Ars Longa Vita Brevis

With David O'List gone, Keith Emerson firmly took charge of The Nice. It should be no surprise then that their second effort finds the trio diving deeper into the classical music realm to further flaunt Emerson's keyboard histrionics. Their six-minute rendition of Leonard Bernstein's "America," from the musical West Side Story (recorded while O'List was still with the band), was released as a single and nearly reached the UK Top 20 in July. Whether this was based on musical merit or controversy is another story: The Nice drew sharp criticism from Bernstein after they burned an American flag during their Royal Albert Hall performance of the number. Bad taste was one of the band's unfortunate legacies; in fact, the interminable "Daddy Where Did I Come From" actually attempts to explain the obvious! But the big switch in direction on the album is witnessed in Jean Sibelius's "Intermezzo from ‘Karelia Suite'." It's this deconstruction of classical music that would become the band's enduring legacy, and heavily influence legions of progressives, English, Italian and otherwise. The second side found Emerson and company (more or less) extending J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 into mammoth proportions. The first movement is interpreted with a drum solo from Brian Davison, while the second benefits from a contribution from a lingering O'List. The third section adds orchestration from Robert Stewart, while the fourth is dominated by Emerson's organ soloing. Ultimately the issue is interpretation versus appropriation. The album's title Ars Longa Vita Brevis translates to "Art is boundless, life is short." Whatever your verdict, here The Nice laid the foundation for much of prog rock.