Friday, January 22, 2016

Greg Lake’s Solo Albums Reissued

Greg Lake's Greg Lake & Manoeuvres
As both an essential early member of progressive rock legends King Crimson and as a founding member of chart-toppers Emerson, Lake and Palmer, singer and multi-instrumentalist Greg Lake has certainly left his mark on rock ‘n’ roll. One aspect of Lake’s career that is too-frequently overlooked is his short tenure as a solo artist. During an ELP break-up in the early 1980s, the guitarist formed the Greg Lake Band and recorded a pair of critically-acclaimed LPs – a self-titled 1981 set and 1983’s Manoeuvres.

On February 5th, 2016 Cherry Red Records in the U.K. will reissue both of Lake’s long out-of-print solo albums as a single two-disc set, including four bonus tracks that have never appeared on any CD reissue of either album (only on separate rarities discs). Re-mastered and approved by Lake himself, the set includes a booklet with extensive liner notes. Lake handled vocals and guitars on the self-titled 1981 set, backed by guitarist Steve Lukather, bassist David Hungate, and drummer Jeff Porcaro of Toto as well as guests like King Crimson drummer Michael Giles and E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons. 

For Manoeuvres, Lake was backed by a band that included bassist Tristian Margetts from the band Spontaneous Combustion, keyboardist Tommy Eyre of Joe Cocker’s Grease Band, and drummer Ted McKenna of Tear Gas and Rory Gallagher’s band. Irish blues-rock guitar Gary Moore lent his talents to both albums. Whereas Greg Lake, the album, inched its way up to #62 on the Billboard albums chart, Manoeuvres failed to break the Top 200, although not for lack of good material.

Both albums are fascinating collections that display a wider range of Lake’s talents than any of recordings with his notable bands, and solo efforts like “Nuclear Attack” (written by Moore) or “Manoeuvres” (co-written by Lake with Moore) have held up well through the years. The new set allows long-time fans to upgrade their collection and provides an opportunity for new listeners to discover the underrated talents of Greg Lake.

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Greg Lake's Greg Lake & Manouevres

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