I remember hearing the “Introductory Fanfare” into the “Peter Gunn” on my big box transistor radio when Emerson, Lake, and Palmer’s In Concert album was released in 1979 and thinking, Thank God, the rumors aren’t true. My beloved father-son-and-holy-ghost rock trio have not broken up. Little did I know. ELP had indeed disbanded after the bankrupting wreckage of touring with an orchestra supporting their Works tour, then being “forced” into making the musically uneven (to say the least) Love Beach album. Nearly 50 years later, a remastered Works Live captures the band on stage, just before the ship when down.
Mostly taken from the iconic August 26, 1977 show with a full orchestra at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, along with three tracks from a West Virginia gig three months later without the orchestra, Works Live was pulled together from the eight-song In Concert that gave me such hope. It was later expanded to the 15-song Works Live set in 1993. The 2026 remaster brings the orchestra to the forefront, truly adding to the sound of the band. Although as it is on the earlier releases of these live tracks, the transitions between some of the tunes are not the best, though the sound and song choices make up for any shortcomings.
“Show Me The Way To Go Home,” “Peter Gunn,” and Lake’s beautiful “Watching Over You” all ‘work’ best for me. Classics like “Knife Edge,” even with its orchestral backing, and “Pictures At An Exhibition” were my least favorites of this collection, though here they do indeed sound the best they ever have. As for orchestral standouts, we have “C’est la Vie,” and the full attack of “Abandon’s Bolero.” With new artwork and liner notes, Works Live is available as a double CD or double LP set.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
