Emerson, Lake & Palmer isn't considered the trio's apex (most fans would opt for Brain Salad Surgery). Yet it does represent the group's most cohesive moment. It doesn't contain a whole lot of bombast, relatively speaking. At this early stage in their career, the group still was concerned with striking balance between their many interests: folk, classical, hard rock, art pop and, of course, synthesized sound effects. The most intense piece is the moody "Knife-Edge"; the most exquisite, meanwhile, is "Take a Pebble," which boasts a country-folk middle section that is really rather mesmerizing.