Nice (The Nice album)
| Nice | ||||
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| Studio album and Live album by The Nice | ||||
| Released | September 1969 | |||
| Recorded | Trident Studios, London, Mid 1969 (Tracks 1–4), Fillmore East, New York City, 9–10 April 1969 (Tracks 5–6) | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 43:46 | |||
| Label | Immediate | |||
| Producer | The Nice | |||
| The Nice chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
US album cover
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | D+ |
Nice was the third album by the Nice; it was titled Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It in the US after Immediate's distribution changed from Columbia to Capitol. Nice had been initially released in the US with a slightly longer version of Rondo 69 not available on the UK or on the Capitol distributed US versions. The first US version of Nice was briefly reissued in 1973 by Columbia Special Products.
Continuing the Nice's fusion of jazz, blues, and rock, this album consists of studio (1–4) and live (5–6) tracks, the latter having become firm favourites in the band's live performances.
The album reached number 3 in the UK Album charts.
The UK version of the album came in a gatefold sleeve, showing photographs of the band relaxing at an unknown location, the interior of which featured handwritten notes by Keith Emerson: Interesting to note that Keith was not at all happy with the album photos—they were not the ones he wanted them to use (In fact, he spent around one hour slamming his toilet door in his Drayton Gardens flat in sheer frustration!)
Azrael was the first thing I wrote with Lee – now revisited it relates to the Angel of Death. The 5/4 riff revolves round in a circular motion rather like the birth, life & death cycle, and proves to be an interesting medium to improvise in. The verses are taken in common time (4/4). The quote from Rachmaninoff's Prelude (in) C# Minor is intentional as when it was written. Rachmaninoff had Edgar Allan Poe's vision of a man coming back to life in the coffin after burial.
For the number I detuned the strings on the piano slightly to give it a "honky-tonk" effect which helped in creating an air of something ageing. I'd like to apologise to Amen Corner for not retuning the piano afterwards. They had to use the same piano after our session, unfortunately they didn't need a "Winifred Atwell's Other Piano" sound.
"Azrael" had been the B-side of the Nice's first UK single release, "Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack". As well as the Rachmaninoff quotation, the track relied on Lennie Tristano's Turkish Mambo. The album version is lighter in tone than the original, and taken at a slightly faster pace, but retains the menace of the original.
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