Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Emerson, Keith
Label: Edel Records
Release: 2008
Running time: 51:21
Rating: 4/5
After a really long wait, the legendary keyboard wizard is back with a new solo record, teaming up with his longtime collaborator, the seasoned guitarist and singer Marc Bonilla (over his career he’s worked with a string of more or less famous names, Glenn Hughes among them). It’s his first studio project since the (second) breakup of ELP in the late ’90s and his first proper solo record after assorted film projects (the last of which saw him write the music for the animated “Iron Man” series, way back in 1994 (studio release, 2001). As for “Emerson Plays Emerson” (2002), it’s hard to call that a real studio record.
On every single track of his new record, Keith shows he’s gone back to his progressive rock roots and made the album his fans have been hungrily waiting on for years, at least since the last ELP studio record, “In The Hot Seat” (1994), which left a pretty lousy impression. All the compositions are the product of his joint work with Bonilla, who complements him brilliantly, both as a songwriter and as an instrumentalist. Longtime fans of the legendary keyboardist will finally get their money’s worth, because this is a very good record that shines from start to finish with its variety, virtuosity and energy; this is the real deal, symphonic prog rock from the best, original school. Whether ELP would be capable of making anything like this if they ever reunited is, in my opinion, something one can only dream about.
Throughout the album Keith proves he’s still in splendid form as one of the greatest keyboard virtuosos of all time, and unlike most of his keyboard-playing peers, who haven’t made anything exciting in the studio in years, he comes across as a witty composer with a bunch of new aces up his sleeve. On individual tracks you can find plenty of parallels with his past work, from both the Nice and ELP days, which is kind of a given, since Keith’s recognizable playing style and keyboard sound have always been front and center in all of his musical projects up to now. On the album he used almost every kind of keyboard that earned him a reputation as one of the greats of his craft and, without doubt, the most important keyboardist for the development of symphonic progressive rock. Besides the standard piano, with which he brings plenty of classical music elements into the compositions, there are of course the good old Hammond organs, various kinds of Moog synthesizers (the so-called Moog Modular), a Korg synthesizer and a few other bits and bobs.
Bonilla is an excellent singer, with a vocal whose melancholic color comes pretty close to the one Emerson’s former partner in crime Greg Lake had in his prime. He’s no worse, if not even better, as a guitarist, where, if you compare him to Lake, he technically runs circles around him. Emerson lets him have plenty of dramatic guitar solos, which were a real rarity in ELP. Even though it’s clear who the boss is, the guitar plays a much bigger role than we were used to in Keith’s earlier lineups, both ELP and The Nice. Unlike Lake, who had to juggle a double instrumental role, Bonilla is (partly) relieved on bass by the very good Bob Birch, whose melodic bass lines are clearly audible all through the album. Gregg Bissonette on drums is of course not even remotely Carl Palmer. His style is quite different too, less varied when it comes to using different percussion, but with his energetic fills he still complements the excellent rhythmic foundation well.
The compositions are suitably varied all the way through and keep up the dramatic intensity. The energetic orchestral arrangements and wild improvisations are akin to the ones Keith wowed us with in ELP’s golden days, only here they’re complemented far more intensely by mighty passages on electric guitar. The first fifteen pieces make up a concept suite called “The House Of Ocean Born Mary”, inspired by a British ghost novella (by Marion Lowndes), while the last four are completely separate pieces. Interestingly, there isn’t a single long piece on the album. The longest, “Marche Train”, runs a little over six minutes. But in return it packs in a whopping nineteen pieces, many of them short, piano-based overtures by Emerson that stitch the more complex tracks together. Of classical adaptations he only treated himself to one this time, “Malambo From Estancia Suite”, in the original version by the famous Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera. Gianstera was one of the few 20th-century classical composers Keith got along with well, and for true devotees it’s hardly worth mentioning that Keith adapted part of Ginastera’s suite “Toccata” long, long ago for one of the tracks on the ELP classic “Brain Salad Surgery” (1973). The opening “Last Horizon”, with Emerson’s shenanigans on the Hammonds and the Moog Modular and a motif that more than obviously nods to part of the legendary ELP suite “Tarkus”, will enchant all his longtime fans.
Both parts of “Miles Away” are excellent too, with Bonilla’s melodramatic singing and delicious guitar passages complementing Emerson’s virtuoso wizardry perfectly. Add to that the massive drum fills and, despite the modern production, for a moment you’ll swear you’re listening to one of the early ELP pieces. On the very good “Marche Train”, which features an excellent guitar solo, you can see what a great effect a bigger role for the electric guitar can have on the usual keyboard-first approach, and that good old Keith has really changed in his later years when it comes to how he assigns roles to individual instruments in his music. There’s also no shortage of a healthy dose of the usual ELP pomp, via all sorts of transitions between grand and dramatic keyboard passages. A nice example is “3rd Presence”, where we get Keith’s trademark pomposity with the church organ cranked up to the tenth power, and the complex “Finale”, where all the best virtuoso elements of Keith’s band shine.
With a very good new studio record, Keith proves he’s back in top form. As expected, he hasn’t created anything new with it, but he’s managed to conjure up a fair bit of the magic that graced his best records in the ’60s and ’70s. After a very long break from symphonic progressive rock, this is without doubt a considerable achievement, one that will go down in the annals as one of the better releases to come out in the genre in 2008. A lot of credit for how convincing the compositions are also goes to the excellent Bonilla, without whom Keith surely wouldn’t have managed to make what is, so far, his best solo studio record. Comparisons with ELP offer themselves throughout the album, which is at once its greatest strength and its greatest weakness, since some will accuse Emerson and company of trying too hard to imitate the glory days of the giants of progressive rock. Honest ELP fans, though, will be in seventh heaven while listening to it, because Keith hasn’t made anything this good with his two former bandmates since “Works Volume One” (1977). The old wolf has proven once again that even in progressive rock, the genre’s masters and pioneers can still teach their students a thing or two.
Line-up
Keith Emerson – grand concert piano, Hammond C3 organ, Moog Modular synthesizer, Korg OASYS synthesizer, organ, diatonic accordion, reaktor, slide whistle, backing vocals
Marc Bonilla – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, reaktor
Bob Birch – bass guitar
Gregg Bissonette – drums, percussion
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Travis Davis – bass guitar on The Parting, vocal harmonies
Joe Travers – drums on The Art Of Falling Down
Keith Wechsler – jaw harp on Gametime
Nathanial Bonilla – recorder on The Parting
Production
Marc Bonilla and Keith Wechsler
Track list
The House Of Ocean Born Mary (inspired by a ghost story from Marion Lowndes)
1. Ignition (1:42)
2. 1st Presence (0:37)
3. Last Horizon (2:32)
4. Miles Away Pt. 1 (1:54)
5. Miles Away Pt. 2 (2:15)
6. Crusaders Cross (1:13)
7. Fugue (0:37)
8. 2nd Presence (0:18)
9. Marche Train (6:12)
10. Blue Inferno (1:12)
11. 3rd Presence (1:07)
12. Prelude To A Hope (2:23)
13. A Place To Hide (4:25)
14. Miles Away Pt. 3 (2:31)
15. Finale (5:57)
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16. The Art Of Falling Down (3:30)
17. Malambo from Estancia Suite (Alberto Ginastera) (5:33)
18. Gametime (2:39)
19. The Parting (4:44
