Our Dusting 'Em Off series examines how classic albums found an enduring place in pop culture. Today, we spend some time with the Emerson, Lake & Palmer's Trilogy.
At times, Emerson, Lake & Palmer were downright manic. It is evident in their most famous material. the absurd 10/8 time signature on 'Tarkus', the proto-heavy metal detour on 'Trilogy', the utterly dense, occasionally incomprehensible patterns of their 29-minute suite, 'Karn Evil 9'. But occasionally, ELP has found a sweet spot of simplicity, where a single chord can sound like a beacon from another universe, and a simple phrase from Greg Lake is enough to completely level the listener.
The supergroup's respective backgrounds and strengths – The Nice's Keith Emerson on keyboards, King Crimson's Greg Lake on bass, guitars and vocals, and Atomic Rooster's Carl Palmer on drums – made for an incredible showcase of music. While Palmer and Lake's earlier works helped lay the foundation for the relatively new genre of “progressive rock,” Emerson's work with The Nice featured dizzying arrangements of classical and jazz-influenced piano. Together, they would push the pre-existing boundaries of rock music and set a new standard of musicality and conceptual ambition.
tour-elp/destination:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stubhub.com%2Fcarl-palmer-tickets%2Fperformer%2F491359″ class=”button” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener”>Get Carl Palmer's Return of the ELP tickets here
Emerson, Lake & Palmer's third studio album, Trilogy, represents the trio at the height of their powers. Released in 1972, it would become their most commercially successful album worldwide and establish the band as one of the most experimental and ambitious groups in rock. As its title suggests, Trilogy is divided into three: The first three songs, “The Endless Enigma (P. 1),” “Fugue” and “The Endless Enigma (P. 2)” begin the adventure in a secular way. 'From the Beginning', 'Sheriff' and 'Hoedown' bring us more or less back to Earth, and then the final title track, followed by 'Living Sin' and 'Abaddon's Bolero' transports us to another universe for one more time.
Picking up where they left off in 1971 with the same ambition Tarkus, the trio sought to combine the expansive possibilities of classic jazz-rock odyssey influences with a slightly more accessible and gutsy sound. As such, it was an exhausting album to record. Greg Lake, who produced each of the trio's previous albums Trilogycontinued his role behind the boards — due to the “precise” nature of the album's arrangements, structures and extensive overdubs, Lake has subsequently stated that Trilogy it was also his favorite Emerson, Lake & Palmer album and one of the most difficult to make.
Even from the first song, it's clear what Lake meant when he described the album as “precise”. “The Endless Enigma,” with parts one and two and “Fugue” separating them, is a whirlwind journey through various song structures, rhythms, emotions, and synthesized voices. It's so meticulously crafted that every Keith Emerson curveball sounds completely improvised and intensely labored. Lake's vocals and the song's central melody don't even appear until the two-and-a-half-minute mark—by which point, you're already befuddled by Emerson's cryptic scientific opening cues, a bongo barrage from Palmer, Emerson briefly playing a Eurasian zurna and then a manic shuffle groove driven by Lake's pounding bass and Emerson's colorful, free-flowing instrumental solo.
