Pictures At An Exhibition

Wankery I love it’s so good I can’t stop laughing I just can’t get it off the ground and it’s not good I don’t like the idea but it’s the way I feel and it’s not even good and it’s just so bad and it’s just a lot more than it was like a little more like I just can’t stop crying and it’s like a little sad I just want you know that I’m so happy

It has highs and lows, and sort of averages out. Some songs are really good, others are pretty much just improvised garbage. I really enjoyed listening though, because it's short and experimental. Entertaining for sure. Also the fact that this is played live is pretty incredible, especially for 71'.

If a Prog Rock Super Group isn’t Super does ft make it better? No. No it doesn’t.

1/10 On top of not being my type of music, I don't like listen to live performances

Weird

Experimental / orchestral rock

fun

What an awful gig to subject yourself to. Very much wanky, noodly prog. Utterly tedious. Fucking weird. Jarringly inconsistent. 1.5 rounded up.

classicccccccc i played this in band back in the day

Zuhause, Gerstetten, Deutschland. Was für ein Müll.

Meh

Pretentious 70s Prog. Some good stuff, some exhausting.

Long cool acid trip

This album is extraordinary, such a powerful adaptation that sounds extremely unique, so virtuous, with a lot of fun, energy, so many layers and a great live recording that, at times, makes you wonder if it is still live because of the polished sound of the album. This Emerson, Lake & Palmer album is certainly delightful, not an album easy to digest, but surely one that catches you since its first notes and that evolves to be a grandiose album, so well delivered, rich in sounds and layers and with excellent arrangements. The synths in this album are insanely good. It is simply amazing, so complex yet so wonderful to listen to.

No thanks. 👎

I liked some of it. I was indifferent to some of it.

Pretty succinct for Prog. Excellent organ, but nothing else stood out for me.

I mean, it's a bit bizzare but I feel like all classical music is a bit like that. It's very interesting though, because it's pretty hard to play stuff like this, let alone reinvent and add lyrics to it. This is also a great piece by Mussorgsky. I liked this, and considering that there isn't any classical pieces on this list, I'll take it.

Cool concept. Interesting sounds. Not my favorite of theirs by any means.

Uno de los mejores álbumes en vivo que he escuchado hasta ahora Me parece que a pesar de probablemente no tener los medios para promocionar más su sonido, el talento no tiene ninguna discusión y este álbum lo demuestra The Old Castle fue mi parte favorita de este concierto Describiría su sonido como un rock, que pasa por momentos más progresivos, luego blues, luego psych Puede que los interludios se sientan algo repetitivos Piano u órgano fueron tocados a otro nivel, se siente muy a The Doors de hecho Recomendable y reescuchable

I've heard the local symphony do Pictures at an Exhibition and thought it was pretty good. The prog version of these songs are nowhere near as good as the orchestral ones; it's just plain bizarre. At least I'm getting a good laugh in.

It’s a shame—my wife plays pieces from *Pictures at an Exhibition* on the piano. Although I didn’t really connect with piano music at first—especially not with the sometimes rather gloomy Ukrainian composers—I ended up really liking some of the pieces after listening to them several times. So I was curious to see how ELP would handle them. I recognized the “Promenades,” but unfortunately not the rest. I was particularly disappointed by “The Old Castle.” The only thing I really liked was the piece, “Nutrocker.” 3/5

Virtuoso musicians. They didn't move me.

The Baba Yaga stuff was interesting only in that I'm running a DnD campaign based off the mythical witch. But this album is not for me. I did not like one second of it. Bonus point for the attempt though.

It's an interesting concept, to reimagine an entire classical piano suite as a progressive rock performance, but, why? I mean, they're called out as a progressive rock band in their Wikipedia page, but playing classical music is kind of the antithesis of progressive rock, no? Sure, they made it weird, so... Progressive? I dunno. This was weird and one too many 70s prog rock albums within a week after The Yes Album a few days ago.

Tempted to give this a 2 just because I love Mussorgsky, but…… come on guys, this is fucking stupid music. Need to go and listen to the actual Pictures at an Exhibition after this as a palate cleanser.

Meh. Was too much alt experimental rock for me.

Terrific background—interesting enough without being intrusive. And very pretty

As someone who likes classical music, prog rock/metal and rock/metal musicians covering classical music this was right up my alley. While not.my favorite instance of a rock band covering classical music (that belongs to The Human Abstract covering Moonlight Sonata) its a enjoyable and valiant effort and I could've done a lot worse for a Tuesday. 4/5

Wild and crazy, impressive but not super enjoyable

Progressive rock built from virtuosic keyboards, explosive drumming, dynamic arrangements, and theatrical vocals feels like touring a grand palace where every room has been redesigned to demonstrate the architect's brilliance rather than to make anyone feel at home. The musicianship is undeniably impressive, but for me the constant displays of virtuosity simply came across as self-indulgent. While the reinterpretation is ambitious and full of technical flair, I found myself admiring the craftsmanship while disliking the experience.

Aside from Tarkus more than two and a half years ago (near the beginning of my 1001 Albums journey), I haven't touched ELP. Perhaps for good reason. The parts of this version of Pictures At An Exhibition that are taken directly from Mussorgsky are fantastic (and I'm not taking any naysayers), but the more ELP-penned tracks are less so. Case in point: That melody in Promenade will never cease to amaze, no matter who performs it. Even though ELP's version technically uses organ and just about nothing else, it's still a highlight. Props to Mussorgsky, I guess. The Gnome diverges slightly more from the original Romantic-era composition, what with crazed synths and basses going every which way – but you can hear the great melody shining underneath the noise. I get a strong whiff of Epitaph (King Crimson) from The Sage, ELP's first true composition on the record. It's good, but ultimately just a simple folk tune with vocals and acoustic guitar isn't anything revolutionary. Now The Old Castle... this is what I'm talking about. Insane interaction between synth, bass, and drums. They're all playing slightly varying melodies, but man, they work so well together. The synth acts as the frontman, zipping every which way over the top and leaving the audiences confused yet excited. A seamless transition into the similarly great Blues Variation, and we're off to the races. This track, while pretty fun in its own right, really does just act as a bluesy continuation of The Old Castle. The Baba Yaga trilogy... Well. Certainly an experience. The Hut is manageable enough on the brain, mainly featuring some cool tritone melodies. The Curse, though, is where ELP goes off the rails and completely loses me. The music, it's just... not approachable at all. How can I groove to this? When will I (or anyone, for that matter) be in the mood for some goofy, ultra-fast drumming underlying equally fast synth and bass lines that seem to switch keys every couple of seconds? (Either that, or no key centre at all. Doesn't matter. If you lose touch with your audience, they won't come back for more. As demonstrated by the Spotify streaming numbers on this album overall.) The Hut poses much the same issue. The listener breathes a sigh of relief at the return of a more well-known Mussorgsky contribution, The Great Gates Of Kiev. Nutrocker is also a familiar melody and a decent (if goofy) way to send off the album. 3/5 Key tracks: Promenade, The Old Castle, Blues Variation

