[Review] The Nice: Elegy (1971)
If you’re still hungry after the last album of leftovers, here’s desert.
Kronomyth 5.0: How can we hang on to a dream?
By 1970, The Nice had splintered into ELP, Jackson Heights and Every Which Way, yet another example of a supergroup coming unstuck (see The Beatles, Cream, and Traffic for more on this). In the cut-short career of a circa 1970 prog band, posthumous product became a rite of passage. Elegy is the band’s post-posthumous album: the album of “new” material that was released after the album of new material that was released after the band broke up. Featuring three live tracks and one studio track, the last album from The Nice is the last album from The Nice you need to own. Which isn’t to say that all four tracks aren’t worth hearing. They are. But you’ve heard most of them before. A playful version of Bob Dylan’s My Back Pages is the only real surprise. The live version of Hang on to a Dream is mumbled, muddled, interesting only for an unorthodox solo in which Emerson pops his piano top and goes plucking crazy. The studio version of Pathetique’s 3rd Movement is solid for sure, but they’d already scratched that Ilyich on Five Bridges, and Elegy marks at least the third time they’ve visited America. It’s not a bad record at all, but shouldn’t you be dipping your toes into the music on Emerson, Lake and Palmer instead of singeing your fingers carrying a torch for The Nice?
Original elpee version
A1. Hang on to a Dream (Tim Hardin) (12:43)
A2. My Back Pages (Bob Dylan) (9:12)
B1. 3rd Movement, Pathétique Symphony (P.I. Tchaikovsky, arranged by The Nice) (7:05)
B2. America (Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim, arranged by Keith Emerson/Lee Jackson/Brian Davison) (10:27)
CD reissue bonus tracks
5. Diamond-Hard Blue Apples of the Moon
6. Dawn
7. Tantalising Maggie
8. Cry of Eugene
9. Daddy Where Did I Come From
10. Azirial
The Players
Brian Davison (drums & percussion), Keith Emerson (keyboards), Lee Jackson (bass & vocals). Produced by The Nice; engineered by Dave Hentschel, Malcolm Toft and Eddie Kramer; mixed by Dave Hentschel and Malcom Toft.
The Pictures
Cover design & photos by Hipgnosis.
The Plastic
Released on elpee, cassette and 8-track in April 1971 in the UK (Charisma, CAS 1030) [pink label], the US (Mercury, SR/MCR-4/MC-8-61324), Australia, Germany, and Italy (Philips, 6303 011) and Japan (Philips, RJ-7290) and in 1972 in France (Philips, 6324 001) with gatefold cover. Reached #5 on the UK charts.
- Re-released on elpee in the UK (Charisma, CAS 1030) [mad hatter label] with gatefold cover.
- Re-issued on elpee and cassette in the US (Mercury, 830 292-1/4).
- Re-issued on cassette in the UK (Charisma, 7208 568).
- Re-issued on elpee in August 1982 in the UK (Charisma, CHC-1).
- Re-issued on expanded compact disc in 1990 in the UK (Charisma, CASCD-1030) and Europe (EMI, 787383) with 6 bonus tracks.
