Pictures At An Exhibition
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1971
Album Summary
Pictures at an Exhibition is a live album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in November 1971 on Island Records. It features the group's rock adaptation of Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky, performed at Newcastle City Hall on 26 March 1971. The band had performed the Mussorgsky piece since their live debut in August 1970, after keyboardist Keith Emerson had attended an orchestral performance of the piece several years before and pitched the idea to guitarist and frontman Greg Lake and drummer Carl Palmer, who agreed to adapt it while contributing sections to the arrangement. The album concludes with the concert's encore, "Nut Rocker". Pictures at an Exhibition went to number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and number 10 on the US Billboard 200. In 2001, it was reissued as a remastered edition that included a studio version of the piece recorded in 1993.
WikipediaIt'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'm a sucker for prog rock, I love this reimagining of classical songs. Will def revisit this one many times
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.....
Incoherent, pretentious, noodling.... this really isn’t for me. Why play 1 note when you can play 27!
Absolute garbage and I mean garbage - prog nonsense with piles of shitty organ, barely audible vocals, no songs worth a toss
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
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.
This might be one of the easiest 5s to give. Narrative, unique sounds, and excellent performances, ALL ON A LIVE ALBUM. Concise Beast.
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*.
Wild love album. Very cool take on some classical classics. There's not nearly enough organ in today's music.
I've loved ELP since I was a teenager. Yes, I know they are over the top pretentious art rock, but dammit they were also really, really good. Keith Emerson was to keyboards like Jimi Hendrix to guitars. Lake and Palmer are amazing in their own way also. I've owned this album on vinyl for many years but to be honest it's one of the ELP albums I've listened to the least. Not sure why that is because it's very good. 4 stars.
This is a weird album. Definitely not what I was expecting when I selected "Metal and Hard Rock" as the only genre for this list. It's pretty enjoyable though. Very good as background music to work too as well, which is something I've been lacking. Overall, good album.
I don't think this has aged as well as some other ELP records, but it's still pretty good.
The sheer audacity has to be admired. Is anyone trying to pull off this sort of highbrow goof in rock and roll land anymore? Would any major label dare greenlight it? It succeeds quite well as a prog rock album on its own merits as well, and has enough humor and high spirits to mostly dodge an indictment of tremendous pretentiousness. Mostly.
ELP were crazy and fantastically original. They got famous as a folk rock band; slow acoustic songs like Lucky Man and From the Beginning are their most well known tunes. But anyone who ACTUALLY knows ELP knows they epitomized keyboard-driven prog rock. Keith Emerson was the most skilled keyboardist of the 20th century. Easily. It's easy to arrive at this opinion after listening to ELP's first 4 studio albums, which showcase much better keyboard/piano work than this even this album does. I don't even listen to Pictures at an Exhibition all that much. What an insane mind he must have had to compose ELP's discography. And Carl Palmer was a MONSTER of a drummer. Crazy dexterity. I find that prog drummers (Bill Bruford, Phil Collins, Neil Peart) tend to be way more impressive than the traditionally chosen greatest rock drummers of all time. Plus ELP almost singlehandedly inspired the majority of 90s videogame music. Listen to Tarkus or the Karn Evil 9 suite if you don't believe me. If I had a nickel for every turn-based RPG battle theme that sounded like ELP... I can definitely understand why not everyone would enjoy this album. It's weird. But I dig it. Not nearly as good as Brain Salad Surgery though. I REALLY wish Pictures at an Exhibition WASN'T on this list, and that Brain Salad Surgery was instead. I don't love this one as much, so I was unsure whether to put 4 or 5. And because I was unsure I decided to put it as a 4/5 for now.
Speciaal album inderdaad. Maar de gekheidjes met het orgel vielen mij wel eens in de smaak
What a unique album. A classical suite reinterpreted and extended by a prog rock band. Fantastic sounding live album
Not sure what to think! This is so top class in its avant garde approach to prog rock and jazz fusion. I am very impressed, but hard to judge it against the conventional albums on the list.
