Trilogy (song)
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''Trilogy'' is the third studio album by English
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
supergroup
Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock Supergroup (music), supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards) of The Nice, Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitars, producer) ...
, released in June 1972, by
Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...
. The group had spent most of 1971 touring, and paused in September so they could record a new album at
Advision Studios Advision Studios was a recording studio in Fitzrovia, central London, England. Origins Founded in the 1960s by Guy Whetstone and Stephen Appleby, Advision originally provided voiceovers and jingles for television advertisements. The studio wa ...
with
Eddy Offord Edward Offord is an English retired record producer and audio engineer who gained prominence in the 1970s for his work on albums by the progressive rock bands Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes. Life and career Offord studied physics at university, an ...
resuming his role as engineer. It would be his last with the group, as he later elected to work full-time with
Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...
. The album features "
Hoedown A hoedown is a type of American folk dance or square dance in duple meter, and also the musical form associated with it. Overview The most popular sense of the term is associated with Americans in rural or southeastern parts of the country, par ...
", an arrangement of
Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...
's ballet composition which became a live favourite. The album was a commercial success, reaching No. 2 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
and No. 5 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Lake's acoustic song, " From the Beginning", was released as a
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
in August 1972 and became the band's highest charting US single, reaching No. 39. Lake later picked ''Trilogy'' as his favourite Emerson, Lake & Palmer album.


Recording

In September 1971, the band took a break in their tour promoting ''
Tarkus ''Tarkus'' is the second studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released on 4 June 1971 on Island Records. Following their debut tour across Europe during the second half of 1970, the group paused touring commitme ...
'' (1971) and ''
Pictures at an Exhibition ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' is a piano suite in ten movements, plus a recurring and varied Promenade theme, written in 1874 by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. It is a musical depiction of a tour of an exhibition of works by architect and ...
'' (1971) to start work on a new studio album. They returned to
Advision Studios Advision Studios was a recording studio in Fitzrovia, central London, England. Origins Founded in the 1960s by Guy Whetstone and Stephen Appleby, Advision originally provided voiceovers and jingles for television advertisements. The studio wa ...
in London, once again with Lake as producer and
Eddy Offord Edward Offord is an English retired record producer and audio engineer who gained prominence in the 1970s for his work on albums by the progressive rock bands Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes. Life and career Offord studied physics at university, an ...
as their engineer. In early 1972, ''
New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...
'' falsely reported that the group were splitting up, causing the band to issue a statement. Keyboardist
Keith Emerson Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 194411 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He be ...
had planned to do a solo album of jazz music, but the project was shelved and the band turned down a lucrative offer to write the score to a racing film entitled ''Fangio''. The band recorded the album in October–November 1971 and January 1972. The album was particularly difficult for Lake to record, as he described the album as "such an accurate record". Palmer noted ''Trilogy'' had the most number of overdubs put down on an Emerson, Lake & Palmer album, owing to the "enormous detail" put into the arrangements of the songs. Emerson was pleased with the album after it was completed, noting its varied arrangements and difference in style compared to ''Tarkus''. Greg Lake also later identified it as his favorite ELP album. However, the extensive use of overdubs on 24-track machines meant that many pieces including "The Endless Enigma", "Trilogy" and "Abaddon's Bolero" proved difficult to play live and were consequently dropped from live performance early in the accompanying tour. As a result, the band vowed that their next album would be one they could reproduce entirely on stage. References to a quad version of this album appeared in 1974 Harrison or Schwann record and tape guides, listing ''Trilogy'' in the Quadraphonic 8-track tape cartridge format. Collectors report never seeing a ''Trilogy'' Q8 at retail, despite its having a catalogue number "Cotillion QT-9903".


