Pictures at an Exhibition was one of the seminal documents of the progressive rock era, a record that made its way into the collections of millions of high-school kids who never heard of composer Modest Mussorgsky and knew nothing of Russia's Nationalist "Five" or artist/architect Victor Hartmann, whose work was the inspiration for Mussorgsky. Chronologically, it was Emerson, Lake & Palmer's third LP release (they didn't regard it as an "official" album, as it was comprised of only part of a longer live performance), but for a lot of teenagers who'd missed out on the trio's self-titled debut album or resisted the unfamiliarity of Tarkus, Pictures -- which was budget-priced in its original LP release in England and America -- with its bracing live ambience and blazing pyrotechnics, was the album that put the group over, and did it with exactly the same kids who turned Jethro Tull's Aqualung and Thick as a Brick and Yes' Fragile into standard-issue accouterments of teenage suburban life. And, indeed, like the Tull and Yes albums, it worked on several levels that allowed widely divergent audiences to embrace it -- with the added stimulus of certain controlled substances, it teased the brain with its mix of melody and heavy rock, and for anyone with some musical knowledge, serious or casual, it was a sufficiently bold use of Mussorgsky's original to stimulate hours of delightful listening. It wasn't the first treatment of a classical piece in this manner by any means -- Keith Emerson had done several previously with his earlier group the Nice -- but it was the first to reach a mass audience or get heavy radio play (at least of excerpts), and introduced the notion of "classical rock" to millions of listeners, including the classical community, most of whose members regarded this record as something akin to an armed assault. Those with less hidebound sensibilities appreciated Emerson's rollicking and delightful "Blues Variations" -- which bridged the gap between Tarkus and Trilogy -- and Greg Lake's lyrical adaptations of "Promenade," "The Sage," and "The Great Gates of Kiev." It does some violence to Mussorgsky in the process, but is also the most concise, energetic, and well-realized live release in ELP's catalog, the hall small enough to capture the finer nuances of the playing by all three members of the trio, and especially the muscular bass work by Lake that keeps pushing the performance forward. It was great fun (an element missing from a good deal of progressive rock) in 1972, and it's still fun in 2005. It also made a fairly compelling case for adapting classical pieces in this way -- ELP would later succeed with adaptations of works by Aaron Copland and Alberto Ginastera, among others, but this would be the longest such work to find mass listenership, sufficient so that in the late '80s there would be a legitimate classical organ arrangement put out by the Dorian label that referred to ELP's rendition as its linear predecessor. The early-'70s live sound is a little crude by today's standards, but the various CD upgrades from Rhino, Sanctuary, and Japanese WEA have given the recording a close, powerful sound that captures the tightness of the playing (drummer Carl Palmer is especially good) and makes up for any sonic inadequacies. Emerson is the dominant musical personality here, but Lake (who also gets to play some classical guitar) and Palmer get the spotlight more than enough to prevent it from being a pure keyboard showcase. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
Emerson, Lake & Palmer (Arranger), Emerson, Lake & Palmer (Main Performer), Keith Emerson (Arranger), Keith Emerson (Keyboards), Greg Lake (Bass), Greg Lake (Guitar), Greg Lake (Arranger), Greg Lake (Vocals), Greg Lake (Producer), Keith Morris (Photography), Eddie Offord (Engineer), Joseph M. Palmaccio (Remastering), Carl Palmer (Percussion), Carl Palmer (Drums), Art Slave (Package Design), Nigel Marlow (Photography), William Neal (Artwork), William Neal (Cover Design), William Neal (Cover Painting), Stewart Young (Management), Emily Johnson (Artwork), Emily Johnson (Package Supervision), Steve Hochman (Liner Notes), Derek Dressler (Reissue Producer), Jeff Palo (Producer), Kate DeVriend (Editorial Supervision), Andy Pearce (Remastering)
Pictures at an Exhibition is an album by Britishprogressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer,
released in 1971 as a live album and re-released in 2001 as a remastered edition including both live and studio versions of
Mussorgsky's classical piece Pictures at
an Exhibition. The original live album was recorded at Newcastle City Hall in
North East England. The opening track of the album was played on a Harrison & Harrison pipe organ which was installed in the City Hall in 1928.
There was also a video made of a different live performance. This had a limited theatrical release in 1973, and a remastered DVD release with
Dolbysurround sound in 2000. This
performance is notable for the energy passed by the three young musicians. Being a live album, sometimes Keith Emerson's
voltage-controlled Moog synthesizer plays the wrong notes, apparently due to power
supply problems.
Cover design
The original album cover used a gatefold sleeve depicting, on the outside, blank picture frames labeled with the titles of the
pieces: "The Old Castle", "The Gnome", etc. On the inside all the pictures were revealed, but one remains blank: "Promenade".
(The musical piece, of course, is not about a picture, but represents a walk through the gallery.)
Some CD covers use only the "revealed" version.
Track listing
"Promenade" (Emerson, Mussorgsky) – 1:58
"The Gnome" (Mussorgsky, Palmer) – 4:18
"Promenade" (Lake, Mussorgsky) – 1:23
"The Sage" (Lake) – 4:42
"The Old Castle" (Emerson, Mussorgsky) – 2:33
"Blues Variation" (Emerson, Lake, Palmer) – 4:22
"Promenade" (Mussorgsky) – 1:29
"The Hut of Baba Yaga" (Mussorgsky) – 1:12
"The Curse of Baba Yaga" (Emerson, Lake, Palmer) – 4:10
"The Hut of Baba Yaga" (Mussorgsky) – 1:06
"The Great Gates of Kiev/The End" (Lake, Mussorgsky) – 6:37
"Nutrocker" (Tchaikovsky, Fowley) – 4:26
Bonus tracks
"Pictures at an Exhibition" [studio version*] – 15:28
Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition was also performed in a different electronic arrangement by Isao Tomita and in a heavy metal adaptation by the German band Mekong Delta. These both are more complete versions of the original suite.
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