ELP doing some classical music. Got better as the album went on, "Nutrocker" is pretty funny as an encore

1.55

Immer noch gut

Not for me

So much of it is nearly enjoyable but it’s a bit of a slog. I’m quite relieved I don’t like to go to these kinds of gigs that often anymore.

not my thing

Oh quite nice as a live album. Didn’t know it was recorded live. It’s a nicely wrapped album. The nut cracker is good but they won’t get many credits for that unfortunately. I can imagine if you were at their concert it would have been an amazing experience.

it was an interesting one, for sure. but not really my speed. overall, i guess this would be a cool show to go to. but, this recording just didn't do a ton for me.

The prog rock really sneaks up on you in this one. Three songs in I was still wondering when it was gonna show up before it became prog rock band jam time. Not a bad album, started slow and then builds enough to keep the listener engaged.

That was interesting! It's a cool concept. Can I go back to it? Probably not. It's a one and done album for me, but I'm glad I listened to it.

What the hell was that? Fuck you for making me listen to that! I hate you so much!

4 stars for "Nutrocker", the adaptation of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker alone! Listeners, relax and have some fun! Adapting a 150 year Russian opera by Mussorgsky into a proper rock opera is a real achievement to conceive and perform. I really enjoyed this. I can nothing more than tip my hat and say, "Well done gentleman!" I just wish that there had been a complete studio recording of this opera. I would have preferred not to hear the audience interruptions. I would have given it 5 stars for originality and technical achievement, but the audience interruptions reduced my experience down to 4 stars. I am convinced that this album, in particular, inspired Rush's later turn towards analog synths and in particular their truly breakthrough album 2112, and I am here for it!

It took me quite some time to get into this, but after that I loved it. Still interesting, even if the experimental parts are slightly annoying. You can't kill a good tune, and Mussorgsky delivered quite a few of those.

First of all, I love Pictures At An Exhibition. I like the various classical adaption, I especially like Tomita's synth version, but somehow I never listened to ELP's rendition, maybe because they just took 4 pieces and I thought that this was a bad choice. Today, I had to. Well, I wasn't disappointed. Great live performance, and I especially liked the inclusion of the pipe organ.

I like this for what it is, which is really talented musician's being self indulgent and loving a solo. It is the opposite of funky or soulful but has its merits nontheless.

Yuck, another live album.

Matthias bitting Musik. Art Rock/prog irgendwie albern mit klassik elementen

This is one of those albums I had already heard before it came up through this generator. I already had a lot of respect for this album, mainly from the perspective of it being an early innovative progressive rock piece with heavy use of early synthesizers. Now that I’m looking deeper into it and learning that it’s really a progressive rock adaptation of a well-known classical suite, I have even more respect for their attempt to bridge classical music and early experimental progressive rock. It was a highly innovative endeavor for its time.

Well now this album being here fucks all kinds of things up. If this is an interpretation of a classical piece why the fuck isn’t the much more important Switched on Bach on here. I thought that was because classical albums didn’t count! Also! WHAT IS HAPPENING. The fact there’s LYRICS??? I kind of love this for its sheer audacity. It’s TERRIBLE, literally less than the sum of its parts. But it did make me laugh so

More interesting than some prog rock, but still hard for me to get into.

Nope, nope, nope.

Prog rock live levy. Siistiä kamaa kyllä. Aika villiä ja kokeellistakin. En osaa muuta sanoa kuin siistiä. Parhaat kappaleetkin vaikea sanoa kun tää on yhtenäinen kokemus, mutta ehkä paras: Blues Variation

I wasn't really digging this album in the beginning. It's kind of a lot to take in and find a groove with. There are moments that go hard in a good way, but some of it is just not a smooth adaptation IMO. I think it's solid in The Great Gates of Kiev. Overall, I thought the album was okay.

This is the kind of album that really gave prog rock a bad name.

It is pretty good until someone breaks out the synth and starts playing weird shit on a perfectly good song.

Good

What can I write? Another live album, just not a fan. I get why live albums are great for those who love a particular group; however, for those of us who aren't fans, they are more like torture. Ugh, almost 2 hours of this music? noise? Some of the parts of the songs I liked, but other parts were just forever. If I had to recognize any songs, I would state that the acoustic guitar made the song titled, "The Sage" the best. I, also, appreciated the reworking of "The Nutcracker" to give it a more modern twist. I wasn't really a fan of it, but I could recognize some of the classical music.

EGO, excuse me, ELP can't leave well enough alone - instead of performing straight renditions of Mussorgsky's work, they have to 1) glue on their own lyrics, 2) add new pieces of their own that riff off of (or rip off) Mussorgsky's ideas and 3) tack on a dumbed-down, rocked-up work by another composer. ELP treats the audience like a bunch of children who would get itchy listening to plain old classical music so they decided to turn it into the aural equivalent of junk food.

Can’t remember

Exhausting.

interesting. feels both medieval and futuristic, and i liked that.

The musicianship is top-notch.

gave me a good chuckle

This is possibly the closet this list has to classical music. This isn’t for me, but I’m sure that it was electric live

Tää bändin nimi kuulostaa siltä että ne vois muodostaa keskikentän valioliigassa, mutta musa ei oikee lähe

Vähän turhan häröä settiä, varsinkin alussa. Jotain ideaa parissa biisissä oli sentään.