Held my attention. Not something I would really listen to again. Sort of toed the line between pretentious and interesting. 3.5
Started off with a well-known classical piece played nicely on a pipe organ, and I thought to myself, "Maybe this one doesn't have any of the masturbatory prog rock bullshit, and that's why it's on the list." How foolish and naïve. There's a ton of musicianship here, and it's all very impressive, but I'm baffled by the person who plunks down $72 or whatever to go watch a guy play the Moog for what seems like hours. Best track: Promenade (the first one)
These are the same guys that had that Tarkus album. Another sort of strange progrock concept album. This one is played live and is an arrangement of a classical piano suite or something. Very few lyrics, its a lot of weirdness and moog synthesizers and stuff. Kinda fun, seems like you have to listen to the album as a whole, it would be strange to just randomly listen to these songs on their own.
Cool sounds, wasn't expecting some of them from the early 1970s. Organ playing was fierce, good jam band instrumental listen.
Wow, this is weird. Prog rock, lots of vintage keyboard and other weird sounds. Some of it almost symphonic. Not really my jam.
Enjoyed the quieter moments. When the tempo ramps up it sounds like a descent into madness. First class musicianship.
I can't say I enjoyed listening to this a lot, but I must say that the album is executed very well. Because of the live execution, the flow between tracks is amazing, The Sage sounds mesmerizing, The Old Castle is greatly ahead of its time and the energy certainly is there. I can see what they were trying, and I believe that a 3/5 is fair for this live portrayal.
Maybe ELP is an acquired taste. I listened to this and I enjoyed maybe half of it. I’ve enjoyed their studio stuff more than this
Now this is good. Not great necessarily, but a very solid good. And it made me realize that I really like ELP. I think I spent like two hours after I listened to this album listening to random ELP songs. So that's a strong feat.
This was a nice surprise. A prog adaption of a classical suite. I must say it was an intriguing and enjoyable listen. Particularly love Lake's playing of strings in this, especially in Sage. Palmer's drumming was pretty good and compliments the piece. Although Emerson did play the keyboards and the organ fantastically, I did find some of the synths at the end of some songs and throughout The Old Castle. I'm also not a big fan of the Nutcracker so it's rock adaption wasn't that enjoyable. Still a good album that's been saved on my phone.
This album was fine, but I honestly kept forgetting that I was listening to it. It didn't make me pay attention, nor did it annoy me in any way. I feel like this about a lot of 70s prog rock. It tends to just be...there. ELP are excellent musicians, and I think this would have been a super cool concert to go to, but as an album experience, it's forgettable 3/5
Prog rock for the seasoned basketcase. 3/5 PS: I'm now pretty sure RZA sampled this and not Mussorgsky for the intro to the Method Man 'Tical' album, which was an unexpected moment of clarity and stark realisation, sending me back in time over two decades to unravel my timeline and lived experience of earth. All in all, a veritable headfuck and an impending midlife crisis. Thanks, Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
baroque prog rock jam band with a _lot_ of synth keyboard. Reminds me of my hipster friends in high school, but not even nostalgia can pique my interest here.
Viel hörbarer als befürchtet. Das original habe ich im Musikunterricht nicht gerade würdigen können
Really enjoyed the use of synth and contemporary instruments. Actual muscians these guys
Well...it's different, I'll give you that... I love the diversity in this 1001-albums list and was actually pretty pleased to see this one on the list. It's not exactly entry-level ELP (which probably doesn't exist) as it's mostly a rock-classical hybrid cover of a Russian classical piece. The most impressive part is that they performed this entire suite live in one go which seems near-impossible. I'd never heard the entire album before ("Nut Rocker" at the end is the exception and not actually part of the full suite) so it was pretty fascinating to hear the interplay between the 3 guys and try to figure out how they did it. Oddly I feel like even though Greg Lake did the vocals for me I knew/know the least about him growing up as the other two got more acclaim - Lake's guitar playing is fantastic and there's no way a young Randy Rhodes didn't listen to him; *strong* echoes of his acoustic playing on Ozzy's "Diary of a Madman" in "The Sage" It's not at all an everyday album but holy hell these guys were A++ musicians and points alone for pulling this off in such a manner. Again not for everyone to be sure but a slice of history when an album like this could actually make the top-10. 7/10 3 stars
Grand, ambitious, and awesome. Honestly, I can't hear the original in any of the tracks besides "Promenade" but it's still really cool. I respect ELP a lot more than my initial reaction to Tarkus. Still inherently classical, with an ambient orchestral presence, incorporating volume well.
Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition fucking slaps, was pretty bored with this but then really picks up at baba yaga and gains this sense of fun that was missing from everything preceding. Also the crowd noise is immense and I love it.
Nut Rocker is a classic. Interesting Classical Rock sound. I can see why people like it. 3/5 for me now. Definitely one I'll keep in my playlist for a while. I think it will grow on me.
Genre: Symphonic Prog 3/5 Emerson, Lake & Palmer, one of prog's only true "supergroups", that being defined as a purposeful conglomerate of tremendous players who've already made, or have begun to make their respective marks on the genre (Liquid Tension Experiment is the only other one I can think of), rather than just being a band that are consisting of all tremendous players with generally the same lineup (Rush, Yes, etc.). Keith Emerson, master pianist, assembled along with him bassist/vocalist Greg Lake (pilfered from King Crimson), and drummer Carl Palmer (Atomic Rooster). Together, while all being tremendously talented, it never truly transcended beyond the prog rock fan, and I think that's for the clear and obvious signs of giant, skyscraping egos. And what better way to check a band's ego than by listening to their live album, a cover of an 1800s romantic era Russian piece composed by Modest Mussorgsky... Overall, I'm not generally against bands showcasing their mastery and talent, or even with classical crossover music (Days of Future Passed [WHICH ISN'T IN THIS BOOK, A TRAVESTY], Zappa, etc.), but this is an example of a band being truly up its own ass. When they break into the weird, like when Keith Emerson goes fucking crazy on his synthesizer, it's great and not awkward, or when Greg Lake lets his voice fly and the full band gallops along to him, it's great and not awkward. But when it's just Emerson quietly playing romantic era chord progressions on one of his many keyboards, while a few thousand of rock n' roll goofballs listen with quiet, intent ears, I cringe. This is cool, but almost totally unrelatable. Music doesn't have to be, and these guys do a decent job of arranging the music to fit some prog-rock tendencies, but I'm sure this went over a few heads that night. It nearly went over mine.
A British prog-rock super group's adaptation of a late 19th century classical suite... this could really only go one of two ways. I enjoyed this album more than I anticipated I would. The calm chill of 'The Sage' and the raging ramble of the BabaYaga series of tracks culminating into 'The Great Gates of Kiev' were the real standouts for me.
Well it was certainly something different. I can't imagine how anyone listening to this would consider it an essential "before you die" experience though.
