Elegy (The Nice album)

Infobox Album
Name = Elegy
Type = Studio Album
Artist = The Nice


Released = 1971
Recorded = 1969 - 1970
Genre = Progressive rock
Length = 39:27
Label = Charisma Records "CAS 1030"
Producer = The Nice
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|4.5|5
Last album = "Five Bridges" (1970)
This album = "Elegy" (1971)
Next album =

"Elegy" was the final official album release by The Nice, Keith Emerson having moved on to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Lee Jackson to Jackson Heights and Brian Davison to Every Which Way. It consists of different versions of already familiar tracks and broke little new ground. However, despite being released after The Nice had disbanded, the album achieved number 5 in the UK album chart [http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=2031] .

"Hang On To A Dream" and "America" were recorded live at Fillmore East, New York during the group's 1969 tour.

Track listing

# "Hang On To A Dream" (Tim Hardin) (Live) (12:43)
# "My Back Pages" (Bob Dylan) (9:12)
# "Third Movement, Pathetique" (Group Only) (Tchaikovsky arr by The Nice) (7.05)
# "America" (Bernstein/Sondheim/The Nice) (Live) (10:27)

Bonus tracks on 1990 CD-release:

5. "Diamond-Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon" (2:46)
6. "Dawn" (5:05)
7. "Tantalising Maggie" (4:19)
8. "Cry Of Eugene" (4:30)
9. "Daddy Where Did I Come From?" (2:46)
10. "Azrial" (3:46)

"Azrial" had been the B-side of the single release "The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack," and "Diamond-Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon" that of "America."

The extended version of "Hang On To A Dream" presents the best documented view of Emerson as a jazz pianist and the relaxed improvisatory style displayed is markedly different from that seen later within Emerson Lake & Palmer. "My Back Pages" is a stunning recomposition, using little more than the lyrics of the Dylan song. Parts of this arrangement were inspired by Keith Jarrett's 1968 Atlantic recording of the song but the majority is purely Emerson's creation. The performance is in two parts with the first featuring piano and the second featuring Hammond organ.

The Album Cover

The UK edition came in a gatefold sleeve, the front section of which is shown here. Designed by Hipgnosis (Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell), well-known as designers of album covers for Pink Floyd and other progressive rock bands, there are several enigmatic references. The front & back show a Sahara desert scene with a line of fifty red footballs (credited to Mettoy Playcraft) receding towards a distant dune. The inside of the cover shows, in the distance, a mesa or plateau; in front is a gravelly landscape strewn with memorabilia of "The Nice" such as older album covers, publicity shots, press releases and a scrapbook of press cuttings.

Personnel

* Keith Emerson - keyboards
* Lee Jackson - bass guitar
* Brian Davison - drums