ARTS(£)El#ERTAINMENT
Emerson, Lake and Palmer defy labeling
By Jill O’Brien
Senior Reporter
“Most artists object to being la
beled,”, said Keith Emerson of
Emerson, Lake and Palmer, the band
scheduled to play tonight at Omaha’s
Music Hall.
During a phone interview, Emerson
said he didn’t like the term “classical
rock” used to define his playing.
“Duke Ellington didn’t refer to his
music as jazz.... I think our music has
always been very eclectic, and I agree
it’sbeen progressive,” he said. “We’re
aware of current trends, but don’t
always use them. In the late ’70s,
Emerson, Lake and Palmer was called
heavy metal—we’ve also been called
a waste of talent and electricity.”
The British band caused quite a stir
in the 1970s, toting Emerson’s mon
strous Hammond L-100 organ on stage
and playing music revised from clas
sical compositions.
“Moussorgsky’s 'Pictures at an
Exhibition* was one of the first pieces
we played as a band,” he said.
“I went to a concert in London one
evening and had no idea what was on
the bill. By chance the Moussorgsky
piece was being played and I was
really impressed. The next day I
learned it was a piano piece and I
played it to Greg.”
They played it at their first gig,
Emerson said, and although the song
was well-received, the band was wary
about including it on an album.
“Greg thought it sounded too much
like Nice— my old band.”
Later, “Pictures...” was recorded
live, then released in England at a*
reduced price, Emerson said.
“It sold very well and then Atlantic
Records wanted to release it., and the
rest is history,” he said.
History for a decade anyway.
Emerson said the band broke up in
1980 “because the music industry was
switching to soft-sell and synthetic
bands. The whole grandiose effect of
Emerson, Lake and Palmer was looked
on as over-the-top,” he said. “Well,
we always have been....”
So, Emerson, Lake and Palmer
branched out to learn different as
pects of the music industry and ex
plore individual musical adventures,
Emerson said.
Lake did a solo project and joined
Asia, a pop-oriented band; Emerson
wrote soundtracks for seven films. At
one point, Emerson worked as a mo
torcycle courier for a week.
-44
The whole grandiose
effect of Emerson,
Lake and Palmer was
looked on as over
the-topi Well, we
always have been....
— Keith Emerson
Band Member
-ff -
“It was everything I thought it
would be,” he said.
During that exploration era,
Emerson, Lake and Powell was
formed, then Emerson, Palmer and
Berry. But the chemistry of Emerson,
Lake and Palmer reunited the original
trio in 1992.
Since their 1980 break up, musical
views have changed, Emerson said.
“The world has gone full circle and
music has become digitized to such an
extreme, all the personality has gone
out of the music,” he said.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer ex
cluded.
Last year, the band released “Black
Moon” and more recently “Emerson,
Lake & Palmer Live at the Royal
Courtesy of PotyGram Records
From left: Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer are Emerson, Lake and Palmer. They will
play in the Music Hall in Omaha tonight.
Albert Hall.”
The “Albert Hall” album includes
“Lucky Man” and the classic hit,
“Still...You Turn Me On,” featuring
the melodic guitar and vocals of Lake.
One of their new songs, “Black
Moon,” reveals a heavier side of
Emerson, Lake and Palmer, accentu
ated by Palmer’s dramatic drumming.
Because “Black Moon” was in
spired by the burning oil fields during
the Gulf War, Emerson was asked if
the piece served as an environmental
or political statement for the band.
Black Moon’ was just a musical
observance of what’s happened,” he
said. “We’re not really in business to
make political statements as such.”
Included on the “Black Moon” and
“Albert Hall” albums is “Romeo and
Juliet,” a strong instrumental spot
lighting Emerson’s versatile playing.
“I thought it leant itself very well
to our style,” he said. “I’ve always
chosen pieces that don’t have to be
messed with very much. Some ver
i .
sions by rock artists are out-and-out
devastations of a piece. I try to main
tain the integrity of the piece and
research the score and get the
composer’s OK, if he’s living.”
Emerson has spent half his life
researching scores for Emerson, Lake
and Palmer (and variations). Did he
have any idea he would be as involved
in music as he is?