I done the album Tarkus by them before and while I didn’t love it some bits were interesting so this might he good to go to… This live album starts off with promenade just a bunch of crowd cheering/ chatter then a short classical sounding instrumental. Then is the gnome it is a strange track at the start taking a while to sound cool highlight on here is the drums. Now there’s another track called promenade the first bit with lyrics! It’s really just some some lullaby though so nothing special. Now the sage is a song that I enjoyed it feels like a continuation of the last one but just longer and has a nice acoustic guitar solo ( not something I usually hear). The old castle isn’t that nice to listen to, yeah it’s interesting but weird noise in the start ruins it. It does come back on the more rocking second half of the song, but I don’t know it’s just better at that point still ruins a fine instrumental though. It goes into blues variation though which was an instrumental that I loved ( oh yeah and it’s also the first on here to be completely written by Emerson lake and palmer). Then we get the third and final track named promenade It’s much more similar instrumentally to the first part but has really anthemic drumming which makes it great for an interlude. Then there was the hut of baba yaga a very forgettable instrumental. Whereas the curse of baba yaga is actually quite cool on the album a high energy track ( where you can really tell it was written by Emerson lake and palmer). Then is the hut of baba yaga again this version is better though as the aggression is ramped up to the max. Now for the penultimate track (and the albums longest) the great gates of Kiev even though they don’t span the whole song this is by far the most lyrically led of the tracks which makes it really “epic” at the start the instrumental in the middle is fascinating but annoying then the last minute is crowd cheering so that’s good for them. The set ends with nutrocker just a rock adaptation of what i’am guessing is the nutcracker music ( but I’ve never been immersed enough in either classical music or the nutcracker to really care) I mean it’s good I guess. Overall,I’ve never liked the idea of live albums on the generator and I still don’t the album is a good piece of musicianship but not much else.
I love synth stuff, but I really don't like prog-synth stuff. It's guitar wankery but synths essentially. It is technically impressive but it doesn't move me in any way. Clearly ELP are talented, but it's not for me.
So impressed that was live! The British rock / classical blend is great. Pure talent to pull that off. Defiantly one to listen start to finish to get the full effect. Organ sound can be a bit much at times.
Like much of prog, bit's of this are really great Like much of prog, alot of this is self indulgent nonsense. TL:DR It's prog.
Progressive rock, 1971. "Pictures At An Exhibition" is a funny live record with catchy instrumentals and a interesting sound. For me it's a good album, but I also think that it is very far to be one of the best live records of all time.
I dunno, this is a bit too esoteric/"prog for prog's sake" for me, but some of the instrumental synth/bass/drum bits got going for a few min. 2/5.
This album went very fast, and faded into background music just as quickly. I found it very forgettable.
Onneksi otin kuunteluun 38 minuuttia kestävän originaaliversion enkä yli 2h deluxe-pläjäystä. En ole ihan riittävän sivistynyt ymmärtämään tai nauttimaan tällaisesta taide/progemeiningistä. Genren määrittäminenkin on aika vaikeata kun biisit poukkoilee ihan laidasta laitaan. The Great Gates of Kiev jäi mieleen positiivisesti "normaalina" biisinä, jota voisi kuunnella uudestaankin. Viimeisessä kappaleessa oli kova meininki.
🤷🏻♂️ 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.
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
Ei tällekään voi enempää kuin kaksi tähteä antaa. Paikoitellen ihan kivaa jamittelua, mutta osa sitten aika kokeellisen kuuloista. Tiedä sitten, jos tuntisi vähän paremmin tätä artistien tuotantoa. Nutrocker rokkasi kyllä kivasti.
Das Albumcover kannte ich, fand ich als Kind immer interessant. Die Musik ist nicht so meins
A bit wanky and pretentious. Tight as fuck rhythm section, though. Best track: Blues Variation
While I'm sure this worked as a live experience, there's not enough connective tissue to make something this proggy work on record. Without the visual experience of being there or the fidelity of a studio recording, the threads that tie this into a cohesive listening experience just aren't there.
Try to smell a meaner poker face of that audience. Some very good music technically, but not much cohesion
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
Ok... Det var da et mærkeligt koncept album. En slags teaterstykke i musik, opført live. Jeg ved slet ikke hvad jrg skal synes. Specielt godt er det i hvert fald ikke
Going to stick with the original. Really didn't enjoy this. The solo playing seemed frenetic and frantic. A struggle to complete. Thankful I didn't listen to the Deluxe version. Not added.
nothing was totally pleasing to me. it wasn’t bad, It just wasn’t incredible. I totally understand why people would like this but since there wasn’t much singing it just wasn’t the best!
I would have enjoyed it far more with less organ. Definitely has an audience, it's just not me.
This was a weird album. Not much singing and the music itself was kinda meh. I realize it is based off of classical music but I think I prefer the classical music.