Jaa no tää on samalta vuojelta kun se aiempi elppi, jota luukutettiin. Tässä kun ollaan elävänä Euroopassa, niin meno ei ylly niin pilutteluks. Aika tyhjä taulu jäi kannen innottamana myös fiilariks. Varmaan viis kautta viis jos fänittäs mut kun ei, niin iha jees.

Ei omaan korvaan mitään järkeä.

I just hate live albums - this was interminable. Never thought I would turn against organ music.

A fun experiment. Now I’m interested in the original. This version’s synth sound was too much.

It was ok - I guess it is clever and experimental, but not really for me

Ok so I'm not a prog rock guy, but I kind of thought this would be cool. It's not. Granted this is probably not the ideal way to hear ELP at length for the first time, but it's one of those things where they were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should (Insert Jeff Goldblum gif here).

Organ is cool.

Progslop. Doing wayyyy too much. I’m sure it’s fun live with a drink or two, but it’s just too much for a sit-down album listen.

Inconsistente y rarisimo, no te puedo separar las canciones entre ellas 4/10

Not my thing, I didn’t actually finish listening to it

I enjoyed this. I don't really see the point of live albums but apart from a couple of times, the crowd noise wasn't too grating and the band sounded ace

I can think of 100 other albums that could be on this list other than this one.

Not a big prof fan

Ehhhh, not the worst. Listened at work, thankfully, and not in the car where I never could have finished it. Not sure why this is anywhere near this list though

An odd addition here with its experimental neo-Classical avant-garde jazz wanderings. An experimental band by nature they are best remembered for their more precise melodies in Lucky Man, From the Beginning and Still... You Turn Me On.

Complete prog nonsense

To hell with it all, I’m a nerd. I’m an old white nerd, and this shit is wonderful. I’ll be taking no further questions.

makes me shout go white boy go white boy go!!! time has rehabilitated a lot of the music nerd reputation of Yes, the olden poster boys for "unearned" prog excess, not the least of which because yes' work is so melodic and emotive that its just hard to resist even in its most decompressed topographic-est form. elp tho is exactly as grotesque as they always have been, to their benefit. less an adaptation of these classical themes and more an excuse to push as far as possible into the constantly conflicting directions of silky lake-led balladry and playfully nightmarish emerson-led noisemaking where he tortures his organ to death. and still even some surprises remain outside those two realms, like the moog-led blues jam that has seemingly nothing to do with anything. all in less than 40 minutes!!! the fact that this was played to an enthusiastic and receptive audience feels Impossible and beautiful in equal measure. there was something in the air in 70s prog that even artsy musicians psyched themselves out of once the delirious spell was over, but what a spell. love this one to death tbh

I guess it works for some people. I am not one of those people

Saved 2 songs. Weird though. Not sure I really enjoyed the listen. Sounded like a cool concert though. The experimental thing in this case I don’t totally love.

Svak 3

It's a fantastic listen!

I feel like this band was trying to give me a headache, and it worked! Some cool moments but they were short lived. The great gates of kiev was my fave.

Wow, how bad was that!

Sounds like every album my dad tortured me in the car with as a child. Certainly not my preference

Was more interesting than I anticipated. Not quite my cup of tea but there's good here to appreciate.

Fine listening. Didn't hate it or love it. Good diversity in sound and mixing in of lyrical parts with the pure instrumentals. The fact that I listened to this a few months ago and couldn't remember my opinion on it reinforces that it's nothing particularly memorable.

I guess at the time this was a novel idea, a rock band doing classical music. It does not age well. Even though I'm a huge ELP fan, I did not enjoy this album. First, it's a live album and second, it sucked! It does show off some of the their musical skills. I would definitely replace this album with "Trilogy". 2-stars

I feel like this needs a bit more concerted attention than I gave to properly review. But I'm American so I'll throw a 3 at it anyway.

We played Pictures in band in high school. I've had an affinity for it ever since. I like this version of it. ELP kept the spirit of it and much of the music, but added their own twists to it. Some of those worked better than others. Overall an enjoyable listen.

I guess I know why this one is in the list. 70s prog was a thing, but really that's enough thank you.

Oh joy! A live album. As if we haven't scraped the bottom of the barrel to the point that we're carving deep into the earth's mantle, let's just make sure we capture every live performance from bands we already know. Whatever. I at least hope it's good. Upon listening, I have discovered that it's fine. There are cool passages and then there are prog rock songs based off of old standards like "Come All Ye Faithful" and Nutcracker songs, unfortunately titled "Nutrocker." I'll take the high road over the jellybean cliffs of Dogan-Bah before I slum it down on Hastings with the urchins shivering through Christmas plays. 2.5 GENRE: Loud nerds

A lack of consistency is what this album suffers from for me. ELP studio albums already suffer from this a bit, but I find it even worse on Pictures At An Exhibition. There’s no doubt they are a brilliant band and they made a ton of actually great pieces. For every nice song on here, particularily at the end, there’s some needless and directionless soundscapes being made, which kind of sound grating with the harsh organ to boot. I still do like it, it represents the more chaotic and eclectic side of Prog Rock well. Emerson, Lake & Palmer didn’t always take themselves too seriously and as a bit of goofing around it works better than as some percieved fine art masterpiece.

¿Eh?

this is so much cooler than anything this list has given me so far lol i wish there was more shit like this on here. i like the composition a lot as it is and sidnt nevessarily need to hear it as rock to appreciate it more, but the band does more than just play a switched on version so the project seems justified. something about that specific prog rock organ sound makes me feel insane tho (derogatory). i dont love it but i respect the vision

This was different than anything I’ve heard before. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but it kinda grew on me. I especially liked Nutrocker! Might be fun to revisit in the future

I felt shock and awe when this first came out: classical music (that I was familiar with) played by rock musicians. A bit over the top? Sure, but I wonder how many listeners were turned on to the idea that maybe some of those classical composers had something to offer too. Glad this came up as a something one ought to listen to.

To me, there are two camps of prog rock: guys with keyboards (geeky, no fun, sexless) and guys with flutes (cheeky, fun, horny). I'm all for the latter. ELP are exhaustingly the former. Nut Rocker did put a smile on my face, which was much needed after the rest of this album.