“I had no formulated plan,” he
said. <(J just went from day today as 1
still do, really.”
-,
Nameless character cracks up,
* I
but new movie is not a comedy
. • . ■
“Falling Down”
DonVbe fooled by the commer
cials. “Falling Down” (Douglas 3,
1300 P St., Edgewood 3, 56th and
Highway 2) is not a comedy. It is a
statement about the world today and it
is anything but funny.
Michael Douglas plays an ordi
nary working stiff, someone whose
name isn’t even given until 90 min
utes of the movie have passed.
The name isn’t important. It isn’t
even listed in the credits, and this is
the point that director Joel Schumacher
(“FTatliners”) is trying to make. This
guy could be anybody.
This “anybody” finally blows his
cool in an LA gridlock and abandons
his car so he can walk home for his
daughter’s birthday party.
Along the way, he defends himself
from a mugging and demolishes a
comer market with a baseball bat.
“I’m just standing up for my rights
as a consumer,” Douglas says just
before he smashes some overpriced
doughnuts.
Meanwhile, police Sergeant
Prenderaast (Robert Duvall) is pre
paring for lus last day on the job
before retirement, brought upon by
his nagging wife (Tuesday Weld).
“Falling Down” forces Michael
Douglas’ character (credited by his
license plate number: “D-FENS”)
through not only the unacceptable
problems that are present every day.
L - —- ■ , m
such as homophobia, anti-Semitism
and racial bigotry, but also through
situations that have a touch of dark
humor applied, like dealing with the
perpetually smiling employees at a
Fast-food restaurant.
The movie is a visual masterpiece,
using the powerful, colorful images
of Los Angeles graffiti amid muggy
weather and thick smog for the per
fect contrast-—-the brightness within
the muck'and filth.
David BadderVDN
Both Douglas and Duvall are ex
cellent in their roles, each carrying his
own plot line, which have been weaved
together by Douglas’ quiet rampage
through the city.
You won’t leave the theater feel
ing like a happy camper, but you
won’t be sorry for seeing the movie,
either.
Check it out.
— Gerry Beltz
‘The Crying Game’
lives up to the hype
with powerful story
“The Crying Game”
Often when a motion picture is
highly acclaimed and holly antici
pated, it falls short and disappoints
the teral movie-going public.
t is not the case with “The
Crying Game,” (Plaza 4,12th and
P streets) a stylish, taut and often
times humorous thriller from writer/
director Neil Jordan.
hi a nutshell: Fergus (Stephen
Rea), a soldier in the Irish Repub
lican Army, flees Ireland and takes
refuge in London after a botched
abduction leaves the IRA’s terror
ist base in flames.
Once there, his heavy-handed
conscience insists he seek out the
victim’s girlfriend, Dil (Jave
Davidson). Their subsequent rela
tionship is the heart of the story.
To say anything more would
unravel the carefully crafted story,
ux>il the surprise and suspense of
the film and the wonder of watch
ing it unfold on screen.
Suffice it to say that “The Cry
ing Game” raises all kinds of ques
tions regarding the nature of iden
tity and the essence of love.
Jordan superbly handles poten
tially explosive subject matter —
there is some pretty powerful stuff
happening here. The camera work
and the film’s score deftly work
together to underscore terrific act
ing and potent, witty dialogue.
Rea’s Fergus is an odd duck: a
friendly freedom fighter whose kind
heart and generous nature put him
in some awkward situations. Rea
makes Fergus a charming charac
ter and his performance is brilliant
from the very beginning.
Forest Whitaker gives a strong,
albeit short, performance as Jody,
the British soldier abducted by the
IRA to trade for political prisoners.
His unlikely friendship with his
captor and guard Fergus is both
touching and sad.
Special commendation must go
to Jaye Davidson for one of the
boldest performances in recent years
— Dil is an exciting and fascinat
ing character.
The five Academy Awards
nominations it received, including
Best Picture, Best Director and Best
Actor—and another that threatens
to sour the surprise of the film —
are easily earned. With a strong
script, commendable acting and
solid directing, Jordan has created
a first-rate film.
“The Crying Game” is a film
definitely worth all its hype.
— Anne Steyer