Es ringt mir schon Respekt ab, die Verehrung wahrzunehmen, die dieser angejazzten special interest Ding zuteil wird. Ungläubige 2.2
OK, so they re-arranged some classical music, put it onto a live album, and then released it? Not unpleasant, just not sure why this needs to be here. Am I missing something?
Listened to on 2/17/22 2.5/5 Favorite Song: The Sage It’s not bad but also not good…? They said: “let’s play a shit ton of random noises and instruments at this concert”
Re-imagining of a Russian composer's works in glorious prog. Best Tracks: The Sage; Blues Variation; Nutrocker
It's a bit at the pretentious OTT end of the scale. Some incredible musicianship, and an early appearance of a Moog, but the album is a bit too noodly for my tastes - a four for importance, a one to listen to.
I'm a causal fan of ELP.. I have no idea why this was chosen. Tarkus, Trilogy or Brain Salad Surgery are much much better.
Usually like prog, but this was a bit too experimental for me. Too random, couldn't enjoy.
A rock suite constructed around a Modest Mussorgsky classical piece? I'd say this errs on the slightly pretentious side of prog-rock.
Well that was some full blown wankery. Glad I didn't listen to Tarkus. Now let me pluck a harmonic on my way to Canterbury Fair...
Somehow managed to be both melodramatic and utterly boring at the same time. Gives prog a bad name.
I really don’t like this. It is so all over the place and sounds like boss music when covering a 150 year old Russian composer. It just makes me uncomfortable. The music is good quality but not put together well.
Yeah this wasn’t for me. There was just not much to take from this outside the strangeness of the instrumentation and the puzzling nature of why people dig this.
Normally I would try and write this a bit more subtle and less crude. I actually like symphonic rock but thought this was a whole bunch of wank. One extra star for the musicianship
The volume levels are horrendous on this. At times I have to crank my volumes by 20 to 30 percent to be able to hear anything and others I have to drop them below normal to be able to not burst my eardrums. It's a live album so that might be some of it, but I think it was mostly intentional. I didn't dislike this album, but I don't think it is necessarily belongs on this list. It wasn't bad but it isn't that great of an album in my opinion.
No clue what style this album was going to be. It's an instrumental album I believe. oh wait they started singing really softly. they're kinda weird. I don't think this is for me.
Kinda cool to make a rock show out of Pictures at an Exhibition but didn't work for me.
Just mindless singing (and it's not even good singing) but mostly jamming. Has early electric piano. All songs blend from one into another so who can tell anything apart. 1/10.
What the heck was that? Somewhat self-indulgent. I think I'd have been quite bored sitting through it. Don't get it at all.
Didn't really get this, is it prog Rock versions of a certain composer's (Mussorgsky?) work. I didn't enjoy anyway.
What was this - it sounded like my high school's band. And this was a live album with people cheering, WTF!!!!!
Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of weird but this album is bad. Prog rock is iconic but this is nonsense from start to finish. Only the live version was available on Spotify and if I paid money to listen to that I’d be livid. This is the first record I’m actually startled has made it to this list. I knew the name of the band and I was excited to listed to them but this was genuinely nonsensical.
Appreciate the effort that probably went into this but my god this is a terrible listen. Amazing if you like pipe organs I guess.
24th February 2022 Listened throughout the day while working from home, taking the car for a service etc. chilled in the evening and watched edge of war. Russia invades Ukraine. Not for me. Never understood prog rock and don’t think I ever will!
I never heard/listened to this when it came out I wish I would have kept that streak going. Sucks!!!!!!
De tering..... wie gaat er nou ooit eens lekker voor zitten om dit te beluisteren? Om een zenuwinzinking van te krijgen. 😫
I can understand why it’s on this list but it’s so hard for me to enjoy a live album. Especially this one that seems like it’s more impress in person. As a recording it just felt like a rock rendition of classics music which isn’t something I particularly would listen to. This may be impressive but it’s not for me. 2.3/10