The first ELP album I bought as it satisfied my love of both classical and prog rock. It turned me into a vociferous advocate for future ELP offerings despite adverse reactions from all friends, family and even my favourite DJ. I don't care though - I love them! "Self-indulgent", "pretentious" - perhaps but with the keyboard skills of Keith Emerson and the inventive and comprehensive percussion efforts of Carl Palmer this was forgiven and in my case celebrated.

I have to admit my heart sank when I saw today’s album. However, I thought to myself, stay strong - this is what this whole experience is about, listening to new records you wouldn’t have before & discovering a love of new music genres. Unfortunately, as expected this was just pure overinflated stinking guff. Poor poor Mussorgsky what did he ever do to deserve this.

What is there to say? I try not to think of any music as unlistenable, but then I had never actually heard a whole ELP record start to finish before. The 'highlight' was 'Nut Rocker' because it was absolutely hilarious. Dreadful stuff.

Okay I’m not a big fan of live albums but this was entertaining. Marking it to come back to in the future.

Jazzzzzy

Another day, another live album where it sounds like a bunch of Brits having the best jam sesh of their lives. 5/10

Tbd

Quelques morceaux sympas mais ils se sont vu trop fort.

This was a terrible idea in 1971, and time has done the project no favors. Organ-forward prog rock based on a classical music staple? With instrumentation that sounds like it was actually produced on an early Atari and fed through a transistor radio? Yikes. At least there’s some occasional crowd noise to drown this mess out.

This grew on me quick. Still need to finish it ! Tentative score strong 7. Need to revisit!!

Wow was this album necessary?

Most of this was just noise pollution. Call me uncultured but I didn’t like this one at all

The kids go crazy for “Nutrocker”

fuck no

Pretty intense album. I liked it mostly except for The Old Castle. Didn't need that part.

Promenade, pt. 1 - 3 The gnome - 2 Promenade, pt. 2 - 3 The sage - 3 The old castle - 2 Blues variation - 3 Promenade, pt. 3 - 3 The hut of baba yaga, pt. 1 - 2 The curse of baba yaga - 2 The hut of baba yaga, pt. 2 - 2 The great gates of kiev - 2 Nut rocker - 3

mais uma vez: quem não gosta de prog É PIRADO DA CABEÇA.

Not a fan of organ rock. It sounds like something a youth pastor band would play.

Promenade 3.2 The Gnome 3.3 Promenade 3 The Sage 3.4 The Old Castle 3.3 Blues Variation 3.4 Promenade 3 The Hut of Baba Yaga 3.1 The Curse of Baba Yaga 3.4 The Hut of Baba Yaga 3.2 The Great Gates of Kiev 3.7 Nut Rocker 3.5 Score: 3.291666667

Malísimo

Don’t really care

I'm always a bit weary of when Pop and Rock acts appropriate classical pieces into their music, they almost never make justice to the source material. I don't remember if I ever heard the original Mussorgsky piece, although I know his other famous one Night on Bald Mountain. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer do an alright job here but you can clearly tell which parts were not o the original. At least they kept the vocals to a minimum.

Clown shoes

Weird use of synths on classical music. Odd combo as it tries to modernise Mussorgsky. 2/5

I didn't like the first few tracks much at all. The synths were grating to my ears. Things got better eventually, but still wasn't my thing. 2.7/5. Rounding down cause I'll never want to listen again.

Not that terrible but I wish it was all organ blues instead of weird proto rock that sounds like a rob reiner parody

Quite experimental

It was kind of fun

nice to have a live album, the nutcracker at the end was weird

I'm a sucker for prog rock, and ELP is fantastic! While this is not my favorite album of theirs (hi Tarkus!!) I love this reimagining of classical works. Favorite song here is The Hut of Baba Yaga. I’ve listened to this many times and look forward to many more. 4⭐️

Music

Booooooring

favs: the gnome the sage the hut of baba yaga part 1 rating 1.3/5

then the writer returned to prog hell. yet they added some classical music to it. it’s just so pretentious. and i’m saying it as somebody who listens to classical music. 3/5.

Hateddddd the pianos really didn’t sound nice

Favorite Track: Blues Variation Least Favorite Track: The Gnome

Yes. This deserves the full municipal inquest. Pictures at an Exhibition is an album that has to be met on its own terms, partly because normal terms appear to have been suspended. It is not enough to say that Emerson, Lake & Palmer adapt Mussorgsky for a rock trio. That makes the project sound faintly reasonable. What they actually do is take a nineteenth-century Russian piano suite, place it inside Newcastle City Hall, attach it to a pipe organ and a bank of synthesisers, and then proceed as though this were the obvious next step in Western civilisation. The first thing to say is that they can play. There is no point pretending otherwise. Whatever else this record is, it is not lazy, incompetent or cynical. Three young men walked on stage in 1971 and attempted something wildly ambitious in front of a live audience. The stamina, precision and nerve are impressive. At several points the only honest response is: well done. The second thing to say is that it is extremely funny. Not always intentionally, but not cruelly either. The comedy comes from disproportion. Everything is huge. Every gesture is treated as significant. Every available keyboard seems to be approached as a moral obligation. The synthesiser does not merely enter the arrangement; it appears to set off from Gateshead and head for Sunderland under its own power. There is a fine line between ambition and vandalism, and ELP spend much of the album sprinting along it in capes. The instrumental excess is often the most enjoyable part. Keith Emerson’s keyboard work is ridiculous, but it is ridiculous in an entertaining way. It has energy, daring and spectacle. The pipe organ moments feel less like accompaniment than civic requisition. At times the record seems less like a concert than an incident report involving regional electricity supply. The difficulty, for me, arrives when the grandeur asks to be taken emotionally rather than theatrically. Greg Lake has a fine voice, but the lyrical and vocal interventions push the album towards a kind of sixth-form transcendence. The upward glissandos, the abstract declarations, the earnest reaching towards meaning - all of it starts to feel like proto-power-ballad territory. At moments it sounds less like Mussorgsky transformed than Mussorgsky interrupted by someone who has had important thoughts. That is the central tension of the record. As spectacle, it works. As musicianship, it impresses. As emotional communication, it often leaves me oddly unmoved. I understood the ambition. I respected the achievement. I was never bored. But I was rarely touched. The record kept generating awe-adjacent effects without quite producing awe. Part of the problem is historical distance. The lovely Mrs C, who knew this music in its natural habitat, said that it sounded genuinely revolutionary at the time. I believe that completely. In 1971, these sounds must have felt startling: rock music expanded into something architectural, electronic, theatrical and enormous. The difficulty is that sounds age. The synthesisers that sounded revolutionary in 1971 now sound like a 1978 BBC-2 programme about concrete. That is not really ELP’s fault. Time has shifted the meaning of the technology. What once signified the future now evokes beige suits, explanatory diagrams, unfinished bridges and a calm voiceover about the benefits of pre-stressed materials. The white heat of technological revolution has somehow ended up in Northern Lincolnshire. And yet that datedness is part of the album’s charm. It captures a moment when rock music still believed it could annex high culture, occupy the concert hall, borrow the pipe organ and return with the spoils. There is something almost touching about that level of confidence. Then comes Nutrocker, and the whole thing relaxes. After all the architecture, symbolism, prophecy, witches, uplift and keyboard warfare, ELP suddenly remember that music can be fun. It is smartarse fun, certainly, but fun all the same. They stop bowing before the classical tradition and bop the king on the head with an inflated pig’s bladder. It is probably the most human moment on the record. So the verdict is not dismissal. This is too capable, too committed and too entertaining to dismiss. But neither is it love. I admire it more than I feel it, and I laugh at it more than I am moved by it. Three stars feels right. A remarkable performance. A fascinating artefact. A frequently hilarious act of progsurdity. But also a record that proves musicianship, ambition and majesty are not quite the same thing as emotional force.

