Search - Emerson Lake & Palmer :: Black Moon

Bas-relief seraphim - haunting synth strings - close to home

Steve Wyzard | Lomita, CA | 12/16/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Can we PLEASE do away with the label "progressive rock"? Why, you may ask? Because the people who enjoy symphonic rock/orchestral rock/art rock/jazz rock are mostly stuck in the years 1971-77 and are not "progressing" at all. The amount of abuse and contempt poured on this marvelous album by the band's alleged fans is outrageous, yet understandable considering most apparently want the band to make the same album over and over again to the end of time. Yes, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer made a lot of great music in the above-mentioned years, but they also made a lot of infantile garbage like "Jeremy Bender", "Are you ready Eddy", "The Sheriff", "Living Sin", and "Benny the Bouncer". Do listeners really want to return to that? Is the band still competing with King Crimson to determine who are the real "bad boys" or "most esoteric"? Where's the "progress" in "progressive"?



Black Moon could easily be subtitled "Emerson, Lake, and Palmer Grow Up". There are 10 outstanding songs with no weak links, excellently produced (credit: Mark Mancina) and passionately performed. All the classic trademarks are here, with a special emphasis on Emerson's Hammond organ. Stop focusing on the track timings and listen to the SONGS. There are dynamic contrasts from nostalgic melancholy to over-the-top intensity. Everything that made ELP one of the best bands of their time is contained on this album. While not as powerful or earth-shattering as 1986's Emerson, Lake, and Powell album, the only other contender for true greatness with Black Moon is their 1971 debut album. Even the booklet graphics (credit: Brass Ring Circus Studios) perfectly encapsulate the autumnal sentimentalism, the fiery drive, and the timeless monumentalism of the music contained within.



Face it, people: there isn't ever going to be a "Karn Evil 10". Listen to the Black Moon album and let it become part of your life. Thank you, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer for giving us this wonderful music."

Sinfully Underrrated

Todd7 | Michigan | 03/28/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Black Moon has to be one of THE most underrrated albums in the history of music. First of all, The timing of the album and its featured sound were out of sync. So what? Evidently, people were listening to alternative in the early 90's, along with grunge. ELP experienced the "Boston Effect", as that group struggled with sales with their later releases, due to the music being outdated for a particular point in time. Why do people care so much about what's popular? As long as it sounds good, it shouldn't matter WHEN the album came out. ELP gravitated toward a more popish sound for this album, to accomodate what people were listening to in 1992. The result? Alienation of it by disappointed fans. So, what we have is a paradox--no matter which way you turn, fans are unsatisfied. They want an album that's consistent with what's current, along with those who want their old stuff on every album. Now, the songs: These extremely talented guys put out a nice variety of songs to appeal to many people. The title track (while not my favorite) is nonetheless a strong opener. PAPER BLOOD is a fairly solid song that sort of picks up where BLACK MOON left off. AFFAIRS OF THE HEART is a great song, and is one of the few ballads that ELP did, and they pulled it off easily. When listening to this song, you're reminded of just how versatile these guys are. ROMEO AND JULIET is classic ELP in the familiar instrumental capacity. FAREWELL TO ARMS is an awesome display of Greg's vocals. Greg can be a great vocalist--he just has to have the right type of song, and this one showcases his talent best. I will add that Greg does some great acoustic work on this album, as well. CHANGING STATES, BURNING BRIDGES, and BETTER DAYS fall into the same category of pop rock strength songs. They're pop rock with a little more punch. CLOSE TO HOME is classic Emerson on piano, and he does a superb job as usual in this instrumental. The album closes with FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW, which features excellent acoustic work by Greg. Again, his voice shines through this one, and reinforces how good he is on the slower songs. Overall, I give this album 9/10. This is 90's ELP, and it's great."

Pretty good CD ...

Padraic | East Lansing, MI | 04/08/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Pretty good record, if a bit boring in places ... "Paper Blood" has a verse that is a revamp of the verse of "Money Talks", a song he and Geoff Downes did in the Ride The Tiger project .. "Paper Blood" is a more well-rounded song, than the aforementioned ... The title track is kinda boring ... there are some other catchy songs, here and there ... "Affairs Of the Heart", a tune he did with Geoff Downes, which I guess Keith did the keyboards on here to make it an ELP song (with some light percussion from Carl toward the end) - is a great, haunting song. "No one is too smart, in affairs of the heart ..." .. More true words may never have been sung. It's a kind of simple mid-range/low vocal, but Greg sings it with such conviction, you believe it has just happened to him. That's my pick of best song on the album. The ELPowell album is a better record than this; the main issue is it just drags, in places ... fails to be interesting. Greg has said in a couple interviews, in the '000s that the producer at the time was involved too much with the direction the album took, and the chemistry was not the same as on albums like Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery. Well on ELPowell they had a producer and that album had great chemistry, as far as I'm concerned .. But one can see where Greg is coming from. In his 60s now, it's got to sort of burn him up how on radio today (and on videos, OMG, on videos) the young people are subjected to these paper stars, (like Lady gaga), and told 'This music is kool' by the music media ... When in the mid-70s and one record in the 80s he and his band made real music for a music industry who wanted real music. Everybody liked "Touch and Go", and thought it was kool .... It's indeed a different age, and time will see if music, as a whole can ever possibly recover ... Good album, if not their best .. 75%"