Listening Guides

iTune link = Karn Evil 9: impression, Pt. 2

Analysis of "Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, Part 2" (Brain Salad Surgery, Manticore MC-66669)⁴

Karn Evil 9" is a three-movement work recorded by ELP in 1973. Each movement is called an impression, and the first impression has two parts. We will speak generally of the entire work, then concentrate on part 2 of the first impression. The work features a balance of vocal and instrumental sections, the latter usually demonstrating the dazzling virtuosity of the players. The lyric of the first impression portrays a dreary other world inhabited by joyless people. The second impression is purely instrumental. In the third impression the singer/hero promises to liberate the land of its mysterious oppressor, which is finally revealed as a computer. The battle is ultimately lost as the computer says, "I'm perfect! Are you?"
     Part 2 of the first impression describes the wasteland as a carnival sideshow. The opening line is a sinister circus barker welcoming us back to the show that never ends. There are visions of freaks, bishops' heads in jars, ragtime bands, Jesus, and a blade of grass. The section opens with a repeated synthesizer note and tambourine. After 8 measures of vocal the organ begins a riff, and 16 measures later the drums enter. On this section of the piece, Emerson is playing bass on one of the keyboard instruments and Greg Lake is playing guitar.
     The verses are of different lengths throughout the piece, but the vocal portions draw from three basic melodies, which we will label A, B, and C. The first vocal portion is an AABBC grouping; the second is a shorter ABC grouping. This is followed by an instrumental section with two subsections: a vamp under a bluesy organ solo and a semiclassical guitar solo with several changes of rhythmic feel underneath. An ensemble riff leads into the instrumental section, and a drum solo leads out of it. Lake reenters with two A melody lines, the first with drums only and the second with the whole band. This is followed by a short synthesizer solo and a riff on the words "Roll up!" The two A melodies are sung once again, followed by a second riff on "Come and see the show." An extended instrumental ending follows. The first part is a synthesizer solo; the second part is a riff dominated by the organ; and the third part is a pompous classical ending.

iTune link = Get Up Stand Up

"Get Up Stand Up" is one of the early and strongest statements of social protest from Bob Marley and the Wailers. Another influential track from this album (Burnin') was "I Shot the Sheriff," later covered by Eric Clapton. The song is largely a declaration of Rastafarian doctrine and an appeal to self-help.
     The song is a basic verse/chorus alternation, with Marley singing the verses alone and the vocal group joining in on the repetitive choruses. Notice the upbeat "changa" rhythm in one of the guitars. The other plays an off-beat riff figure in unison with the bass. Blended in are percussion instruments, all set over a slow-feeling, loping speed, though the actual tempo may be twice as fast as it sounds. (This so-called cut-time is the reference used in the preceding measure count.)