Prog rock is bad enough, but a live album of prog rock? Come on bro

Una locura. No entiendo qué pasó pero genial. Podría ser malisimo pero a mi me encantó Nota: 3.9

what the fuck did i just listen to

This is insanity, I love it! Really creative & progressive. Won't become a regular listen, but i'm glad I've heard it, and will probably recommend to other musicians as something interesting.

Shit sounded like a villains orchestra

Unnecessary, self-indulgent, pretentious prog rock, crap. This album explains the Sex Pistols.

They were outstanding musicians but, even though I'm a big prog fan, the music in this album does not capture me at all.

205

I might have been generous w a star.

This is #day659 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… throwing a record at me whose music was written by russian composers while russia is preparing another large-scale missile and drone strike on Ukrainian cities, including my hometown? For those on the side of "culture outside politics" or "putin's war," or whatever, read about the first thing russians did after they bombed the Mariupol Drama Theater in 2022. The fuckers fenced off the ruins with displays of "great russian authors." First thing they did when they occupied Mariupol? Changed the city's welcome sign from Ukrainian to fucking russian. The terrorist country has used its language and culture as a means of dominance (particularly over Ukraine) for centuries. As a Ukrainian based in Ukraine, I'm not playing along with that shit. Instead of unwinding for the weekend after the work week, I'm fucking anxious because I know tonight or tomorrow night they're striking again. Should I hear this record before I die? This is a 1 out of 5. Looking forward to #day660.

fun! i love live albums.

Whoever called this video game boss music was spot on.

A true concept album that is a bit too out there for me. There are some great guitar hammond organ solos that verge between Yes and The Grateful Dead with a more fantastical edge. Highlights: "The Old Castle" and "Blues Variation"

Not at all as dreadful as I was expecting. Fun little moody piece.

6 / 10

Mye lyder

Not really sure why I needed to hear this before I die.

Dear god, this is awful. It should be piled on the pyre of Prog Rock and all copies of this monstrosity should be destroyed as a gift to humanity. It's 38 minutes long and I'm half way through as I write this. Have mercy on my soul to finish.

Husband made me turn this off and I didn’t think it was too bad but as I listened to the rest of this I started to think ELP were playing an elaborate prank on me. Just really awful

It wasn't bad, just really experimental for a rock album. Also ending with the Nutcracker suite was a choice.

Use of the synth in the '70? Great Live recording for the period

The Sage was ok, but the rest was pretty dreadful. Marginally better than Tarkus, but not much.

Fun album, I like the classical riffs mixed with prog rock, seems a bit too gimmicky to me like a lot of prog rock

Fucking insufferable.

Rip off of the Mussorgsky piano suite of the same name. Write your own stuff!? It wouldn't be so bad if the piano suite itself wasn't so good, or the later Ravel orchestration even better. Seems to be a Keith Emerson vanity project, spoiled by the needless earaching spaceship sound effects reminiscent of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop's work on 1970 episodes of Dr. Who. Needless to say I didn't think that much of this at all.

Vaguely fun slowly coming to the realisation that it’s an interpretation of some classical stuff that I’ve definitely heard before and trying to work it it was familiar due to being a motif from an earlier track or if it was a “cover” Also big up another Newcastle live album after motorheads

NEWCASTLE MENTIONED PART 4 This was really weird, but not like it a good way, more of a this was a bit of a chore to get through way. I almost enjoyed the great gates of Kiev but they kinda ruined it. Nutrocker was pretty good though, even though I wasn’t actually going home 2

1971. Live album.

Honestly, I'm glad it's on this list for being audacious. I hope their audience was high as F. Not a very good listen as a recording.

In one way, this is incredible. This would be a great album to trip to. I appreciate what they were trying to do. But it just doesn’t make me want to listen to it again.

Really surprised how much I enjoyed this great live album

ELP have always been more symphonic than rock and this live album is proof of this. Covering Mussorgsky's multi suite Pictures at an exhibition, this live record really serves as a testament to how skilled these musicians are. What's most impressive to me is the bass playing and drumming. The organs are superb of course, but hearing electric bass and rock drums played so skillfully to this music was a real treat. The encore track "Nutrocker" shouldn't have worked, but damn like I said the bass and drums really really blew me away. A strange album all things considered but I did come away from this enjoying it.

W T actual F? Beyond the fact that it's bad, it's also just dumb. I'm annoyed that I had to listen to this. But I feel really bad for the people who bought a ticket and had to sit through this in person.

What

Unexpected Wtf

hmm

This is like listening to a band doing 12 covers of the Dr Who theme music. It's interesting, I'll give that. Not sure if I'd have paid money to be part of the audience who saw it live though.

