Great Gates of Kiev

Nutrocker is an exploration of the waltzers. Totally unnecessary live album, ruins the intricacy of the music in how it is meant to be listened. A little indulgent for my taste.

I didn't get it.

I just find this type of prog mostly repulsive. Sorry ELP, it's not (fully) your fault.

I had to listen to Tarkus a week ago. I just can't with this organ. Come on. I imagine them jamming and whichever one of them plays the organ just keeps turning it up until it's just drowning out absolutely everything.

This is a perfect example of why there shouldn't be live albums on the list. Nothing about the fact that this is live improves the album. It's just a recording from some gigs, nothing unique about them. The sound quality suffers and the live aspect adds nothing. I would have definitely enjoyed this more if it was a studio album. 2.5 as it's annoyed me and I would've really liked it if it was not live probably

It’s weird. I get why it’s on the list, I appreciate the musical exploration, it’s just not really my thing.

Definitely not for me.

Nope 1*

a lot of racket

p243. 1971. 1 star. A live prog rock album. Don't like live albums. Don't like prog rock. Fuck no. If I want to listen to classical music, I'll find an orchestra.

That was fun all the way through and didn't really sound like a live album from 1971. The jams were fun, but I wish some of them explored a little more.

2,5

Ok now I get some of the hate for prog rock back then. This was not great. At least it was short.

Wow, 2 ELPs in a week. This album seems more of a freeform jam and less of the structured songs I prefer from them. I just read that it's their rendition of a Russian Composer's suite, I guess that's why it sounds so different from their normal stuff. Not a bad listen but definitely not the album I would go for when I want to listen to them

Prog rock like this is hard to digest in one listen. I'll give it 3 for now and try to listen again.

Mostly an instrumental album, the most different thing I've ever listened to. I liked, but not for listen all the time, I think is almost impossible listen this album every day, final moment of the side B is extraordinary. 6 out of 10.

Kinda hated the weird plinky plonky synth noises of this but it was still better than a lot of things on this list. Plus these guys believe in Father Christmas so...

Uhhhh

Didn't know what to expect, some pretty out there stuff on here. Not terrible, will never listen again

⭐⭐ Live album. Mest jobbigt att lyssna på. Skickliga musiker som är måna om att det ska märkas, ibland känns det som att de improviserar allt eftersom och inte på ett bra sätt. Hela albumet känns som att bandet bara försöker visa hur duktiga de är på sina instrument. Stundtals låter det som tv-spels musik med en jobbig orgel. Det får bli en 2a tack vare att jag ändå gillar Nutrocker. Bäst är Nutrocker

Meh

It gets the prog rock buff, though it's a little jammy and aimless. It still sounds good

Fun, jammy, groovy, but sort of directionless ultimately, even for a live album. I do wish the songs here were more developed because the playing itself is really solid, but as it stands, it sounds like the coasting parts of all my favourite prog songs, without the explosive bits. Moreso just a compilation of neat ideas. I do like how cutesy the organ melodies are all over this thing - they border on circus-y, but still pretty earwormy. Still, highlights were the insanely funky organ-driven 'Blue Variation', whenever they brought in that 'Promenade' melody, and the undeniable album climax with 'The Great Gates of Kiev'.

What even is this noise? (1/5)

Um Live bem interessante de uma banda que brincava de fazer música. Tem várias coisas que chamam a atenção nesse show, como por exemplo a forma de brincar com as guitarras usando vários tipos de riff, os instrumentos que soam como músicas de circo, e algo muito chamativo é a diferença de atenção do público que escuta uma música inteira em silêncio pra só depois gritar, aplaudir, bem diferente dos shows de hoje em dia. Também tive que escutar alguma coisa da banda após esse Live pois conhecia muito pouco do que ela fazia, mas de forma geral é um tipo de som bem interessante e com certeza deu luz a tudo que vemos hoje em dia que remete a progressivo.

non mi dice nulla, di loro vedi altro

Like the other EL&P album we had, this is the side of prog I like. No extended weird sections to pad the run time, it all feels intentional. Maybe my closest band to Yes in prog ranks. Apart from a bit of crowd noise it was as tight as a studio album so the live aspect wasn't as off putting as usual. I'll drop a mark for it all being this sort of classical harpsichord tinged sound, to call it samey would be unfair but it could do with a little more variety. Still a solid 4.

