The Return Of The Manticore

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Atlantic, 1995

http://www.emersonlakepalmer.com

REVIEW BY: Benjamin Ray

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 09/01/2005

Progressive rock box sets have the opportunity to be as bloated and pompous as the bands that issue them, but so far that has not been the case. The Genesis, Moody Blues and King Crimson box sets all do a great job of capturing the best of their bands. The Return of the Manticore also does this but piles on way too much unnecessary crap...in short, it is exactly the box set ELP deserves.

If you own this, you really don't need anything else by the guys, and even this is overkill; three discs would have been fine. But they had to re-record some new stuff and include some bad album tracks to fill the space.

The set is ordered non-sequentially, which works very well because it shows the different sides and moods of the group. Disc 1 is a bit different, starting with five "new" songs that are re-recordings of hits by the bands that produced ELP (The Nice, Atomic Rooster, King Crimson) and remakes of the band's originals "I Believe in Father Christmas" and "Pictures At An Exhibition," shortened by 15 minutes and given a gospel choir, but still boring. my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

Also on disc 1 is the chugging "Peter Gunn" theme, the inspired instrumentals "Toccata" and "Tank" (which gets old during the drum solo), the goofy "Tiger In A Spotlight" and the pensive "Trilogy," all of which showcase a different side of the band. Naturally, "Lucky Man" rounds out this disc, but for a simple song it never gets old.

Disc 2 is for the serious fans and is the strongest disc of the four. "Tarkus" was the band's first side-length song, and it's conceptually and musically stronger than their later long-form songs. "Knife Edge" is a good hidden gem from the debut album, while the live "Take A Pebble" replaces the studio version; either one is fine. The real highlight is "Rondo," an unreleased Dave Brubeck cover from ELP's early days that should have been on an album long ago.

Disc 3 is where the train derails. "Still…You Turn Me On" and "The Barbarian" are good compositions, but "The Endless Enigma" is too uneven and Carl Palmer's solo "The Enemy God…" doesn't excite after its opening. Most of the disc is given to bad album tracks like "A Time And A Place" and "Living Sin," although "Karn Evil 9" is present in one long track and "Honky Tonk Train Blues" makes an appearance; it's the best of Emerson's numbers in this vein.

Disc 4 is an Emerson wank-fest, with "Memoirs Of An Officer And Gentleman," "Pirates," a snippet of his "Piano Concerto" and a remake of "Fugue" for no reason. You will be asleep, I guarantee it, if you try to sit through this recital. Only "Fanfare For The Common Man" and "Black Moon" save this disc (the latter is from ELP's unheard 1992 comeback and is not half bad).

But you can't hate on an overblown, pompous package when the band is all of those things, and for ELP fans of any stripe this is worth picking up. The best moments here deserve to be ranked in anyone's list of classic progressive rock.

Rating: B

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