Although it was technically the band's second show together, rock historians generally regard this performance as the real debut of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
The first ELP album was still months away and no one in the crowd had ever heard of the band or its music, but the trio put on a great show that was touted as a huge popular and critical success.
In retrospect, there can be little debate that this performance at the legendary Isle of Wight Music Festival launched ELP internationally and, listening to this disc, one can definitely hear flashes of the innovation and daring that would later thrust ELP to the forefront of the progressive rock movement.
Though bearing the wrinkles and spots typical of a festival recording, this CD (created using original soundboard masters and digitally remastered 27 years after the actual event) is an experience beautifully illustrating what made ELP -- from day one -- a group unlike any that had come before.
Furthermore, it is an important historical testament to one of the last great rock festivals and to the debut of a prog rock institution.
For ELP fans, this is where it all began -- and this CD vividly captures the moment.
[Live at the Isle of Wight Festival was re-released in 2006 as a CD/DVD Dualdisc called Birth of a Band: Isle of Wight Festival.].
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The BarbarianBéla Bartók, Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, Carl Palmer | Emerson, Lake & Palmer | Play | 05:04 | 11 MB | 30 MB |
| 2 | Take a PebbleGreg Lake | Emerson, Lake & Palmer | Play | 11:47 | 26 MB | 60 MB |
| 3 | RondoDave Brubeck | Emerson, Lake & Palmer | Play | 04:12 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 4 | Nut RockerKim Fowley, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky | Emerson, Lake & Palmer | Play | 04:49 | 11 MB | 27 MB |
| 5 | Interview | Emerson, Lake & Palmer | Play | 06:13 | 14 MB | 22 MB |
| 6 | Pictures At An Exhibition_ Promenade_The Gnome_Promenade_Hut Of Baba Yaga_The... | Emerson, Lake & Palmer | Play | 35:49 | 81 MB | 200 MB |
| 67 mins | 155 MB | |||||
| 67 mins | 367 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Béla Bartók | Composer |
| 2 | Dave Brubeck | Composer |
| 3 | Keith Emerson | Composer, Moog Synthesizer, Organ, Piano |
| 4 | Emerson, Lake & Palmer | Primary Artist |
| 5 | Kim Fowley | Composer |
| 6 | Steve Hammonds | Coordination |
| 7 | Greg Lake | Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Bass), Vocals |
| 8 | Modest Mussorgsky | Composer |
| 9 | Carl Palmer | Composer, Drums |
| 10 | Barry Plummer | Photography |
| 11 | Paul Russell | Liner Notes |
| 12 | Phil Smee | Package Design |
| 13 | Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |