Love Beach
Encyclopedia
Love Beach is a studio album by English progressive rock
group Emerson, Lake & Palmer
released in 1978
. It was the band's final album of original material until Black Moon (1992) and was produced to satisfy contractual obligations with the group's record company. It was a critical and commercial disappointment, charting at #55 on the Billboard 200
, although it did eventually go gold
. The group was reportedly not satisfied with the album; drummer Carl Palmer
even compared the cover photograph
to the works of disco stars the Bee Gees
.
Original pressings of Love Beach carried no producer's credit, but production and mixing of the album were largely carried out by Keith Emerson
following contentious recording sessions in the Bahamas. According to Emerson, "everybody but me wanted to get the hell out of Nassau ... in the end I stuck the whole album together ... and sent it off to Atlantic
."
Critical appraisal of the album is mixed; some reviewers consider it the nadir of ELP's 1970s output, while others refer to the continued popularity of some songs. Writing in Rolling Stone
magazine at the time of the album's release, reviewer Michael Bloom said that "Love Beach isn't simply bad, it's downright pathetic. Stale and full of ennui, this album makes washing the dishes seem a more creative act by comparison."
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
group Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
released in 1978
1978 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1978.-January–April:*January 14 – The Sex Pistols play their final show at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom....
. It was the band's final album of original material until Black Moon (1992) and was produced to satisfy contractual obligations with the group's record company. It was a critical and commercial disappointment, charting at #55 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, although it did eventually go gold
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
. The group was reportedly not satisfied with the album; drummer Carl Palmer
Carl Palmer
Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer is an English drummer and percussionist. He is credited as one of the most respected rock drummers to emerge from the 1960s...
even compared the cover photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
to the works of disco stars the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
.
Original pressings of Love Beach carried no producer's credit, but production and mixing of the album were largely carried out by Keith Emerson
Keith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
following contentious recording sessions in the Bahamas. According to Emerson, "everybody but me wanted to get the hell out of Nassau ... in the end I stuck the whole album together ... and sent it off to Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
."
Critical appraisal of the album is mixed; some reviewers consider it the nadir of ELP's 1970s output, while others refer to the continued popularity of some songs. Writing in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine at the time of the album's release, reviewer Michael Bloom said that "Love Beach isn't simply bad, it's downright pathetic. Stale and full of ennui, this album makes washing the dishes seem a more creative act by comparison."
Personnel
- Keith EmersonKeith EmersonKeith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
: keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
s - Greg LakeGreg LakeGregory Stuart "Greg" Lake is an English musician, songwriter and producer, best known as a vocalist and bassist of King Crimson, and the bassist, guitarist, vocalist, and lyricist of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.-1960s: King Crimson:...
: vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bass - Carl PalmerCarl PalmerCarl Frederick Kendall Palmer is an English drummer and percussionist. He is credited as one of the most respected rock drummers to emerge from the 1960s...
: drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Peter SinfieldPeter SinfieldPeter John Sinfield is an English poet, lyricist and artist, most famously known as the lyricist and co-founding member of early incarnations of King Crimson, whose debut album In the Court of the Crimson King has been regarded as one of the most influential progressive rock albums ever...
: lyricsLyricsLyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of... - Jack Nuber, Karl Pitterson - engineers
Track listing
- "All I Want Is You" (Lake, Sinfield) – 2:35
- "Love Beach" (Lake, Sinfield) – 2:46
- "Taste of My Love" (Lake, Sinfield) – 3:33
- "The Gambler" (Emerson, Lake, Sinfield) – 3:23
- "For You" (Lake, Sinfield) – 4:28
- "Canario (From Fantasia para un GentilhombreFantasia para un GentilhombreFantasia para un gentilhombre is a concerto for guitar and orchestra by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. It is Rodrigo's second most popular work after the famous Concierto de Aranjuez....
)" (J. RodrigoJoaquín RodrigoJoaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez , commonly known as Joaquín Rodrigo, was a composer of classical music and a virtuoso pianist. Despite being nearly blind from an early age, he achieved great success...
) – 4:00 - "Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman" (Emerson, Sinfield) – 20:16
- Prologue / The Education of a Gentleman – 5:33
- Love at First Sight – 5:37
- Letters from the Front - 5:20
- Honourable Company (A March) - 3:46