Love Beach

Love Beach
Studio album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Released 18 November 1978
Recorded Summer 1978, Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas
Genre
Length 41:03
Label Atlantic
Producer Keith Emerson
Emerson, Lake & Palmer chronology
Works Volume 2
(1977)Works Volume 21977		 Love Beach
(1978)		 In Concert
(1979)In Concert1979

Love Beach is the seventh 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.[1]

Overview

In 1978 the band was tired. Emerson's increasing use of drugs in the late 70s was inhibiting his ability to work, or collaborate with others. The band wanted to rest, but their record company had other ideas. ELP was contractually committed to one more album, and the three members were sent to Nassau to record one. Lyricist Peter Sinfield recalls that he was recruited by the record company to go to Nassau and write the lyrics to a timescale. On arrival in Nassau he found that the three members were barely talking to each other. He advised them that the timescale meant that he needed to be left alone to write the nine lyrics, and, "surrounded by various substances", he did so. He spent slightly more time on the lyrics for "Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman". Sinfield left first, and Lake and Palmer did the same once they had laid down their contributions.

Original pressings of Love Beach carried no producer's credit, but production and mixing of the album were largely carried out by Keith Emerson. 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".[2][3]

The album was the final lyrical collaboration between Lake and Sinfield, who had worked together since King Crimson's 1969 album In the Court of the Crimson King.

Reception

Critical and fan appraisal of the album is mainly negative; some consider it the nadir of ELP's output, while others consider Black Moon and/or In the Hot Seat to be worse.

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".[4]

The album was not toured or promoted by the band, although they did play "Canario" on the Old Grey Whistle Test TV show.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Classic Rock[6]
Rolling Stone(unfavorable)[4]

Track listing

Side one

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."All I Want Is You"Greg Lake, Peter Sinfield2:36
2."Love Beach"Lake, Sinfield2:46
3."Taste of My Love"Lake, Sinfield3:33
4."The Gambler"Keith Emerson, Lake, Sinfield3:23
5."For You"Lake, Sinfield4:28
6."Canario" (from Fantasía para un gentilhombre)Joaquín Rodrigo4:00

Side two

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman:
a. Prologue / The Education of a Gentleman
b. Love at First Sight
c. Letters from the Front
d. Honourable Company (A March)"
Emerson, Sinfield, except d: Emerson20:12

Bonus tracks

  1. "Canario (Rehearsal 1978)" - 4:38
  2. "Taste of My Love (Rehearsal 1978)" - 3:01
  3. "Letters from the Front (Rehearsal 1978)" - 8:52

2017 bonus tracks

  • 1978 alternative mixes (previously unreleased)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."All I Want is You"Lake, Sinfield 
9."Taste of My Love"Lake, Sinfield 
10."The Gambler"Emerson, Lake, Sinfield 
11."For You"Lake, Sinfield 
12."Letters from the Front" (Incorrectly identified on CD and download editions as "Honourable Company (A March)")Emerson, Sinfield 
  • 1978 rehearsal out-takes (previously unreleased)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Canario"Joaquín Rodrigo 
14."Letters from the Front" (Correctly identified)Lake, Sinfield 
15."Prologue / The Education of a Gentleman"Lake, Sinfield 

Personnel

Singles

  • "All I Want Is You/Tiger in a Spotlight" (UK release)
  • "Canario/All I Want Is You" (German release)

References

  1. ↑ The RIAA's Gold entry for Love Beach
  2. ↑ Keith Emerson, quoted by Milano, Contemporary Keyboard magazine, September 1980, p. 17.
  3. ↑ Macan, Edward (2006). Endless Enigma: A Musical Biography of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Open Court, ISBN 0-8126-9596-8, p. 418-19.
  4. 1 2 Bloom, Michael (8 March 1979). "Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Love Beach". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-03-16. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
  5. ↑ Allen, Jim (2011). "Love Beach - Emerson, Lake & Palmer | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  6. ↑ Fielder, Hugh (February 2005). "Eight by Three". Classic Rock. 76. London, UK: Future Publishing Ltd. p. 104. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
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