Songs


Side one

"The Endless Enigma" is a suite in three parts; the first section begins with the sound of a beating heart, an effect sometimes claimed to have been created by the Ludwig Speed King bass drum pedal of Palmer's Ludwig Octaplus kit. However, in the sleeve notes to the 2015 CD/DVD reissue, remix engineer
Jakko Jakszyk Michael "Jakko" Jakszyk ( , born Michael Lee Curran, 8 June 1958) is an English musician, record producer, and actor. He has released several solo albums as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as lead singer and se ...
is quoted as saying "I've discovered
t is T, or t, is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is d ...
actually Greg playing... muted strings on his bass guitar". Emerson can also be heard playing a
zurna The zurna is a double reed wind instrument played in Central Asia, West Asia, the Caucasus, Southeast Europe and parts of North Africa. It is also used in Sri Lanka. It is usually accompanied by a davul (bass drum) in Armenian, Anatolian and Ass ...
, a Eurasian wind instrument. The second part, "Fugue", is a classical fugue with Emerson on piano and Lake playing counterpoint on bass. The third section returns to the "Endless Enigma" theme, ending on a series of horn-like synth fanfares. " From the Beginning" is a soft, acoustic guitar-based ballad that peaked at on the US charts. More often appearing in ELP compilations than live concerts, the track lent its name to a 1997 retrospective of Greg Lake's work. An alternate version of the song featuring a different take of the closing Moog solo is found on the 2015 deluxe reissue. "The Sheriff" was written as a prelude to the western-themed "Hoedown", which closes the side. During the opening drum solo, Palmer accidentally hit the rim of his tom-tom with a drumstick, and he can be heard responding with "Shit!". The song ends with a honky tonk-type piano solo with Palmer playing woodblocks. "Hoedown" is an arrangement of "Hoe-Down" from the ballet ''
Rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
'' (1942) by American composer
Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...
, who gave the band permission to adapt the piece. It became a live favorite and opened the band's shows between 1972 and 1974.


Side two

The title track is divided, as per its name, into three distinct sections. The first section is a romantic piano ballad a la "Take A Pebble", with lyrics about a broken relationship. The full band abruptly enters with bass, drums, and layers of Moog synthesizers for the second part, which is played in a robust 5/8 and features extensive soloing from Emerson. For the final section Lake's vocal returns as the full band continues to play, now in 6/8, before ending on a showbiz coda. "Trilogy" was attempted on the spring 1972 tour but proved difficult to recreate without the extensive studio overdubs and was dropped from the set list after only two shows. Despite this, the track remains popular with ELP fans and is included on almost all compilations. "Living Sin" is a hard rock number about an aggressive groupie that was never played live by the group, although a version with Marc Bonilla on guitar was attempted by the Keith Emerson Band. The remix of "Living Sin" on the 2015 reissue features an additional section of Emerson's solo. "Abaddon's Bolero" sounds like a
bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...
turned into a march (in 4/4 rhythm rather than the usual 3/4). The piece was originally titled Bellona's Bolero after the goddess of war. A single melody containing multiple modulations within itself is repeated over and over in ever more thickly layered arrangements, starting from a quiet Hammond organ making a flute-like sound over a snare drum, and building up to a wall of sound –
Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
's famous ''
Boléro ''Boléro'' is a 1928 work for large orchestra by French composer Maurice Ravel. It is one of Ravel's most famous compositions. It was also one of his last completed works before illness diminished his ability to write music. Composition T ...
'' uses a similar effect. There is also a quote from the British traditional song "
The Girl I Left Behind "The Girl I Left Behind", also known as "The Girl I Left Behind Me", is an English folk song dating back to the Elizabethan era. It is said to have been played when soldiers left for war or a naval vessel set sail. According to other sources t ...
". "Abaddon's Bolero" is replete with
overdubs Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...
. Almost every time an instrument comes in, another overdub follows. Like the title track, "Abaddon's Bolero" was only played live a handful of times, with
Greg Lake Gregory Stuart Lake (10 November 1947 – 7 December 2016) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP). Born and b ...
handling
Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...
, bass pedals, and additional
Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...
duties (other synth parts accompanied them from a reel-to-reel tape playing off-stage which Emerson had pre-recorded); the song turned out to be a disaster, and led to a heated backstage argument when the tape stopped mid-way through the song during one show, after which, it was cut from the
set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...
. The band brought the piece back for the start of their 1977 tour, during which they were accompanied by an orchestra.


