1978 should still have been a kind musical environment for Emerson, Lake & Palmer, even for the likes of Love Beach if they would have thought it out properly.  But even as the musical climate was changing, it was much clearer from the then current creativity of ELP, that they had reached an apex a few years back.  The proof could easily be heard in their Works volumes that excess had taken over beginning as early as Brain Salad Surgery.  Tiredness would follow and unveil on their Love Beach release as time together began to take a massive toll on the band, individually, collectively, creatively, and critically.

To be fair, there are a few songs that musically, if not lyrically, shows a decent attempt at credibility, looking backward to better times when they were more solidly based.  “Taste of my Love” has a sound that originates from the Trilogy period.  In my opinion, Trilogy was the band’s greatest effort as subsequent albums began to load up too heavily on effect.  And while “Memoirs of An Officer and a Gentleman” with its four movements continued with their habit of providing large-scale pieces, it was less a work of talent than a groove filler, and much too long.  But it was not as distractedly bad as many would have you believe.

Simply put, the savaged Love Beach earned its disdain with most songs on it, but it is also the swansong of a band that has gone as far as it was willing to go.  Fans expected more and received less, but the album is better than devout fans are willing to provide.

We’re not even going to talk about the cover shot on Love Beach.

Eventually, bands begin to dream of the reunion and of the return of mass adoration.  And for some bands, it actually happens.  However, with the release of Black Moon, some 14 years after Love Beach, it became clear that the times would not be kind to ELP even as they attempt to blend a past style into a current sound.  Where Love Beach could be seen as a wrangle out of a contract and certain obligations, Black Moon is an attempt to regain some footing.

The opening notes of the title song, “Black Moon” are actually good.  They are remnants of a past ELP.  However, they lead onward to a mediocre song, and in fact, several before the Emerson-arranged “Romeo and Juliet” (from the Russian composer, Sergei Prokofiev and his opera of the same name).  “Romeo and Juliet” recalls a familiar ELP, and I wouldn’t have minded a longer arrangement.  It might have shined on this set.

There are other songs on Black Moon that were good.  “Farewell to Arms” handles itself well despite that it doesn’t hold the banner of the band high (and it could have).  The two Emerson compositions (“Changing States,” “Close to Home”) are good.  But Black Moon needed extraordinary and didn’t have it.  It only possesses hints and mild breezes of the classic ELP.

This new reissue adds a bonus track with the Emerson-penned “ A Blade of Grass,” a ‘neither here nor there’ tune.  The album becomes the de facto swansong of the band (unless they regroup for another go) and as such leaves a better taste than Love Beach had.

Shout Factory began an ambitious update of the relatively small ELP catalogue with the 2CD career retrospective of 28 classic, newly remastered ELP tracks from 10 albums, several of which were large in scope (the Works efforts), called The Essential Emerson, Lake & Palmer.  Chronologically reissued, Shout Factory then began their ELP catalogue updates with the 1971 self-titled debut, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and the band’s second album, Tarkus, also from 1971, on April 24.  Those were followed with Trilogy, and Pictures at an Exhibition, both from 1972 and reissued on June 26 of 2007.  Welcome Back, My Friends to the Show That Never Ends…was officially released in 1974 and after Brain Salad Surgery.

These albums were remastered from original master tapes by Andy Pearce at Masterpiece London.  I haven’t compared these to more recent remasters that are available from other markets however; I can tell you that they are much better than the aging original Atlantic CD releases, which sadly, were all that were in my possession.  If there are better remasters out there, I’ll leave those to the more astute audiophiles to bring to attention (however, trusted readers have reported to me that these Pearce remasters are comparable to the best ELP remasters available).  But for those that want a reasonably priced, easy to acquire, update of their older ELP catalogue discs, these do the job quite nicely.  These two discs do not bring liner notes or photos in the booklets.  Black Moon delivers lyrics and nothing else, and Love Beach leaves less than that.  The series (Emerson, Lake & Palmer Remasters) sets are housed in jewel cases (I think I might have rather enjoyed the quality digipak packaging like those used for the Herb Alpert Signature Series collection).  These reissues will nicely replace the aging originals in your collection until someone undertakes a Definitive Edition project for each of these albums, filled with bonus tracks and memorabilia.  These final sets conclude the campaign.