aka: Emerson, Berry & Palmer; 3.2*
London, England
Progressive rock
Founded in 1988, disbanded in 1989. New release by Robert Berry as "3.2" in 2018.
At a time when Asia and GTR were hitting it big, Emerson, Lake & Powell (an ELP spin-of) decided they wanted a shot at commercial success too. However, things didn't work out so well so in 1988, Keith Emerson again joined forces with Carl Palmer with yet another vocalist/bassist/guitarist by the name of Robert Berry. They simply called themselves "3". As you would expect, their music has the characteristic ELP sound but also a decidedly corporate-rock, 80's-pop flair.
Their album "To the Power of Three" (1988) contains a few worthy bombastic prog epics à la 70's ELP that will no doubt please the fans - excellent musicianship, especially the keyboards. The rest, however, is mostly made up of simple, upbeat, AOR rock ballads reminiscent of Toto and the likes. It is not altogether a bad album as it features some excellent song writing and Robert Berry proves to be a fairly decent vocalist. However, don't expect any consistent progressive fireworks here. (Perhaps "3" refers to the number of progressive tracks on the album?)
Recommended strictly for die-hard ELP collectors and those who don't mind the slick, digital 80's sound of the bands mentioned above.
…to the Power of Three (1988)
The Rules Have Changed * (2018)