Was looking forward to this but was pretty disappointed

Ok for what it is

This is exactly what I expected an ELP live album to be; lots of keyboard soloing and symphonic-influenced prog rock. It was a pretty enjoyable experience, I say as someone who already likes ELP quite a bit. Yes, they are probably the most pretentious band in existence, but they are very talented and their songs are actually surprisingly engaging, so they're still a band I rather like. I can't say this is their best work, however, though it does keep it's songs to bite-size lengths. This album is ranked #36 of 37 albums for 1971. Other 1971 albums rated by me: Led Zeppelin IV(1/37)-5 Who's Next(5/37)-5 Sticky Fingers(6/37)-4 Pearl(7/37)-5 L. A. Woman(8/37)-3 Maggot Brain(9/37)-4 Electric Warrior(11/37)-3 Imagine(14/37)-4 Fela Kuti Live!(15/37)-4 Nilsson Schmilsson(16/37)-4 Coat of Many Colors(18/37)-5 At Fillmore East(19/37)-4 Surf's Up(22/37)-4 Every Picture Tells A Story(25/37)-4 Songs of Love and Hate(29/38)-5 Tago Mago(33/37)-4 Histoire de Melody Nelson(35/37)-1

music is love

Now that's how you do the Nutcracker!!

i have a slight headache

Pas dispo sur Deezer, il y a que la version live

La verdad que fue raro. No esperaba que me guste, pero, en cierta manera, se disfrutó. Tuvo partes extrañas y medio pesadas, pero en general fue buena música.

Acid piano and a live album? No thanks

Ehkä paskinta progea mitä oon ikinä joutunut kuulemaan. Ja yleensä olen tykännyt varsinkin tämän ajan progelevyistä. Tämä livelevy kuullostaa lähinnä parodialta.

Prefer the orchestra but this was fine - funny hearing the crowd go wild for the noodling segments

Daaamn that's a long ass album! Thought I wasn't gonna enjoy it but actually it's pretty good, somme godd and some less good stuff but overall, pretty cool

The two star rating is mostly out of spite and because i needed a reason to stop listening to this.

Сатана блять, я бы лучше послушал Мусоргского, чем длинную и почти бессловесную отсылочку к нему, сначала думал что это мучение будет длиться 2 часа, но хвала небесам это оказалось фейком - иначе бы я возможно не выжил Но всё-таки лучше это, чем рэперы

Видимо не мой композитор

Состав Челси выглядит прекрасно

три раза мусоргского слышал, проверял не стоит ли у меня случайно рандомная песня в споти, оказалось - так и задумано мне все понравилось - 3.5 думал даже больше поставить

This was an album (and band) that some of my friends growing up in the 70's insisted we listen to when hanging in their bedroom or basement. I never got it. No matter what state of inebriation I was, I just never cared for ELP. I assumed I would feel the same way today, when this came up from the generator. The only hope I had is that I have a much better appreciation for symphonic music than I did back then, so maybe I'd have a more open mind? Alas I did not. I still thought it was pretty boring. If I wanted to hear most of this I'd prefer going to the symphony rather than sitting through ELP or any band playing it. There were some ok moments-The Hut of Baba Yaga Pt. 1 or Nutrocker were tolerable-but I'd rather not have to listen to all of it to get those songs.

eu discordo do amigo comentarista nesse aqui pra mim é horrível sim

eh exatamente o que se propos a ser: uma adaptação de música clássica feita por uma banda de prog. o que não é horrível. mas também tá longe de ser bom. ou minimamente interessante.

Obviously talented but I don't really need this. However, it didn't get under my skin the way I thought it would so that has to be worth something.

An boring album I've never heard and a pretty bad attempt at a rock opera. 2/5

Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Pictures at an Exhibition (1971) On Day 265, this record made me understand why freeform, improvisational styles drive so many listeners away. Too much of the performance felt like directionless noise, prioritizing endless technical display over compelling songwriting. There were brief moments of genuine relief such as the melodic warmth and delicate acoustic craft of "The Sage" but those instances were far too scarce to salvage the overarching chaos. An exhausting, overly indulgent listen. A generous 2/5.

