Rating: 
Summary: I'm sorry I bought it.
Review: It's too bad Amazon doesn't let you sample video clips. I didn't expect the best concert DVD ever when I ordered this but, I also didn't expect such poor video and poor audio. The poor video is only made worse by the annoying psychedelic...[stuff] that covers up the performance every time the group is really playing their hearts out. Also, beware...this is NOT the performance that Emerson, Lake and Palmer fans have had on LP, tape and CD for years. I could swear the Laserdisc I saw years ago was not the performance that is presented here. This particular performance is not bad but, it's definately not as good as the one fans know and love. There is a little bit of audio trickery going on here too. At the end of Greg Lake's solo, early in the concert, an audio dub was clearly made. If you have this DVD, look at Lake's lips and compare it to the audio. This DVD has something I've never seen, which is that one side is a DVD and the other side is a soundtrack CD. I prefer seperate CD's like the ones in the recent Rick Wakeman DVDs. The concept of a DVD/CD combination is interesting but, what happens if you actually liked this DVD and didn't want to expose it to the danger of taking it in and out of your car. We all know how its possible to damage a disk when moving it from car to home, no matter how careful you try to be. Emerson, Lake and Palmer has always been one of my favorite bands and it was nice to see them again but, I was very disappointed with this DVD. I could have put up with the substandard audio and video if the...psychedelic graphics didn't cover up the best parts of the performance. Without the graphics, I would have given it two stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Great To See
Review: Keeping it brief, here's the following information... Only Pictures is on this CD. Over 95% of the video from Blues Variation through Great Gates Of Kiev consists of cartoon drawings and various colors spattered quickly across the screen, so you don't get to see the group (too bad the editors back then didn't realize the great thing about ELP was sitting back and watching their live performance -- they were unlike any other group ever; if we didn't want to watch them, we could just close our eyes and listen). Too bad they couldn't find the original video before the editing. The camera work is far better than that of Wakeman in the Journey DVD, as we get to see close-ups of the members playing and the interaction between Emerson and Palmer. Emerson was much more of a showman than Wakeman. Great video, anyway, even with the crappy visual effects.
Rating: 
Summary: This was once in theaters
Review: Many years ago, when i was about 13, I went to a small movie theater in Manhattan to see my favorite band in the world, ELP, in an obscure movie called "Rock N Roll your eyes out" This is actually that movie. I loved ELP then, and saw them live many times, including 3 nights at Madison Square Garden on July 7,8,and 9th, 1977. Those were the orchestra shows, and maybe of the top ten best concerts I've ever attended, out of thousands. Unfortunatly though, ELP's music is not current in today's scene, and would never sell many CD's, but I would still listen, and hope they would consider writing some new material.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing!
Review: My format of this particular ELP set is in the Laser Disc format. What I want to caution other ELP fans about is that this concert has way too many video effects in it. The first two pieces show ELP the way they should be presented, meaning giving a great concert. However, in the middle of "Take a Pebble", somebody decided to add visual effects, like shadowing, white-out, and all sorts of [stuff] to the performance. In other words, half the time, you can't even see ELP! My rating of 3 stars is only because of ELP's performance, which is outstanding, but the special effects really destroys this concert footage. So, if you are expecting to see ELP in great concert footage, bypass this one. However, if you want to just listen to the music, then give it a try.
Rating:
Summary: Saw it in Anchorage, Alaska Theater in 1977
Review: Myself and two other buddies aged 16 at the time went to see this at a midnight showing in Anchorage, Alaska - I think in 1977. Before we walked in, I told them, "When we walk out, you will say 'Keith Emerson is the greatest keyboard player I have ever seen, and Carl Palmer is the greatest drummer I have ever seen." We were blown away!!! After the movie, "Rock and Roll Your Eyes" was the original title, they would simply not shut up about how good it was. We were all shaking our heads in disbelief. From that point on they owed me. It felt good. I rate it 4 stars for content alone. The funny business with the video style is only a problem because most of us are spoiled with modern, slicker productions. In 1977, I recall it being quite cool if you were in the 'right frame of mind'.
Rating:
Summary: Saw it in Anchorage, Alaska Theater in 1977
Review: Myself and two other buddies aged 16 at the time went to see this at a midnight showing in Anchorage, Alaska - I think in 1977. Before we walked in, I told them, "When we walk out, you will say 'Keith Emerson is the greatest keyboard player I have ever seen, and Carl Palmer is the greatest drummer I have ever seen." We were blown away!!! After the movie, "Rock and Roll Your Eyes" was the original title, they would simply not shut up about how good it was. We were all shaking our heads in disbelief. From that point on they owed me. It felt good. I rate it 4 stars for content alone. The funny business with the video style is only a problem because most of us are spoiled with modern, slicker productions. In 1977, I recall it being quite cool if you were in the 'right frame of mind'.
Rating:
Summary: Ahhh, Cheezy effects making me dizzy!
Review: So, this movie used to be called: Rock and Roll Your Eyes, huh?
