The Rules have Changed
Keith Emerson is a name synonymous with English progressive rock. Commercial success arrived for Keith with the band Nice. He then joined forces with Greg Lake and Carl Palmer and ELP was born. Following the success with ELP and after a few years, Keith met Robert Berry. Keith, Robert and Carl Palmer would go on to form the band 3. They only had a short lived success with 3, recording just one album ‘To the power of Three’, however the seeds of friendship were planted between Robert and Keith.
The band disbanded, each of the members went to work on other projects but Robert Berry always dreamed of re kindling the project. Then in 2015 Frontiers Records signed a contract with Robert and Keith for a follow up to that debut album. Ideas were passed between the two, excited phone calls; little snippets of recordings were being made. Then all of a sudden, tragedy strikes with the death of Keith Emerson.
3.2 is an album, quite possibly the last thing that Keith Emerson worked on before he died. It encompasses the ideas that he and Robert discussed on the phone and the few recorded demos. It is a fitting tribute to an incredible musician.
You really do feel his presence within this album. The opening track ‘One by One’ is one of the tracks they worked on together. It begins with a classical piano intro, based on a piece by Edward Grieg then goes into the verse and chorus and then there is a wonderful jazz keyboard solo in the middle of the song. Keith is well and truly channelled in this first track as he is throughout the record.
The title track, ‘The Rules Have Changed’ is a very emotional song. It’s about Robert’s disbelief at the loss of his dear friend. Musically it has an electrical accompaniment and uses suspended chords that avoid resolution, keeping the listener somewhat on edge and uncomfortable listening to this track.
The album continues and we reach the song ‘What You’re Dreaming Now’. It was initially written by Keith in 1987 and the demo recording was given to Robert, but he admits he just didn’t know what to do with it at the time. With a catchy bass riff and syncopated rhythm, the music was all done by Keith with the vocals and lyrics added by Robert some 28 years later. It is such a beautiful song.
My personal favourite song on the album comes towards the end of the album. ‘The Letter’, a song about mans inability to convey emotion. We can never quite encapsulate just how good something is. The song starts off with a celtic folk theme, but towards the end a Robert ‘let’s rip’ on the keys and some very Emerson inspired keyboard noises emerge. This brings the song to a huge crescendo. I love the drama and theatricality of the ending, almost morphing into a latin feel.
This album is a wonderful tribute to an amazing musician. You really do feel Keith’s personality coming through in abundance through Robert’s incredible musicianship. It is amazing to note, Robert is a bass player. The piano isn’t his instrument, in fact prior to recording the album, the last time Robert played was 1985! That just makes this achievement even more amazing. Hats off to you Sir. Thank you for such a touching tribute and for finally realising this project.
