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BMG [Release date 05.04.24]
Drummer Carl Palmer has had a long and distinguished career, most notably as a founder of prog rock super group Emerson Lake & Palmer. Prior to that he’d toured with Arthur Brown and co-founded Atomic Rooster, and subsequently played with Asia. That’s a lot of quality music, spanning several genres of rock music and seven decades.
This wonderful box covers highlights over 3CDs, and a host of rare video footage filling a blu-ray.
Carl trained as a percussionist from an early age, and from the outset his jazz influences are obvious.
Disc 1 here features highlights of his work with Emerson, Lake & Palmer. This prog rock trio, featuring keyboard wizard Keith Emerson (ex The Nice) and bassist/guitarist/vocalist Greg Lake (formerly of King Crimson), formed in 1970 and in the first half of the decade took the world by storm with some ground breaking and innovative prog rock music that was often as whimsical as it was abrasive, and featured several influences on top of a central classical music theme.
Palmer’s drumming suits the music perfectly, being intricate and powerful in equal measure. Tank and Karn Evil 9 First Impression Pt2 stand out, and there are some less obvious choices too that showcase the music as well. Add on a track by Carl Palmer & Joseph Horovitz and it’s a great start. Even if you’re not an ELP fan, you’ll find something to love here.
Disc 2 kicks off with a 1966 7” A & B side, 2 tracks by The Craig, which I believe was Palmer’s vinyl debut, or close to. Then a Chris Farlowe track and two by Atomic Rooster – this is the kind of rare stuff fans are going to love. Jump forward a few years and there‘s a track by PM (now there’s an album worth checking out) and two by Mike Oldfield.
Post ELP there are several tracks by Asia, of whom Carl was a founder member. A more commercial prog rock/pop outfit, there are some wonderful tracks here. And the disc finishes with two tracks by 3 (Palmer, Emerson, Robert Berry) and one by Carl Palmer & The Buddy Rich Orchestra.
Disc 3 features material by The Carl Palmer Band and Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy, with various live and more modern takes on ELP and Nice tracks. Again, fantastic. Much here many won’t have heard.
Then Disc 4 is a collection of video material from across the decades on a nicely presented blu ray. So much to digest here, and enjoy too. Lots you won’t have seen, lots of rarities and games. Inciteful.
But best of all, is the packaging. A thick, heavy, pretty hefty box; packaged with the 4 discs is a booklet which is a little thin (no track list for the blu ray disc), but some great info, very informative.
Maybe I’m being picky, but aside from the track details for the video disc, a full Carl Palmer discog would have been nice too. That aside, that would all make a pretty decent box in its own right. But this solid set is doubled in weight with a book, a Carl Palmer autobiography. Not that’s a bonus.
This bonus book will take a lot of extra reading but at first glance, some great info, including the sad state of the inter-band communication (or lack of) after their 2010 High Voltage ELP performance.
Keith and Greg may be gone, and they have both been honoured in some more than decent box sets of late, and this set rounds it all up nicely. It could easily have been double the number of discs, but with what you have here and the book, it’s pretty much as good as it gets. ****1/2
Review by Joe Geesin
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