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E.L.P. vs. Yes. Who's the best ?

P

Pure_Carbon

pfm Member
When I as at school , mid 1970's , those that were "into" music, carried their favourite LPs under their arms like a trophy.
I was very often the Prism.......TDSoTM , and why not!
Lots of Supertramp, Crimson, Gentle Giant , and some of the older kids had Zappa albums , sophisticated or what !

Now some of us had ELP albums, and some had Yes albums, but you couldn't have both.
You had to be in one camp or the other, and I think it was a Emerson vs. Wakeman / Palmer vs White thing.
I'm excluding the Yes album as it was around the time of Fragile/Close to the Edge.

I was an aspiring drummer, and was drawn to Palmer, and the organ player in my band was a big Keith fan, so ELP it was !!
I did buy all the Yes albums later .

I had a session recently and dipped into both, and feel that Yes had aged so much better.

For me where ELP have very much faded was based on 2 things, the songwriting and the fewer number of musicians.
Forgetting drummers for the time being, only E&L were bringing any compositions to the band , which I believe is why they covered so many works of Classical and Modern composers, a few of their self penned songs were stinkers ( Benny the Bouncer....)
Yes had 5 really gifted players who brought pieces to the band , individually and collectively , Anderson, Howe , Squire & Wakeman ( plus Tony Kaye previoiusly) , and the fact of 2 main instruments ( Guitar/keyboards) meant the heavy lifting didn't fall on one front man (Emerson)
Plus a bass player , Squire , who often took front and centre musically and played his Rickenbacker like a lead guitar, gave them so much more depth.
Lake was an adequate bass player.
ELP were very showboaty, Yes less so, maybe that was Anderson's input.

Play ELP's biggest selling discs, Trilogy, Brain Salad & Works, and they're OK, some good stuff, but some stinkers too.
Then play The Yes Album, Fragile & Close to the Edge.
I rest my case M'lud.
 
Love both but not ELO (yuk)

Tarkus by ELP is brilliant.

But the Yes Album has been on my turntable more often, and many times to boot.
 
I love ELP's 'Trilogy' and 'Pictures At an Exhibition' but havent beem able to get into any of their others much. I really enjoy The Yes album, Close To The Edge and Fragile but havent been able to get into any of their other albums. I definitely agree that Yes were better songwriters and generally better musicians.
If you dont own or havent heard the Steven Wilson multichannel remixes of all of the above albums, I thoroughly recommend them. He has done an incredible job.
 
100% Yes. For me the songwriting is head and shoulders above ELP. Always found ELP to be a lot of sounds and fury signifying not much of anything. all about showing off their chops rather than writing strong tunes. I honestly don’t think I could hum a single ELP song (aside from Fanfare, which isn’t theirs).

Having said that I’ve come around to them a little more in recent years and don’t find them quite as bombastic as I used to. (And yep I know Yes we’re capable of extreme bombast as well - I’m looking at you Topographic Oceans). In fact, a quick check of the shelves reveals that I somehow have five ELP albums. I don’t know how, they’re just there.

Anyway, you have to at least like ELP for bringing the mighty PFM (bakery not fishes) to a wider world.
 
In my youth it was ELP then Yes, 2 distinct eras. Even back then ELP were of their time (early 70s) and had no staying power. Thinking back, their habit of doing cover versions of other people's music should have been a sign that they were just a tribute band.
 
the arc said:
100% Yes. For me the songwriting is head and shoulders above ELP. Always found ELP to be a lot of sounds and fury signifying not much of anything. all about showing off their chops rather than writing strong tunes. I honestly don’t think I could hum a single ELP song (aside from Fanfare, which isn’t theirs).

Having said that I’ve come around to them a little more in recent years and don’t find them quite as bombastic as I used to. (And yep I know Yes we’re capable of extreme bombast as well - I’m looking at you Topographic Oceans). In fact, a quick check of the shelves reveals that I somehow have five ELP albums. I don’t know how, they’re just there.

Anyway, you have to at least like ELP for bringing the mighty PFM (bakery not fishes) to a wider world.
Click to expand...
Good Manticore knowledge there.
Pete Sinfield wrote all the English lyrics and taught them how to sing them , i think.
Fanfare was Aaron Copeland.
Topographic was noodly and pointless , could have been a decent single album.
 
gizza said:
I love ELP's 'Trilogy' and 'Pictures At an Exhibition' but havent beem able to get into any of their others much. I really enjoy The Yes album, Close To The Edge and Fragile but havent been able to get into any of their other albums. I definitely agree that Yes were better songwriters and generally better musicians.
If you dont own or havent heard the Steven Wilson multichannel remixes of all of the above albums, I thoroughly recommend them. He has done an incredible job.
Click to expand...
Got the Steve Wilson box set, all the LPs, from Yes Album to Topographic.
A good set indeed.
 
For me, it's Yes. More creative than ELP, but to be fair there was (is?) an awful lot of borrowing from the classical repertoire, like Rick Wakeman's Cans And Brahms, so they were both at it. Today though I listen to Close To The Edge and Relayer which have aged well. I rarely listen to anything else by either of these groups.
 
I was a fan of The Nice (Five Bridges was a cool underarm accessory) and so gravitated towards ELP, buying albums going to concerts, putting the free posters of the band from the weeklies on my wall etc, but still bought Yes albums as well and "The Yes Album" was always a pleasure to play - it still is alongside the live triple and others of the classic era.

What did it for me regarding ELP however was the 1974 tour at Wembley - the music was excellent as always but when the big Moog sprouted wings and moved across the stage as if alive, I'd had enough. Sold my ticket for the next night's show and never saw them again or bought product.

Then I really got into King Crimson but that's another story
 
There's a convincing argument that ELP should have split in 1974.

I recall Emerson saying in an interview once, that he thought bands only had four decent albums in them.
 
Can I just say, I've actually touched Keith Emerson's bottom!

Preston Guildhall. Keith was in the crowd with his Moog ribbon controller. When he walked down the centre aisle, members of the crowd were patting him on the back. I had a centre aisle seat so when it came to my opportunity, I thought yes, I'll have some of that. However, at my moment, he decided to run back to the stage. His forward dash meant I missed his back and slapped his backside instead.
 
The moog sprouting wings at the end of Karn Evil 9 (3rd Impression) has meaning though. It could signify the computers have beaten man and finally taken over.
 
Never got to see ELP live, although all three members of the band sat in the row behind me with respective girlfriends/wives/partners at a PFM gig in London once. Saw Emerson live at the RFH some years before he died.
 
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