Nice Try by One of the Best Ever
Gary Reiner | Sacramento, CA USA | 02/17/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"In his early years with King Crimson and ELP, up until the late 70s, and his couple solo albums in the early 80s, Greg Lake's voice was among the very best in the music business; however, of late, it seems age (and maybe his smoking habit) has caught up with him, and it shows on this live CD recorded during his 2005 tour and released in 2007.
Anyone hoping for some super-inspired, awesome production will, unfortunately, find less than that from this effort by Greg Lake. The original productions of the songs selected for the CD were each better than the mixes in this collection. And, though Greg's voice sounds better than it did for the ELP Black Moon days when it was quite raspy, his voice is deeper (with a limited range) and somewhat flat, also, the songs sound like they are in a key a tad bit lower than the originals.
Buy it for sentimental reasons and for the sake that Greg has not come out with any new material in many years."
Exceeded My Expectations
Peter Anderson | Levittown, PA United States | 08/19/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I am VERY pleasantly surprised. Lake's songs on this collections are improvements on the originals...and I thought the original versions were excellent!! I expected acoustic crooning versions of these songs from Greg's former bands but got instead the full progressive rock treatment, with bombast and flair! And even an instrumental piece, "Fanfare for the Common Man" which again, in my opinion, exceeds the original ELP version!! I'm impressed!"
Superb Renditions of Classic Prog Rock Gems
JESSE R. MC Glown | Enterprise, AL | 02/20/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This recording exceeded my expectations. Greg's voice is better than it's been in twenty years! The band is top notch, too...he has a young guitarist that does a wonderful solo during the middle of Take a Pebble. These versions of mostly ELP staples are faithful to the spirit of the original songs, yet with just enough of a "twist" in the new arrangements to breathe new life into them. He has two female backing vocalists who add just the right amount of oohs and ahhs here and there without being intrusive. The keyboard player and drummer are just right for this band...imagine the pressure they must have been under during rehearsals, playing with the ghosts of Emerson and Palmer hovering all over the music. It's a shame that Emerson hasn't released an album like this of his 2005-06 band, as they are top-notch players as well. Yes, Greg's voice has deepened with age, but he had the sense to drop the key on some songs just enough to accommodate his voice limitations. This seems to be commonplace with aging singers, evidenced by Steve Walsh of Kansas, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, etc. If you want to hear the young Greg Lake in a solo context, go back to his live album from 1981."