What an interesting album. I never EVER would have listened to this if it hadn't popped up in this list. Having never heard the source material, I have nothing to judge it against. It's not bad by any stretch of the term, but it isn't conventional music. I'd say it's definitely earned its spot on this list but it's a one and done. I will say the final "encore" song "Nutrocker" was a blast to listen to. The whole time I was expecting Boston to show up because the keyboardist has such a similar sound. Seeing Greg Lake show back up for some wonderful vocals and guitar (I got served King Crimson a couple weeks ago) was a pleasant surprise. I think some of these albums are here specifically so you will explore more of the artists discography. I did so after listening to this album and I'm absolutely adding ELP to my listening rotation. This album is a 6/10 but the band is definitely more than just this album.

Dnf

not their best album, it was a bit self indulgent and the moog sounds really dated. Carl Palmer is a brilliant drummer though

This is what alien farts sound like. Emission, (wind)Break and Farter. No thanks. I like the drumming, and Great Gates of Kiev is alright, but this arty farty keyboard stuff is just naff.

The type of art school pretentious garbage I'm glad has fallen out of favor in the last fifty years

Blind album, I know the artist by name. I was intrigued throughout, but not enough to actually feel the music per se. It was just there and it was alright. 3.

Promenade: solo instrumental, nada que opinar la verdad The Gnome: otra instrumnetal, peor que la anterior Promenade pt2: caca The Sage: BASTA DE INSTRUMENTALES The Old Castle: otra instrumentral pedorrisima Blues Variation; misma garompa Promenade pt3:mala The Hut of Baba Yaga: malarda The Curse of Baba Yaga: malardopolis The Hut of Baba Yaga: BASTA The Great Gates of Kiev: esta es la unica buena, las demas son infumables Nut Rocker: meh en conclusion, malarfa, no entiendo que personas escuchan instruentales solamente,dale dolobu canta algo porfa.

2.5 spoko nie dla mnie

What the fuck?

Music as art.

So that was my first ELP album listen, probably a strange one to start on, but if the generator wills it, it shall be. It was a fun and zany fantasy-based prog rock listen, great first impressions here. Standouts are blues variation and the baba yaga portion.

I heard it all in the first track ... meaning I didn't need to listen to the whole thing. Perhaps it's age, but I'm losing whatever patience I had for 'real' prog rock. Bring on the next selection, please!

5/10

Cool concept and cool cover album

Hard one to put words to, which in my estimation is in its favour. It has a very surreal feeling, punctuated by some excellent instrumental pieces My favourite song is probably "The Sage", but "Blues Variation" also has a wonderful feel to it Some of the weirder stuff like "The Curse of Baba Yaga" is cool but it's definitely less my vibe All this to say, I like bits and pieces of King Crimson, and so I also like bits and pieces of this

Wasn't the keenest on this one. I usually dont mind 70s prog but I didnt vibe too much with this one. I'm a big fan of King Crimson but not so much this. I think its cuz this is alot less guitar driven (there is none). I just ended up a little bored and felt the songs were a little meandery. Wouldn't listen again but I didnt think it was shit.

the fact this was recorded live is so funny bc i cant imagine sitting down to listen to this in a concert hall. "WANT SOME MORE MUSIC" into nutrocker is comical

Gotta copy paste this review because it is true: "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"

i gotta be honest, i let this play while i worked. I did zero active listening. I might enjoy it if I gave it another chance in a different setting, but I was not a fan.

es en vivo, busque mas info sobre el album y q la idea sea caminar x una exhibicion y q cada tema represente una obra distinta me encanta; esa mezcla cinematografica, visual, musica clasica y rock

oh god i mean fairs ig whatevs 5/10

like I can see what they're going for, but its just kinda mid

4/10

Nutrocker - Live At Newcastle City Hall, 1971

Another solution in search of a problem from the know-it-alls at Prog UK LTD. Shout out to Apple Music for at least trying to keep this from me.

That was something, somehow listened to all of it. Weird.

Am I at the symphony? Is this music for a video game? Is it a rock concert? Who knows. I can’t say I’ll revisit it but it was something and the crowd sure seemed to like it at the end. I can’t imagine this was very culturally relevant but the 70s were a weird time. 2.4

4.3 I dont know if that is the coolest thing I have ever listened to or the dorkiest. In any event, this really rips and ELP are supremely talented. The sound recording was pretty much perfect.

It's been important to me for a very long time to maintain the consistent practice of being open minded in all facets of life. It tends to make one more adaptable, more compassionate, and a better thinker. It's like gathering raw materials to build a more complex world-view. Well all that hippie-horseshit went CLEAN out the window when Pictures at an Exhibition hit my speakers. What a bunch of bee-bopping, meandering wankery. LISTEN... clearly there's skill and talent here. I'm not making a personal attack against an accredited law firm, but this just ain't it. “It is not things that trouble us, but our judgements about things.”

Immediately no. From the makers of "Cats on a Piano", please subject your ears and attention span to the musical stylings of "Cats on Guitar... and Drums".

Really not my type of music but its cool and very progressive sound for the time.

2,5

Best thing to happen to classical music since polyphony. Prog is the shit yo.

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.

I think I'd rather listen to Mussorgsky than whatever this was. I appreciate their experimentation, but not enough of a fan for this one.

A great one from some of the architects of progrock.

Interesting. I liked one of the middle Baba Yagas best - Curse, I think. Can't say I'm likely to play it in full again.

Very enjoyable background

This made so much more sense when I read the wikipedia pages after listening to it in the car. I listened to "Tarkus" previously, so I was expecting something along those lines. My listening experience went thus: "These melodies sound so familiar but I know I have definitely never listened to a live ELP album - where is this going? - oh here's a rocker - this sounds like a shreds video - wait this theme again? - i wad expecting noodly jams, but this seems excessive - big ending - wait no, goofy Nutcracker ending?!?" And then, research, I had to know what the fuck i just listened to. These precious nerds recorded a live prog rock cover album of a classical piece, "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky - ohhhhhhhhh! The orchestral version is better (I listened to it afterward) but good for these lads! Bump to three for the sheer audacity!

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...

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.

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

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.

5/10

A live album of goofy nonsense… no thank you

sure, go off i guess?? I love the organ, and I'm impressed this was a live performance.

Not at all what I expected. Super weird and proggy with a lot of parts that go on too long. Based on some Classical piano thing I think. A prog rendition. Honestly not mad at it though, solid 3

first song made me feel like i was in hcc honestly kinda grew on me, liked the mix of sounds/instruments 3.5 vibe

Normally I'm a big fan of prog rock but I found this really awful. Some novelty around the huge organ sounds, and the bass and drums were played well. But the songs were terrible... boring classical or boring folk or overblown originals, all amplified through that organ to try to make them interesting. In glad they had a huge crowd and I'm glad i wasn't one of them

There are eleventy million, let alone 1001, more prog albums better than this one. ELP are what gave this sort of stuff a bad name. Nice bass tone, though. 2 stars for that

Absolute wank.

Sounded good, nothing that blew me away.

This sucked but ig it was cool experimental

weird and enjoyable but likely won’t listen again

Do not love progressive rock.

Metnaðarfullt, og á köflum mjög skemmtilegt, en einnig hressilega yfirdrifið og stundum um of. Fæ mig ekki til að henda fjarka á þetta, en þarna eru mjög góðir sprettir.

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.

Second album in 5 days by these self indulgent muppets, isn’t gonna help. It’s s live, wtf, it’s something like their arrangement of Mussorgsky. Look if you want to arrange something for rock instrumentation and have the musical chops to do it, and people want to pay to come hear it, fine - if said people want to then buy an album of it fine. But What levels of overblown, bloated excess is this, there can’t be many more self indulgent acts in the history of popular music, can there? The best bits are the original music when it shines through, unfortunately it’s hidden under all the noodling, which is obviously the worst part. I don’t need to hear this pretentious ( add long list of expletives) You could give them credit for attempting something but compared to orchestral adaptations it just doesn’t work for me. After hearing it, I really did not need to have heard this, I wish I hadn’t heard this. Prog excess at it’s, well most excessive - fully blown pretentious rock- 1 star because, and I don’t use the term often, I hated it and it won’t let me give any less.

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.

Pretty cool in places but those awful early 70s synths were just too grating.

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

Very experimental, almost too experimental for me

Wow. Just wow.

This was an enjoyable listen but not enough to put on regularly. I favorited one track #3 I believe. Feeling neutral - I guess that means a 2. 2/5

Only know a little bit of ELP from whatever radio songs would’ve heard over the years. This seems like something different. Prog Rock at its least entertaining? Don’t mind the organ, but it’s really just a lot of prog rock organ/keyboard take on classic music. It’s interesting at times, but overall doesn’t do much for me. The Sage was an interesting song, but doesn’t sound like a lot of the rest of it with its acoustic guitars. Overall, a lot of the solos just don’t do it for me. Closing track is fun. This is a 2. It’s not great as a whole and doesn’t seem to hold up but it has some moments and it’s interesting.

Solid effort, I appreciate the try but it's just not what it wants to be. Not a fan of classical and certainly not a fan of classical through the 70s electronica filter - while I hoped I could become a fan, they simply missed it and the ball went out of play.

Rock progresivo…le genero que peor ha envejecido.

okay

Nervous about the global rating but I weirdly enjoyed this. Many parts were a bit avant-garde but the artistry in exploring many sides of the same song was interesting. And I kept wanting to hear more because I often had no clue what could be coming next! 3.5/5 interesting (and basically Animusic the album)

I performed this orchestra suite with my high school marching band so it was wild to hear the “Hut of Baba Yaga” again and think of chicken feat while listening to prog rock.

Mostly instrumental, not really all that interesting. The Sage had nice vocals. And Nutrocker? A rock imagining of a bunch of Nutcracker songs? Hell yeah. Best song: Nutrocker

Who would have thought you couldn't trust a group that couldn't even come up with a real band name to create a compelling prog rock adaptation of a 100 year old classical composition nobody has ever heard of.

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.

Not my music. I think I just don’t get it. But that’s also ok.

the songs start and i'm like wow this is pretty good but then idk what but it gets boring after a while fav song: Blues Variation

I won't be able to top this review, "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 2* album should be replaced by another, better pseudo-prog rock supergroup album A Perfect Circle's Mer de Noms, which is a clear 4* album.

3.2 2x surprising and fun listen

Really not my thing, weird album to be honest

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

Some of them are pretty cool sounding when it is rock-ified. Some of them are awful and its just sounds. I fear there are more bad ones than good ones.

OMG the first Greep!

If I'm being brutally honest, I found this album interesting, not exciting. This really didn't give me anything at all while listening to it. I think that compositionally, these are really interesting and well-put-together pieces of music, but I just didn't like listening to them all that much. But again, that doesn't mean I haven't acknowledged the musicality of it. I didn't really have any 'favourites' per se, but there were definitely ones that stood out more than others. Stand-outs: The Gnome Promenade, Pt.3 Nutrocker The Great Gates of Kiev

At the intro I totally turned it off at first because I heard him talking and was like NO MORE BRITISH POP ROCK RIGHT NOW. Then I came back to it because I like writing reviews for all the albums. If i'd have stuck around for more than those 5, pushing 10, seconds, I would have actually liked it and I do. It's like one whole long song. There is almost no gaps for people to clap which I really liked. I like that there's not a lot of singing. The singing is kinda weird and I like it. I don't really know if they're tryna to put across a story...? If I looked at the lyrics (cannot possibly begin to understand them just by listening) maybe I could piece together the story they're tryna put out, but honestly, I'm okay!

Dreadful. The worst of prog and it sounded like a few people having breakdowns on a keyboard.