Cover

The artwork was designed by
Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...
. It depicts a combined bust of the three members, while the interior of the original
gatefold A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for gramophone record, LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½-inch 2.7-centimetresquare). ...
sleeve features a
photomontage Photomontage is the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image. Sometimes the resulting composite image is photographed so that the final imag ...
of the three in
Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the Lond ...
. Spanish artist
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...
was approached to design it, but he requested $50,000 to do it and was turned down. The front cover depicts each of the band members' faces; Emerson said this was because their previous albums had not featured them.


Reception

The album reached on the ''Billboard'' 200—their highest charting studio release in the US—and peaked at on the
UK Albums chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
. It appeared in the Top 10 in
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
for 4 non-consecutive weeks, peaking at .
Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
said in his review that "anybody who buys a record that divides a ... composition called 'The Endless Enigma' into two discrete parts deserves it." ''Billboard'' praised the album for Keith Emerson's "steady progression" on the Moog synthesizer, while '' Cashbox'' called the group "rockdom's most explosive trio", found "From The Beginning" especially favorable and predicted the album would "find its way onto the top ten in nothing flat". Tony Palmer of ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'' thought the group "demonstrates an extraordinary degree of bombast with little or no creative imagination at work to justify all the sound and fury". Retrospectively ''
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
'' commented that engineer Eddie Offord "provided a lush, comfy finish to the album that made it particularly suited for living room listening and the FM airwaves." ''
Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...
'' wrote that the album found the group at the height of their powers, which cemented them as "one of the most experimental and ambitious groups in rock". When reviewing the 2015 deluxe reissue for '' Louder'', Philip Wilding noted that 40 years on, the album's "bravura, pomposity and daring experimentation remain intact". Conversely, ''The Daily Vault'' gave the album a mixed B- grade with the summation "There are a handful of moments to make it interesting, and the band's professionalism and chemistry makes it listenable, but it rarely reaches the brilliance of the debut or the overblown grandeur of ''
Brain Salad Surgery ''Brain Salad Surgery'' is the fourth studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released on 7 December 1973 by their new record label, Manticore Records, and distributed by Atlantic Records. Following the tour in sup ...
''.


Reissues

The album has been reissued a number of times, the most recent as part of a deluxe edition release campaign by Sony Record Group on the 27 April 2015. The original mix was included along with a brand new stereo mix across two CDs and featuring both on an audio DVD.


Track listing


2015 deluxe edition


Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's 1972
liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...
.


Emerson, Lake & Palmer

*
Keith Emerson Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 194411 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He be ...
Hammond C3 organ,
Steinway piano Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in New York City by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth le ...
,
zurna The zurna is a double reed wind instrument played in Central Asia, West Asia, the Caucasus, Southeast Europe and parts of North Africa. It is also used in Sri Lanka. It is usually accompanied by a davul (bass drum) in Armenian, Anatolian and Ass ...
(listed as a "Zoukra"), Moog synthesiser III-C, Mini-Moog model D synthesiser *
Greg Lake Gregory Stuart Lake (10 November 1947 – 7 December 2016) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP). Born and b ...
– vocals, bass guitar, electric and acoustic guitars *
Carl Palmer Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer (born 20 March 1950) is an English drummer. He was a founding member of the supergroups Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Asia, a touring drummer for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and a founding member of Atomic Roost ...
– drums, percussion


Production

*
Eddy Offord Edward Offord is an English retired record producer and audio engineer who gained prominence in the 1970s for his work on albums by the progressive rock bands Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes. Life and career Offord studied physics at university, an ...
– production engineer *Greg Lake – production *
Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...
– cover design and photography *Phil Crinnell – tinting


Singles

*" From the Beginning" / "Living Sin" (USA release)


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trilogy (Emerson, Lake and Palmer Album) Emerson, Lake & Palmer albums 1972 albums Albums produced by Greg Lake Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Island Records albums Atlantic Records albums Cotillion Records albums