Released 1 November 1977 Length 43:54 Artist Emerson, Lake & Palmer Label Ariola Records | Recorded 1973-76 Release date 1 November 1977 | |
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Similar Works Volume 1, Love Beach, In the Hot Seat, Emerson - Lake & Palmer in, Black Moon | ||
Works Volume 2 is the sixth studio album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1977. Unlike Works Volume 1 (which consisted of three solo sides and one ensemble side), Works Volume 2 was a single album which seemingly was a compilation of leftover tracks from other album sessions that had not made those albums. While many derided the album for its apparent lack of focus, others felt that it showed a different side of the band, with blues, bluegrass and jazz being very prominent as musical genres in this recording.
Contents
Songs
"When the Apple Blossoms Bloom...", "Tiger in a Spotlight" and "Brain Salad Surgery" had been recorded at the 1973 sessions for the album Brain Salad Surgery but did not appear on it. Emerson's cover of "Honky Tonk Train Blues" had been released as a single in 1976, reaching #21 in the UK pop charts.
Volume 2 also included a stripped-down version of Greg Lake's "I Believe in Father Christmas". An orchestral version of the song had previously been released as a solo Lake single in the UK in 1975 and became something of an annual Christmas standard there.
Reception
In a contemporary review, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice facetiously remarked that it is "news" when "the world's most overweening 'progressive' group" makes an album "less pretentious than its title", but questioned whether it is "rock and roll". In a retrospective review, AllMusic's David Ross Smith felt that it was "highly underrated" and wrote that the album's "brief pieces sustain interest; there really isn't a weak tune in the set."
Bonus Tracks
- "Maple Leaf Rag (Single cut)" - 1:15
Singles
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Guest musicians
Songs
1Tiger in a Spotlight4:35
2When the Apple Blossoms Bloom in the Windmills of Your Mind I'll Be Your Valentine3:59
3Bullfrog3:52