I thought I knew what bad music was. Then I heard Pictures At An Exhibition. Now, a whole new, unpreviously-before-imagined world of shittiness has splayed itself before me. I hardly recall the old days now.

Ok, one good thing about listening to this album: I will never again confuse Emerson Lake and Palmer with Crosby Stills Nash and Young. That’s they only good thing though, because I still really dislike prog rock.

Nah

Okay hell yessss I’ve never heard this or really spent a whole lot of time w these guys but this listen reignited my love and curiosity for prog rock specifically this era. I love this albums before I die generator so hard!

The tough part about any ELP output is how dated a lot of it sounds. Which is a shame, because the musicianship and performances are top notch. But Emerson's synthesizers are definitely a product of their time, and a less-than-stellar recording doesn't help things. Still there's a lot to enjoy from a talent and experimentation perspective, especially on the B side. Top tracks: The Hut of Baba Yaga 1 & 2, The Curse of Baba Yaga, The Great Gates of Kiev

Great musicians but too heavy on the synthesizer. Got a bit monotonous.

zzzzzzzzz

Boring

чет херня

This album is bad, I think? It’s kind of hard to tell. It has so many weird ideas and I’m not entirely sure I can say which ones work or don’t. It’s an interesting listen at least. I wasn’t bored at all during it. At times I was amused and even had fun. But at the same time, there’s long stretches of weird repetitive organ nonsense. I don’t think I’d ever listen to it again. But it also ends with Nutrocker, which is just so out of left field and delightful in bad ways

A little shocked by how little I cared about this one. Relating it to the cover - it just seemed to sit there. . . empty.

Wow ... so the only ELP on this list is Tarkus (thank you at least for that) and a Live album. Shame. Also ... if you are going to have a Live ELP album, dont you think it should be longer than 38 minutes? A bit disappointed.

Bien bien

GASA ABBASTANZA. PUTROPPO NON HO POTUTO SENTIRE LA TRACCIA FINALE IN QUANTO NON DISPONIBILE. L'USO DEI SINTETIZZATORI MI HA SINTETIZZATO LA SPINA DORSALE (COSA POSITIVA). NON DO PIU' DI 3. 3/5

Lovely pretentious sounds! I like a bunch of very pretentious music. For some reason, the idea of directly adapting classical pieces like this into prog is a specific type of pretentious that blocks me from fully loving it. There is some awesome stuff though. Some of the bass work is brilliant and I love the tones. There are some lovely textured synths and effects.

1. Ban all live albums 2. I guess sometimes we need to listen to “experimental” and “unique” music on the list.

I think they hit the nail on the head with the album's objectives, as it really does sound like an Art Exhibition. It is a very prog album with that organ sound. Lakes' vocals are pretty horrific, but I'm glad it's used sparingly. idk, it feels like a pretentious pick, but it honestly isn't that bad.

Probably good on paper to redo these classical pieces in prog rock form. And the end product isn't really that bad just kinda annoying overuse of synths and the absence of any clear musical themes. Im sure ELP super fans would argue that. But I really liked Tarkus, and this one was just okay.

Not exactly Rock Me Amadeus is it?

back to back Live albums, joy! ends on a banger

Do you have kids? Were you once a kid? Either way, you probably can know an example of a kid who always seems to bring out the worst in other kids - that kid who shows up and somehow every other kid forgets everything they ever knew about how to behave. Maybe you can even think of an adult example. Anyway, "Live Recording" is that kid for Progressive Rock. These two should never be allowed together. Is this a fun and silly idea? Absolutely! I'd even go so far as to say it was absolutely great that they performed it... but they didn't need to commit to the bit this hard. Let this be one of those legendary things your band did while it gallivanted around the world in the heyday of rock & roll.

Jesus fuckin pretension, Batman

A good example of “just because you can doesn’t mean you should…” This might’ve been more entertaining live but goodness does it sound like a mess on record. I love prog rock and I couldn’t even get through all of this without thinking “This is too much and it sounds awful.” The fact I also don’t care for Modest Mussorgsky save for “Night at Bald Mountain” (and they chose Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” to end with instead for some weird reason!) only made me want to power through it. Didn’t like it, don’t want to listen to it again, first true dud I’ve gotten so far with this project. (1.5/5)

Can’t deny the technical prowess, even if I’m not a prog rock fan. LOVED the Nutrocker of course!

