Not long ago, a revitalized BMG label began to reissue remastered and expanded ELP titles. To date, they’ve moved through Love Beach (which released on May 26 along with both Works volumes). Remaining are the two final studio issues, Black Moon (1992), and In The Hot Seat (1994). both albums failed to make great impact, and were of marginal interest even to long term fans. Nevertheless, both albums were original band issues and, having said that, should be historically respected for the music that was released. Personally, I enjoyed both albums.
Musically, Black Moon, and In The Hot Seat simply were caught in a period of indifference to what was enthusiastically received in the ’70s with Trilogy, Brain Salad Surgery, the Works volumes, and their great predecessors. The songs found on both were good listens, worthy of their release.
On July 28, BMG rolls out the last of the intended studio reissues with new remastering by Andy Pearce. Both titles will be offered on 2CD sets, HD DD, and 140g-weight vinyl LP.
Black Moon will offer four bonus tracks that will include radio edits of “Black Moon”, “Affairs Of The Heart”, “Paper Blood”, and the cover of Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”. On CD 2, the newly remastered complete album release of Live At The Royal Albert Hall (1993) will be provided as more bonus.
In The Hot Seat will offer not only the original album remastered, but will include a studio version of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures At An Exhibition”, along with “A Time And A Place”, and Emerson’s “Piano Concerto No. 1: Third Movement”. The second CD will provide twelve remastered live performance tracks including “Hoedown”, “Honky Tonk Train Blues”, “Tiger In The Spotlight”, and a medley of “Fanfare For The Common Man”, “Rondo”, “America”, and 21st Century Schizoid Man”. The album will include a booklet with a track by track commentary written by Greg Lake. (Lake had also contributed liner notes for Black Moon.
Previously released remastered BMG-issued ELP titles includes Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970), Tarkus (1971), Pictures At An Exhibition (1971), all reissued on June 6, 2016; Trilogy (1972), Brain Salad Surgery (1973), Welcome Back My Friends… (1974), all reissued on September 30, 2016; and Works, Volume 1 (1977), Works, Volume 2 (1977), and Love Beach (1978).
Carl Palmer is touring ELP Legacy with an eight-date (for now) England tour beginning in November of 2017.