The Return of the Manticore

The Return of the Manticore is a 4-disc retrospective on the career of the band Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It was released in 1993, and features several new recordings of previously released songs, most notably a studio recording of "Pictures at an Exhibition," presented in Dolby Surround Sound. Also, a live recording of Dave Brubeck's "Rondo" features on disc 2; the track, although performed by ELP in concert from the band's inception (as it had been by Keith Emerson's previous band The Nice), was previously unreleased on any live or studio album by ELP.

The Return of the Manticore
Box set by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Released	16 November 1993
Recorded	July 1970 – September 1993
Genre	Rock, progressive rock
Length	4:53:25
Label	Victory Music (1993 release) Rhino Records (reissue)
Producer	Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, Carl Palmer, Eddie Offord
Emerson, Lake & Palmer chronology
Live at the Royal Albert Hall (1993) The Return of the Manticore (1993) The Best of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1994)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	C−[2]

The box set is a fairly comprehensive cross-section of the band's history, offering tracks from all of ELP's studio and live albums (at the time of release), as well as new ELP renditions of hits previously recorded by bands they were members of prior to forming ELP.

The set's original release was part of a wave of remastered releases under the band's new label Victory Music. After that label became defunct, the set was re-released on Rhino Records.

Track listing

Disc one

1. "Touch and Go" (Emerson, Greg Lake) (New recording, originally recorded by Emerson, Lake & Powell for the album of the same name (1986)) – 3:01
2. "Hang on to a Dream" (Tim Hardin) (New recording, originally recorded by The Nice for Nice (1969) (Keith Emerson's band prior to ELP)) – 4:27
3. "21st Century Schizoid Man" (Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Lake, Ian McDonald, Peter Sinfield) (New recording, originally recorded by King Crimson for In the Court of the Crimson King (1969) (Greg Lake's band prior to ELP)) – 3:07
4. "Fire" (Arthur Brown, Vincent Crane, Peter Ker, Mike Finesilver) (New recording, originally recorded by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown for the album of the same name (1968) (Carl Palmer briefly played with them in 1969) – 3:24
5. "Pictures at an Exhibition" (New recording, originally from Pictures at an Exhibition, 1971) – 15:33

   a) "Promenade" (Modest Mussorgsky) – 1:46

   b) "The Gnome" (Mussorgsky, Palmer) – 2:07

   c) "Promenade" (Mussorgsky, Lake) – 1:44

   d) "The Sage" (Lake) – 3:10

   e) "The Hut of Baba Yaga" (Mussorgsky) – 1:16

   f) "The Great Gates of Kiev" (Mussorgsky, Lake) – 5:30

6. "I Believe in Father Christmas" (Lake, Sinfield) (New recording, originally from Works Volume 2, 1977) – 3:26
7. "Introductory Fanfare" (Emerson, Palmer)/"Peter Gunn" (Henry Mancini) (from Emerson, Lake and Palmer in Concert, 1979) – 4:27
8. "Tiger in a Spotlight" (Emerson, Lake, Palmer, Sinfield) (from Works Volume 2) – 4:32
9. "Toccata" (Alberto Ginastera, arr. by Emerson, Palmer) (from Brain Salad Surgery, 1973) – 7:20
10. "Trilogy" (Emerson, Lake) (from Trilogy, 1972) – 8:53
11. "Tank" (Emerson, Palmer) (from Emerson Lake & Palmer, 1970) – 6:47
12. "Lucky Man" (Lake) (from Emerson, Lake & Palmer) – 4:37

Disc two

1. "Tarkus" (from Tarkus, 1971) – 20:35

   a) "Eruption" (Emerson) – 2:43

   b) "Stones of Years" (Emerson, Lake) – 3:44

   c) "Iconoclast" (Emerson) – 1:15

   d) "Mass" (Emerson, Lake) – 3:11

   e) "Manticore" (Emerson) – 1:52

   f) "Battlefield" (Emerson, Lake) – 3:51

   g) "Aquatarkus" (Emerson) – 3:59

2. "From the Beginning" (Lake) (from Trilogy) – 4:14
3. "Take a Pebble (Live version)" (from Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends... Ladies and Gentlemen, 1974) – 22:48

