Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Trilogy

Trilogy is the third studio album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in July 1972 by Island Records. The cover, designed by Hipgnosis, features a combined bust of the three members, while the first edition’s inside features a photomontage of the three of them in Epping Forest.

Trilogy increased ELP’s worldwide popularity by including “Hoedown”, an Aaron Copland composition, which was one of their most popular live songs. Greg Lake himself admitted that this was his favorite ELP album.

In September 1971, the band took a break from their summer North American tour promoting Tarkus and Pictures At An Exhibition to record new material for the next studio album. In May 1972, the album was still untitled, according to some magazines. Emerson however was pleased when it was finished, noting the variety and difference in style it had from the Tarkus.

The desire to have Salvador Dali design the cover was turned down because he asked for $50,000 to do so. The depiction of their faces on the front cover was, according to Emerson, because they had never appeared on their previous albums.

“The Endless Enigma” is a suite in three parts. The first part begins with the sound of a beating heart, an effect said to have been created by the Ludwig Speed King bass pedal of Carl Palmer’s Ludwig Octaplus percussion kit. However, in the liner notes of the 2015 CD/DVD reissue, mixing engineer Jakko Jakszyk claims that it is actually the sound of Greg Lake’s bass strings.

“From the Beginning” is a soft, acoustic guitar track that reached No. 39 on the US charts. The track appears more often on ELP compilations than live performances, and lent its name to a Greg Lake compilation of earlier tracks released in 1997. The song was also covered by the Czech folk-rock band Marsyas, albeit with different name (Studená Koupel) and with Czech lyrics.

In the opening drum solo of “The Sheriff”, Carl Palmer accidentally hit the lip of his tom-tom with a drumstick, saying the word “shit” that can be heard if you listen closely to the track.

“Hoedown” is a cover of “Hoe-Down” from the ballet Rodeo (1942) by Aaron Copland. It became the first song to open concerts for both Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery.
“Abaddon’s Bolero” sounds like a bolero that was converted along the way to a 4/4 time rather than the usual 3/4 time. The song was originally called Bolero by Bellona a goddess of war.

The album reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart.

Through this excellent album I select the  exceptional “From the Beginning”.

Tracklist

1. The Endless Enigma (Part 1)
2. Fugue
3. The Endless Enigma (Part 2)
4. From The Beginning
5. The Sheriff
6. Hoedown
7. Trilogy
8. Living Sin
9. Abaddon’s Bolero