Genre: Prog rock/ Soundtracks
Places I remember: Record Fair in Palmerston North
Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Nighthawking
Gear costume: Nighthawks main title theme, The Chase
Active compensatory factors: Unfortunately the cover is one of those cut out jobs (like George Harrison's Extra Texture or Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti) so the Nighthawk letters on my copy have been mangled a bit through use (the K and S) which is disappointing. Somebody didn't care about preserving this album's cover but the vinyl itself is excellent.
Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Nighthawking
Gear costume: Nighthawks main title theme, The Chase
Active compensatory factors: Unfortunately the cover is one of those cut out jobs (like George Harrison's Extra Texture or Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti) so the Nighthawk letters on my copy have been mangled a bit through use (the K and S) which is disappointing. Somebody didn't care about preserving this album's cover but the vinyl itself is excellent.
When I spied it at a record fair a few years ago, I had to make a quick decision. On the negative side - the cover, the fact it's from 1981 (I know what that means), and the fact that Keith was writing music for a film (in this case a Sylvester Stallone neo-noirish action crime thriller). Oh oh.
On the plus case - the price reflected all of those things, the vinyl was in mint condition and, well, it's Keith Emerson innit. So, on balance it was worth a punt.
Alrighty then - what's the music like? Well - for the most part, surprisingly good! Side one is consistently terrific (four stars) and side two gets 3 stars - how much film music from Nighthawks do you really need?
First track, the Nighthawks title theme, gets things off to a great start with some punchy brass, then it's down to atmospheric stuff that is firmly in the Isaac Hayes school of soundtrack design but with Keith's progtastic approach present as well.
All the extra things you need for a soundtrack help Keith too. He does a lot of the heavy lifting in ELP, but here he's mainly a composer so there is room for Jerome Richardson's great sax, Greg Bowen's trumpet, and Frank Scully's percussion (a crucial ingredient of noir actioners in this era), as well as the bass/ drums combo.
Keith, it goes without saying, is Keith - all virtuoso keyboard hero throughout.
Don't let this one pass you by if you're a prog/ soundtrack/ ELP/ music fan.
Where do they all belong? Next up when we return to the prog vinyl it's time to launch into all (yes - all) of Emerson Lake and Palmer's vast catalogue. Deep breath!
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