The Nice - The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack

Immediate Records

After "Days of Future Passed" but before "In the Court of the Crimson King",  another stepping stone album in the development of progressive rock was released by a frequently forgotten band. In March of 1968, "The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack" by The Nice, a band consisting of Keith Emerson,  Lee Jackson, David O'List and Brian Davison, all of whom would still be involved in the English progressive rock scene after the break up of the band in 1970, was thrown into the world.

"Flower King of Flies" starts off with a cascade of chimes before throwing you into a borderline mystical world of fanciful percussion, excellent piano and organ, and a slightly fey style of singing. For most of the song, the guitar part is the one that takes the sideline, instead letting Keith Emerson's keyboard skill take center stage. When the guitar does come in after a few verses of fantastical lyrics and Pretty Things-esque tones on the choruses, it does so with a nice crunch of of psychedelic effects that are typical of the time but still manage to remain fresh with each new artist's interpretation, before the song comes to a close with pounding drums. Yes, this is going to be a good one. 

The second song to come out of the album is the title track, "The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack".  Now, who is Emerlist Davjack, you may be asking? Why, it's the band members of course! (Though possibly not in the context of the actual song). First an introductory style that's reminiscent of an old big band performance of the forties before transitioning to the keyboards of Emerson again, in a much more Renaissance, harpsichord influenced style. The crunchy guitar returns once again with some new licks to go along with the more stressed, less contained vocals singing words pertaining to youth on this song, as one of the many plights of rockstars is the inevitable creeping-in of old age. Despite the down trodden lyrics, the song contains some bombast and is certainly entertaining. 

For the fans of hard rock comes the no-nonsense "Bonnie K", starting off with a hearty rock guitar and a great, gritty vocal performance. The song is much more down to Earth compared to other songs by The Nice in terms of instrumentation (or compared to other songs on the album), with clear influence from the traditional rock of the fifties and the current blue-eyed soul trend. While Emerson's playing doesn't take up much of the foreground, it is always a highlight. The heavy drumming helps give the song some very well-defined edge, and said edge makes it reminiscent of something you'd hear playing in the UFO club in 1966. The song is great for anybody who isn't interested in the whole progressive rock trip. 

Closing out the a-side album is the first of two instrumentals, "Rondo". It starts with nervous bass and guitar lines that build up to the dramatic, almost anxiety-inducing middle chunk of the song, with a clear classical influence that really gives Keith Emerson his moment to shine. The buzzy guitar tone and marching drum and bass parts that accompany Emerson's playing help make the song all the more entertaining, giving it a rabid kind of urgency. After a guitar solo that sounds very acid induced, the song takes a few dips here and there, almost but not quite coming down from its initial build up. Also noticeable are the reprises of different musical themes throughout the eight minute escapade, making the song a real treat. It's good to know where Emerson, Lake & Palmer got some of their style from.

"War and Peace" is the second instrumental on the album, and the opener of the b-side. It has a psychedelic, New York sound with an edge of aggression hat allows the song to chug on and on through a fuzz-toned guitar solo that shows a glimpse into a world where Jimi Hendrix was capable of playing a guitar solo without being stoned out of his mind every time he did so. A tonal shift occurs every time the keys and guitar switch leads, which is probably supposed to be thematic but which wouldn't really occur to anyone if they didn't pay attention to the song title. The song does begin to drag before it comes to a destructive, noisy end, and it isn't nearly as entertaining as the previous songs. 

Continuing the hard rock themes explored on "Bonnie K" is "Tantalizing Maggie, which doesn't stand out very much against the backdrop of songs already on this record. The strange, somewhat nonsensical lyrics are delivered in a tone of voice in the same being of that of a used car salesman, with interesting effects applied. The instrumentation frequently likes to allow itself to fall into chaos before quickly being brought back to normalcy. Hearing an actual piano being used and the mess of vocals at the end of the song are both quite nice, but overall "Tantalizing Maggie" just doesn't have a whole lot going for it, fading into mediocrity. 

In every good album there is a low point, and "The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack"'s low point is the second to last song, "Dawn". A mildly disturbing, high-pitched organ intro is joined by an echoey drum part, which is then joined by whispered, spoken-word vocals. Yikes. As the instrumentation builds up, the whispering continues to get creepier as the speaker uses (possibly) ghoulish euphemisms to simply describe a time of day, and it only gets weirder after a particularly indescribable middle section. As per usual with most songs by The Nice, this one, too, descends into chaos accompanied by--what else?--heavy breathing. While the experimentation is very well appreciated, I would have preferred it to not have been so headache inducing. 

Finally, we have come to the conclusion of the album. And what a conclusion it is. "The Cry of Eugene" starts with calm, flowly organ accompanied by hazy guitar. The intriguing, fairy-tale like lyrics are sung in a smooth, sadness-panged, almost hypnotizing vocal performance that makes the song have an almost spiritual quality to it. During a heavier solo section, the guitar and drums both pick up and are joined by great piano and horn parts. When the vocals come back in, the key and tone have both changed and the singing is more desperate, more passionate while the original organ run comes back in as the song slows. An excellent closer for an excellent album. 

Rating: 4/5