Pictures are blank, shame the music isn't. Bad idea.

2/10… art rock / progressive rock / *1971

Content is terrible. Couldn't listen to the entire album.

Jovisst

Kul och oväntad banger, intressanta referenser och sound rakt igenom.

Blandad kompott. Ibland riktigt nice!

Lite för psykadeliskt.

Not having it

The “Pictures at an Exhibition” concert by Emerson, Lake & Palmer must have been impressive. I imagine how the band interacted with the audience while Keith Emerson pulled out all the stops on his organ. It’s easy to picture the musicians communicating with each other through glances during the more densely arranged passages. The atmosphere in the hall might have ranged from intense tension at the beginning to euphoria at the end of “Blues Variation” to relaxed excitement before “Nutrocker". The problem is: none of that is truly captured in the recording. So if you weren’t there (e.g., because you were born after 1971), the only basis for evaluation is the audio tracks - and they are spectacular in places. However, there are certainly some taxing passages as well, the worst of which comes right at the beginning with the fairly faithful recitation of the source material. I’d even go so far as to say that the band doesn’t really loosen up until after the aforementioned “Blues Variation” - and from there on, the album is genuinely fun. How do you rate something like this? On the one hand, the second half is really great; on the other hand, in my view, Emerson, Lake & Palmer actually missed the chance to create an undisputed legend because of the way they structured the setlist. But perhaps that’s also due to the source material, which doesn’t exactly come across as appealing at first glance either. I’ll give it - albeit a very narrow - 5 stars.

I can appreciate a lot about the album, especially considering the year it released, however, this might be something only Prog rock purists can love? I enjoyed the experience, but I wouldn’t seek it out again. It’s probably a 2.5 for me.

I listened to this once and remember very little apart from the fact it has a perfectly OK cover of Nutrocker. It just wasn't very memorable. Nor did I hate it.

this kind of rubbed me the wrong way today. too much going on and at the same time not enough.

I listened the nutcracker track at the end of this the other day and hated it. The nutcracker suite is wall to wall bangers and this sounded like one of those fairground organs. I hated it. On top of that I own a cd of another elp live album and I've never got past fanfare for the common man, the rest was naff. So my hopes for the rest of this were very low. It's quite good. A little cheesy keyboard heavy, but it's all played well and it's interesting. Good arrangements. Quite fun generally. I'll definitely give it another listen when I'm not also reading a document about remote control cameras.

Qué bacano

I liked their Armadillo Train album a lot more than this one. This was like a ten-year-old who has discovered synthesiser.

I don’t know, symphonic rock is just not my genre, I guess; a lot of the organs and synths and sounds I find a bit cringe and annoying. There are some nice moments though, and from what I understand the theme of this album (their take on some classical pieces - I only really recognised the theme from “Nutrocker”) is pretty cool. But in the end, not cool enough to keep me engaged.

Está bien que alguien nos recuerde que existen otras músicas como la clásica, pero no me entusiasman los discos en directo, por lo que prefiero otros discos de ELP

Not bad.

I don't think this live album lives up to the "listen to before you die" part of this list. There's some good energy here, but I don't plan on ever listening to this again.

Nutrocker

Listened before?: never Promenade (1) - 1/5 The Gnome - 2/5 Promenade (2) - no rating The Sage - 3/5 The Old Castle - 1/5 Blues Variation - 3/5 Promenade (3) - 2/5 The Hut of Baba Yaga (1) - 2/5 The Curse of Baba Yaga - 4/5 The Hut of Baba Yaga (2) - 2/5 The Great Gates of Kiev / The End / Nutrocker - 3/5 Average score: 2.3/5 ⭐⭐ i dunno. ELP'S music has always been hit-or-miss for me, and this is a miss for me personally. they're obviously very skilled performers, but that fact doesn't really do anything to improve my enjoyment. i like other prog acts, but apparently i do not care for these guys from what i've heard so far

Did not like it. Although the sounds were quite unique, the album itself sounded quite chaotic and eclectic

That organ!

i love prog rock and this one was really remarkable for me tbh!!!

cool in concept but just a bit too much droning electronic noise for my taste sorry :(