Pictures At An Exhibition ＜限定盤＞

プログレッシブ・ロック界を代表する名バンドの1つ、'71年3月26日の英Newcastle City Hall公演より作曲家モデスト・ムソルグスキー作のピアノ組曲『展覧会の絵(Pictures at an Exhibition)』のロック・アレンジバージョンを収録した、バンド初のライブ・アルバムとなった'71年作が、定評のある高音質再発レーベル:米Mobile Fidelityより通しナンバー入りの180g重量盤LPとして'26年再発!

この『展覧会の絵』はライブではデビュー時より披露されながらも公式盤には収録されておらず、バンドの人気上昇に伴い市場に多く流通していた『展覧会の絵』を含むブートレッグ対策として、新規に立ち上げられた廉価カタログ・レーベル「HELP」シリーズの第1弾として発表された一作。メンバーの手によるオリジナル楽曲も交えつつ、圧倒的なテクニックと阿吽の呼吸による絶妙なアンサンブルでロック・サウンドにリアレンジされており、ライブ・パフォーマンスにおいてもこのバンドの凄さをアピールした名作が、更に立体感&臨場感を増した極上のサウンドで蘇った、決定版的再発です!!

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 Modest Mussorgsky and knew nothing of Russia's Nationalist "Five." It does some violence to Mussorgsky, but Pictures at an Exhibition is also the most energetic and well-realized live release in Emerson, Lake & Palmer's catalog, and it makes a fairly compelling case for adapting classical pieces in this way. At the time, it introduced "classical rock" to millions of listeners, including the classical community, most of whose members regarded this record as something akin to an armed assault. The early-'70s live sound is a little crude by today's standards, but the tightness of the playing (Carl Palmer is especially good) makes up for any sonic inadequacies. Keith Emerson is the dominant musical personality here, but Greg Lake and Palmer get the spotlight enough to prevent it from being a pure keyboard showcase. [In 2004 Sanctuary released a British edition with a bonus track.]

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