A Serious Attempt at a new Direction
Squid | 03/08/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The death knell of creativity is sounded by the monotone of commercial expectation. It is refreshing to see a major Rock act taking new steps of creative freedom.
In the Hot Seat has obviously disappointed those ELP groupies who still live in the 70s, but there is much on this album to commend it.
Songs like Thin Line, Street War, Man in a Long Black Coat, Gone Too Soon and One by One are well written Rock tunes, and the sonic quality is superb.
This version of Pictures at an Exhibition is the best one ELP ever released - Dolby 5.1 sound, and cutting age Synth samples.
If you like ELP but have avoided buying this CD because of the lousy reviews - think again!"
Not as bad as the other reviewers say
J. Corcoran | Providence RI | 09/05/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I figured I'd get in on all this Amazon review hullabaloo surrounding "In the Hot Seat", the 1994 swan song from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. I just bought it the other day and have listened to it a couple times, and only wish I had first bought it when it came out 12 years ago. I opted to shell out like 30 bucks for the Japanese import after searching for it for a long time. It's not phenomenal, but I also think it's not as bad as some of the other reviewers on here have said it is.
The first track is "Hand of Truth", which starts out with a great, extended, proggy intro, but regrettably gives way to some lame vocal sections, interrupted in the middle by a nice solo from Keith. I'm undecided on this tune.
The second track is "Daddy", a song about child abduction and murder which is an attempt at being dark and haunting, but unfortunately sounds stale and 80s-ish. The samples of a little girl's voice crying "Daddy!" are cheesy and melodramatic. Things on "In the Hot Seat" get better after these first two tracks are out of the way.
The third track, "One By One", is a good tune with a nice melodic vocal hook. The cheesy "trumpet" synths are a little too much, though. It's like, get a real trumpet.
The fourth track is "Heart On Ice", a strong ballad. It would have been nice if Greg had busted out the acoustic guitar for this, as he has done with all his great ballads in the past. And the lyric "Just take my heart, put it on ice" reminds me of an organ harvesting clinic, or something.
The fifth track is "Thin Line". It's a groovy Chicago style shuffle, the rythym of which is puncuated by one of my favorite elements of instrumentation in prog rock- some drum programming here and there. I could deal without the female backup vocals.
The sixth track is a dark ballad entitled "The Man In the Long Black Coat", originally penned by Bob Dylan. On a side note, Steve Hackett also covers this on his forthcoming release "Wild Orchids".
The seventh and eighth tracks are "Change", a solid rocker with a hooky chorus; and "Give Me a Reason to Stay", a ballad with some heavier sections.
The ninth track, "Gone Too Soon", is the best track on the disc, with an infectious and unforgettable driving dance groove.
The tenth track and the last one on the disc proper is the politically themed "Street War", another standout track. This one wasn't my favorite at first but has grown on me.
Then we get to the bonus tracks. The rendition of the Mussorgsky classical piece "Pictures at An Exhibition" here is the same 15 minute truncated studio version included on the box set "The Return of the Manticore", and you can get other live and unedited versions of this track on other ELP releases. It seems as though they felt a need to include an extended piece to pass "Hot Seat" off as "more progressive".
"Hammer it Out" is a nice piano piece from Keith, but at a brief 2:35 it doesn't accomplish more than to close the CD as a mere afterthought, and is for serious collectors only. As far as I know, the same version of "Hammer it Out" is available on Keith's recent and likely titled anthology set.
The CD booklet contains lyrics and notes in Japanese, for anyone who cares, and also includes the lyrics in English. Included for the first time anywhere are the lyrics to "Pictures". Classical purists would argue that adding lyrics to this song amounts to vandalism, but the lyrics at least convey the song's theme- images of paintings via the eyes of some dude who sees them in a museum.
It's to bad that ELP chose not to reform for their 35th anniversary. Keith and his current band do have a disc coming out soon which should be good."
34 YEARS LATER....ELP STILL REMAINS IN MY COLLECTION
Lori Pfadt | Erie, PA | 09/15/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I know not every ELP fan favored their later albums, however I have not been disappointed yet. I felt that ELP became more brilliant as they matured.
They changed their style as music in general changed. what i appeciate about ELP, is that they did not release albums every 2 years, like most bands do.
They made us wait in between albums and took their time to master these"masterpieces". and every album was worth the wait.
Black Moon as well as In The Hot Seat were actually two of my favoites.
And to this day they all remain in my collection...
A few years ago, I replaced In The Hot Seat. I had to order the Japenese Import and I was not disappointed to pay $30.00 for it.
I was grateful to find it.
I have replaced most of my ELP albums from vinyl to CD.
The sound quality is more appeciated.
Emerson,Lake And Palmer are by far...Legends in their own time.
Maybe one day they will resurface and once again they will add to my collection....."
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1