EMERSON LAKE & PALMER – In The Hot Seat [Deluxe Edition remastered 2017]

“In The Hot Seat“, EMERSON LAKE & PALMER’s ninth and final studio album has just been released in a 2017 Deluxe Edition remastered for the first time. While among prog purists this is considered as Emerson, Lake & Palmer weakest album, for me it’s a very good one because comprises an interesting mixture of mainstream rock (almost AORish), classic ELP prog, melodic rock and finely crafted ballads.
It was produced by Keith Olsen (Europe, Whitesnake, Foreigner) so you know what to expect in terms of sound.

Originally titled ‘The Best Seat In The House’, “In The Hot Seat” was released in 1994 following the band’s successful 1992 world tour comeback album ‘Black Moon’.
“In The Hot Seat” was an appropriate name, given that the trio was under pressure to consider adopting more ‘commercial’ material.
Then ELP devised many great tracks, notably the excellent ‘Hand of Truth,’ that launches Disc 1 of this double CD set. There’s a Greg Lake heartfelt ballad in ‘Daddy’, written in memory of missing child Sara Anne Wood and used to raise awareness of missing children.
A personal favorite of mine is ‘Hammer It Out’, where ELP combines their classic style with a modern, early ’90s lush sound.

Another asset is the inclusion as bonus tracks the studio recording of Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures At An Exhibition’, a live version of ‘A Time And A Place’ and Keith Emerson’s grandiose ‘Piano Concerto No.1: Third Movement.’

Disc 2 has a dazzling array of re-mastered ‘live’ performances with ELP playing with typical energy on a dozen fully remastered 2017 tracks.
Among the highlights are ‘Tiger In The Spotlight,’ ‘Hoedown,’ Keith Emerson’s solo piano hit ‘Honky Tonk Train Blues’ and a brace of medleys comprising ‘Fanfare For The Common Man’, ‘Rondo,’ ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ and ‘America.’

Expertly remastered for the first time by celebrated rock studio engineer Andy Pearce (from Rock Candy headquarters) this Deluxe Edition of ELP’s “In The Hot Seat” should be listened by fans of all Rock genres.
It’s a polished, smoothly produced album arranged with an accessible approach still retaining ELP’s essence.
Highly Recommended

Disc One: In The Hot Seat [remastered 2017]
01 – Hand of Truth
02 – Daddy
03 – One by One
04 – Heart On Ice
05 – Thin Line
06 – Man in the Long Black Coat
07 – Change
08 – Give Me a Reason to Stay
09 – Gone Too Soon
10 – Street War
Bonus Tracks:
11 – Pictures at an Exhibition
12 – A Time and a Place (Live – Now Tour ’97/ ’98)
13 – Piano Concerto No. 1 (Live – Now Tour ’97/ ’98)

Disc Two: Live; Now Tour ’97/ ’98 (continued)
01 – From the Beginning
02 – Karn Evil 9: First Impression, Pt. 2
03 – Tiger in a Spotlight
04 – Hoedown
05 – Touch and Go
06 – Knife-Edge
07 – Bitches Crystal
08 – Honky Tonk Train Blues
09 – Take a Pebble
10 – Lucky Man
11 – Fanfare for the Common Man
12 – 21st Century Schizoid Man / America

Greg Lake – vocals, guitar, bass
Keith Emerson – keyboards
Carl Palmer – percussion, drums
additional musicians:
Bill Wray – backing vocals
Maula Mattioli – backing vocals
Kristen Olsen – backing vocals
Fred White, Ricky Nelson, Linda McCrary – choir vocals
Keith Wechsler, Richard Baker, Brian Foraker – keyboard programming

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