Awwwwwww, WHAT? Symphonic prog???? Ewwwwww!!!! I jest of course. I don’t like prog in general very much but this is only 38 minutes so maybe it’ll be alright! Let’s see. Well, I wasn't incorrect about how much I would like it, that's for sure. Thank fuck this is only 38 minutes, it would be downright torturous were it any longer. Well maybe not torturous, because the big sin here is that it's really fucking boring. The entire first side is really just not anything very good at all. Nothing awful, but just so boring and detestable. Obviously I really don't love this type of music, and easily the best thing that this album ever did for the world was supply the excellent sample for "Katz" off of Lice, which to this day is probably my favorite EP of all time (Solace by Dar Qness is close behind though). The sample play for 10 seconds from 50 seconds into "The Curse of Baba Yaga" to the 1 minute-mark. That REALLY threw me for a loop though, wow. I like froze for a whole 5 seconds and then paused the song and then went to whosampled and realized. Anyway so most of this album is more or less worthless until it gets to the Baba Yaga part in which it's kinda interesting for like 3 songs... I'd like it a lot more if the guy didn't sing, but whatever. I don't dislike "The Great Gates of Kiev," in fact it's pretty good! I like the places where it goes, and it's... y'know it's an acceptable prog rock song! I honestly also like the outro with the super feedback-ey guitars and stuff. And then the transition back to the actual song... my man can't sing, but it's fine because the song's still dope. Then it goes into some bullshit about “death is life” though and then it goes into a prog version of… nutcracker… I… the only good this album ever did for the world of music was that Katz sample and that’s it. Sorry, not my thing. 4.5/10

That was pretty darn … awful. Sorry, ELP.

I like ELP's hits, but this seemed a little "extra". But I suppose that's what ELP do.

Ehh

No es mi estilo. Las canciones obviamente están excelenteme ejecutadas, pero no resonó conmigo en este momento. Le daré otra oportunidad más adelante.

Wild to listen to. So much synth! I really enjoyed The Sage, and then The Old Castle was a wild switch. Track 8 sounds like Baba Yaga has gone off the rails. The last track being Nutcracker was an insane and unexpected surprise. I was listening while doing the dishes and was just like, "...is this Nutcracker?!"

*Could only get the live album* It’s like if you took the classical work and the made someone do an In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida to it. And also told someone else to rail on a synthesizer like a maniac. It’s a fun interpretation. Not something to listen to again, but not unpleasant.

Experimental 70s rock/classical/blues

- Ugh, not another Emerson, Lake, and Palmer album. I'm expecting another pretentious album full of trying to show off on the piano. (update: yes, but organ) - There are people on here who don't think pretension is bad, but here is the definition: "expressive of false, unjustified, or exaggerated importance, worth, or stature". So, bad. - Wow, I wasn't prepared for that opener being an awful organ version of the theme of Pictures at an Exhibition -- it's really out of time and imprecise. The only thing I like about it is the tune, and that's not theirs. - The album descends into more disjointed organ pomp. I'd definitely rather just listen to Mussorgsky. - I hate the pinched horn synth sound so much. The sounds on this album really feel dated - super compressed and filtered. - The only thing I like on this album is the guitar work (when you can hear it). Even Lake's voice is rough... - It's a 1.5 rounding down because it's annoying (and live, at that).

This was interesting. It started out sounding like a church and ended like an alternate universe musical. Strange but not unpleasant.

Though I absolutely hated listening to this, at least it was interesting and unique

The epitome of self indulgence, only for the true fans I suspect 2*

That was a weird album. I don't think they could agree on what type of music they wanted to play so they just all played something different. It reminded me of Ross' "sound" from Friends 🤣

Definitely unique and different. I didn't find anything to strongly dislike, but it was a bit tiring to listen to after a while, especially with some of the "unique" songs

This was one of the most pretentious and annoying albums I have endured on this quest. Total wankfest!

Urgh - was this worse then Tarkus, how is that possible? Oh yes, because its a live album. No thank you.

I have no words for this one. People paid to go listen to this?

This is not what I had anticipated at all. The entire album seemed like making noise instead of making music. I can’t imagine paying to go to a ELP concert only to hear this being played. Not a good first experience for me, but maybe I’m missing something??

An early 1970s live synth pop version of a composition from the Russian classical forefather of Modest Mouse, written a hundred years earlier, while he was literally drinking himself to death. There are so many reasons to dislike this that I can’t commit to just one. Let’s just call it a lesson in pretentiousness and move on.

Listening to this felt like reading the technical detail section of an owners manual. Complicated and uninteresting.

A funny little reinterpretation of Mussorgsky by ELP. A bit more than a novelty, it doesn't quite hold up as as interesting as it would have when released.

This was weirder than I was anticipating. I mean sure, interesting- but didn't do it for me.

I'm all for experimentation but that doesn't mean it needs to be recorded, nor me having to listen to it.

As much as this is a great concept for a live album, the synthesizers in the early 70s sound terrible and grating to my ears.

Promenade, Part 1 - 3.5/5 The Gnome - 4/5 Promenade, Part 2 - 3.5/5 The Sage - 3.5/5 The Old Castle - 4.5/5 Blues Variation - 4.5/5 Promenade, Part 3 - 3.5/5 The Hut of Baba Yaga, Part 1 - 4/5 The Curse of Baba Yaga - 5/5 The Hut of Baba Yaga, Part 2 - 5/5 The Great Gates of Kiev - 4.5/5 Nutrocker - 4.5/5 A great re-imagining of classical musical that I feel gets better as the album goes on. The second half is killer, and their reworking of the Nutcracker suite as a "bonus" is also excellent. I'd rather listen to other prog stuff but this is still pretty good overall. Overall: 4/5 Favorites: The Hut of Baba Yaga, the Curse of Baba Yaga, Nutrocker

It was fine. Parts of it were interesting but there were a few parts that were totally out of place. They would do something pretty accurate to the original piece then go off on a random tangent without any regard to the theme of the original work or what they had just played.

No es pa mi

Nope, I really don't like Prog Rock

I have no idea what I listened to

0/28 bekannt 4,5/10 Beste Songs: the Sage, the gnome, the curse of baba yaga Eine Mischung aus sonntags zu Kirche gehen, ein bisschen roundabout und Gegenstände die Töne von sich geben

de entrada que solo lo tengan en versión live no me gusta ni 5, aparte está más bien maluco

I wanted to badly to dislike this as it seemed so pretentious. But dammit, I love Mussorgsky and this was such a weird and loving version of the original piece.

Not a massive fan of live albums.

Lots of proggy noodling but it works in the albums favour which is an expertly blended combination of prog rock and classical music. The trio are virtuoso players and that's all on display here.

Don’t know how to make heads or tails of this one tbh. Great playing. I appreciate the original classical piece. Just bizarre in concept and execution

Woa