   a) "Take a Pebble (Beginning)" (Lake) – 4:58

   b) "Lucky Man" (Lake) – 3:02

   c) "Piano Improvisations" (Emerson) – 11:55

   d) "Take a Pebble (Conclusion)" (Lake) – 2:53

4. "Knife-Edge" (music: Leoš Janáček arr. Emerson; lyrics: Lake, Richard Fraser) (from Emerson Lake & Palmer) – 5:05
5. "Paper Blood" (Emerson, Lake, Palmer) (from Black Moon, 1992) – 4:26
6. "Hoedown" (Aaron Copland, arr. Emerson, Lake, Palmer) (from Trilogy) – 3:43
7. "Rondo (Live version)" (Dave Brubeck, arr. by Emerson) (Previously unreleased, 1993) – 14:28

Disc three

1. "The Barbarian" (Béla Bartók, arr. Emerson, Lake, Palmer) (from Emerson, Lake & Palmer) – 4:28
2. "Still...You Turn Me On" (Lake) (from Brain Salad Surgery) – 2:52
3. "The Endless Enigma" (from Trilogy) – 10:37

   a) "The Endless Enigma Part 1" (Emerson, Lake) – 6:41

   b) "Fugue (Emerson) – 1:56

   c) "The Endless Enigma Part 2" (Emerson, Lake) – 2:00

4. "C'est la Vie" (Lake, Sinfield) (from Works Volume 1, 1977) – 4:16
5. "The Enemy God Dances with the Black Spirits" (Sergei Prokofiev, arr. by Emerson, Lake, Palmer) (from Works Volume 1) – 3:21
6. "Bo Diddley" (Emerson, Lake, Palmer) (Previously unreleased) – 5:03
7. "Bitches Crystal" (Emerson, Lake) (from Tarkus) – 3:55
8. "A Time and a Place" (Emerson, Lake, Palmer) (from Tarkus) – 2:57
9. "Living Sin" (Emerson, Lake, Palmer) (from Trilogy) – 3:12
10. "Karn Evil 9" (from Brain Salad Surgery) – 29:37

    a) "1st Impression" (Emerson, Lake) – 13:23

    b) "2nd Impression" (Emerson) – 7:07

    c) "3rd Impression" (Emerson, Lake, Sinfield) – 9:07

11. "Honky Tonk Train Blues" (Meade "Lux" Lewis, arr. by Emerson) (from Works Volume 2) – 3:11

Disc four

1. "Jerusalem" (Hubert Parry, William Blake, arr. by Emerson, Lake, Palmer) (from Brain Salad Surgery) – 2:44
2. "Fanfare for the Common Man" (Copland, arr. by Emerson, Lake, Palmer) (from Works Volume 1) – 9:40
3. "Black Moon" (Emerson, Lake, Palmer) (from Black Moon) – 6:58
4. "Watching Over You" (Lake, Sinfield) (from Works Volume 2) – 3:54
5. "Piano Concerto No. 1 Third Movement: Toccata con Fuoco" (Emerson) (from Works Volume 1) – 6:48
6. "For You" (Lake, Sinfield) (from Love Beach, 1978) – 4:27
7. "Prelude and Fugue" (Friedrich Gulda) (Previously unreleased) – 3:15
8. "Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman" (from Love Beach) – 20:12

   a) "Prologue/The Education of a Gentleman" (Emerson, Sinfield) – 5:34

   b) "Love at First Sight" (Emerson, Sinfield) – 5:36

   c) "Letters from the Front" (Emerson, Sinfield) – 5:18

   d) "Honourable Company" (Emerson) – 3:46

9. "Pirates" (Emerson, Lake, Sinfield) (new remix from Works Volume 1) – 13:18
10. "Affairs of the Heart" (Lake, Geoff Downes) (from Black Moon) – 3:46

Personnel

• Keith Emerson: keyboards
• Greg Lake: vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bass
• Carl Palmer: drums, percussion

Production

Disc One

• Keith Olsen-Producer
• Brian Foraker-Engineer
• Greg Fulginiti-Mastering

References

1. DeGagne, Mike. "The Return of the Manticore – Emerson, Lake & Palmer | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
2. Browne, David (3 December 1993). "BOXING DAY (Emerson, Lake & Palmer: The Return of the Manticore)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 21 April 2013.