Yeah, I know. No one needed this any more than they needed my list of Top 10 Kate Bush songs. But here it is anyway. A few thoughts first.
I think of art rockâas opposed to the larger category of prog rockâas a fusion of styles. It is rock and classical, with a touch of jazz and folk. Nowhere is that more evident than with ELP. Yes and Genesis blended the styles together. ELP did not. They just whipped them down and said, âlets go.â Theyâd cover symphonic pieces, sometimes as driving rock tunes, but sometimes as straight classical music. Theyâd pause one form to start another before drifting into a third. Lake would sing a folky ballad and then Emerson would play a concerto. And then why not a jazz tune? Your expectations were of little importance, which is how it ought to be.
The name, Emerson, Lake & Palmer was fitting as this was never a group, but three separate artists. They didnât play WITH each other, but AT each other. I kept waiting for them to kill each other. And the power of their music came from that competition. Each made the others stronger.
How you feel about art/prog rock is a little like how you feel about Dr Malcolm from Jurassic Park. Me, I hate that dude.
ââŠbut your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.â
I just wanted someone to say, âMalcolm, shut up.â Well, standard music critics, mainstream radio fans, and punk rockers were Malcolm, whining, âYou musicians are skillful and talented enough to do all that stuff that I donât understand, but you havenât considered if you should.â Musically, the response from Genesis and Yes was, âCome on guys, weâre doing are own thing.â But ELPâs response was âFuck off. We do want we want.â Every album (well, the first six) were clear, loud statements. Thereâs no shyness in ELP. They are giving the finger to the music establishment and wanted to make sure everyone knews it. Sometimes subtly is nice. Sometimes its dull. ELP had no conception of subtly.
The most self-assured of art rock bands died from trying to do too much. They reached the end of an artistic road, so set off with something new. But that something new didnât go well with their perfectionism and touring. Emerson insisted they take an orchestra along and they all needed truck-loads of equipment if they were going to recreate their latest studio album. Even with 70,000 attendees, you canât make money that way and everyone got pissed off. And that was that. They got back together from time to time over the years, but the edge was gone.
So starting with #12:
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It could easily have been a better film. I could have improved the film massively with an hour and a red pen. But my guess is that the expected viewers for this kind of film donât want it improved. The fights in the first half were exciting, but as we headed toward the climax, they just became too dumb to mean anything. Our hero against two tough guys and a lingerie-clad girl with automatic pistols? Thatâs cool. Our hero against twelve axe-wielding brutes with no place to duck? Thatâs just stupid. He would have died. Simple. It makes it far less exciting. But Iâm guessing the fans of these flicks just think it is cooler with more. Iâve seen the same thing with old Shaw brothers martial arts films that get dumber and dumber as they go along until it is nothing but bodies moving on screen. Or anything with Chuck Norris. I donât think the genre has to be bad, but maybe its biggest fans think it does.
Love and Friendship is a Jane Austin film. For those who don’t read or watch Austin (shame on you), she can be quite pointed. But her jabs tend to be done with a bit of affection. Society is dumb and the people in it shallow and silly, but society is beautiful as well and those shallow silly people have good hearts. Not so here. This is Austin with the gloves off and in full comedy mode.
Generally I find the Original Series movies work better than what followed. Partly that is due to the greater intent. When Star Trek The Motion Picture was produced, it was meant to be an epic film, taking the TV show as a starting place and expanding it to something much more. That didnât work out as hoped, so the films that followed contracted, being less and less, but sometimes being the better for it. Still, there was generally the attempt to do something special in those first films. While little changed in the long run for the crew of the Enterprise, it felt like things could. And hidden in it all was meaning. The heart of Star Trek, the message, was there.
who not only is irrelevant to the movies, but is brought onto the Enterprise in awkward and unbelievable ways because the character was on the Deep Space 9 TV show.