Well, I expected it to rock, but I rolled my eyes after I watched it. I'm so used to the hearing the original CD release that, in comparison, this performance seemed sloppy. With Keith fiddling with his Moog every 10 seconds, it's like stopping yourself from peeing in mid stream. I realize this is 1970 technology and it was all a big deal then, but it was frequently interupting the show. All is not lost though, there was a funny scene where Keith rubs a phalic portamento keyboard device on his butt! Aside from that, to enjoy the spiraly color effects, one must be seriously stoned. If your not, you'll be sitting there thinking, "The point of this is...?" Wasn't this the era of self-indulgence, anyway? Well, God bless 'em for their talents and for showing aspiring young musicians everywhere how not to perform during a live concert!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing performance, nice effects--but I want the whole show
Review: The only thing wrong with this DVD, in my opinion, is that
it is not the full length concert video that also featured
"The Barbarian", "Take A Pebble", "Knife-Edge" and "Rondo" on
it. I knew that before I bought it, but I got it anyway because
I *had* to have this on DVD, hoping that the sound would be
improved like it said on the box. And guess what--it is!
Whoever remixed the sound here did a GREAT job; it is much
louder and clearer than the professional VHS copy I had previously. It is true that some psychedelic visual effects are
superimposed on about half of the performance (from "The Old
Castle" to just before "The Great Gates Of Kiev"), but I always
thought they were great, especially the comic book effects
over the intense "Curse" segment. And, other than in that segment, I can still see the band playing underneath the effects. So, to some people (like some of the reviewers below) the visuals can look a little dated, or annoying because they semi-cover the band. But the band's performance itself is magnificent. This version of "Pictures" is better than the
actual album version (taken from a live show four months later),
because "The Gnome", "The Old Castle" and "Blues Variations"
are extended, there is no hideous "Nutrocker" and there is FAR less audience noise. In fact, the audience is so silent that when listening to the bonus audio CD of the performance, it almost sounds like a studio release. Indeed, I would declare this performance--in spite of one or two slight mistakes--to be the definitive version of "Pictures" from all those that are available. It is great to hear the audio in such good quality (only Palmer's drums sound a bit muffed, but still far clearer than on the original soundtrack), and even in stereo! There is almost no need to defend "Pictures" from clueless, oh-so punk-minded critics these days, although they continue to slam ELP's interpretation; it is in fact a wondrous musical journey, using Mussorskgy's concept piece as the basis for a diverse variety of styles ranging from medeival acoustic guitar balladry to synthesizer wizardy to dizzying hammond organ jam to the vicious power of all instruments--fuzz bass, organ, synths and drums--
coelescing on "Curse" and then finding symphonic release in
"Great Gates Of Kiev". Although there is no piano work here (but there would be if they had only included the rest of the concert, ie. "The Barbarian" and "Take A Pebble", hence the
four-star rating), this is still an absolutely essential purchase
for any ELP fan: it should be on the top of one's priority list.
As the other guy below said, just blast it in defiance of all
the brainless rap/metal, Britney, boy band, techno, Creed crap
out there today and leave the anti-prog critics to their own twisted machinations.
Rating:
Summary: Great performance - annoying special effects.
Review: The positive: This performance is good but not as good as the Emerson Lake and Palmer: Masters From The Vaults DVD. The video and remix of the sound are very much improved over my Japaneese import laserdisc of the same concert. This a young ELP still in their prime. The not so positive: There are some unfortunate things about this video. The special effects are annoying to the point of being nauseating. The overly "creative" post production crew really got carried away with the psychedelic tint & color saturation effects. This may have been interesting as a DVD special feature, (I might have even thought it was great 30 years ago), but these days I'd just like to see the performers without these effects. I wonder if the unaffected video source even exists anymore. Yes, the performance is over the top. But so is about every live rock performance from that era. Just look at the recently released Zeppelin DVD. But hey, the era was what it was. I'm just glad that some of these bands were captured live while they still had some fire in their bellies. The unfortunate: My laserdisc of this concert includes full performances of Barbarian, Take A Pebble, and Knife Edge along with Pictures At An Exhibition. It's really, unfortunate that they chose not to include the entire concert in this DVD! They should re-release this without the special effects (except for maybe in the special features section) and included the omitted songs.
Rating:
Summary: Great performance - annoying special effects.
Review: The positive: This performance is good but not as good as the Emerson Lake and Palmer: Masters From The Vaults DVD. The video and remix of the sound are very much improved over my Japaneese import laserdisc of the same concert. This a young ELP still in their prime. The not so positive: There are some unfortunate things about this video. The special effects are annoying to the point of being nauseating. The overly "creative" post production crew really got carried away with the psychedelic tint & color saturation effects. This may have been interesting as a DVD special feature, (I might have even thought it was great 30 years ago), but these days I'd just like to see the performers without these effects. I wonder if the unaffected video source even exists anymore. Yes, the performance is over the top. But so is about every live rock performance from that era. Just look at the recently released Zeppelin DVD. But hey, the era was what it was. I'm just glad that some of these bands were captured live while they still had some fire in their bellies. The unfortunate: My laserdisc of this concert includes full performances of Barbarian, Take A Pebble, and Knife Edge along with Pictures At An Exhibition. It's really, unfortunate that they chose not to include the entire concert in this DVD! They should re-release this without the special effects (except for maybe in the special features section) and included the omitted songs.
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