I began listening to the Nice in October 2024 as part of my coverage of 1960s British rock music. I was unimpressed with their albums as I expected to be but I ultimately decided to listen to all three of their studio albums instead of checking out a best-of because of the studio albums' generally positive reviews and because compilations usually aren't able to paint an accurate picture of progressive rock bands.
The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack (1968): C
Ars Longa Vita Brevis (1968): C
Nice (1969): C
The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack (1968):
Much like in Deep Purple (who would release their debut later in the year), instead of a pretty solid guitarist being the lead instrumentalist, a very egoistical organist is constantly at the center of this band's sound. And with lyrics such as "Flower King of Flies" and classical music passages tinged with the psychedelia of the day, the negatives just keep piling on. These pompous Brits could surely play some decadent hard rock if they were forced to, but the Nice just want to use their powers for evil. C
Ars Longa Vita Brevis (1968):
Although they occasionally conjured up a decent hard rock sound on their debut album thanks to David O'List, the Nice opted to fire their guitarist and move on as an organ, bass and drums trio for their sophomore album. Another trippy affair with a self-important title christening it, Ars Longa Vita Brevis (Art is Long, Life is Short) sees the Nice making up for the loss in sonic space by having keyboardist Keith Emerson further take center stage. His busy playing didn't exactly fit in the traditional rock band format they attempted on their debut, but with their current lineup who else is going do the heavy lifting? It's an opportunity that must have sent Emerson through the roof, but no doubt the other two band members are happy with the change too. The Nice have found a more workable, comfortable band lineup as a trio and they immediately take the opportunity to further progress into instrumental oblivion, with the final twenty-eight minutes of this forty minute album functioning almost entirely without lyrics (only a few movements in the nineteen minute suite that anchors the project are given words). It all but further highlights that the opening three conventional pop songs on this album are meant to appease the remaining mainstream that might still follow them. But thanks to the commercial success of their string-infested cover of Leonard Bernstein's "America" earlier in the year, the Nice know the public's appetite for their quasi-classical, quasi-rock instrumental music is surprisingly gluttonous after all. C
Nice (1969):
While the choral-backed "Hang on to a Dream" and lah-di-dah "Diary of an Empty Day" certainly present the Nice at their most listenable (if still quite a bit irksome), the rest of the album--two studio pieces that are roughened up in all the wrong places and two live tracks that unforgivably meander and meander--present the Nice at their most pretentious. Nice attempts to be a palatable sampler of both the band as studio musicians and as live performers but without the album having a solid commitment to either, it simply comes off as an easy cash grab from a lazy group doing anything they can to crudely compile enough material to fit on an LP. Only enough studio material for one side suggests the band isn't really taking songwriting or professional recording seriously anymore. Only two live tracks for an entire side of music--regardless of much they satisfy the crazies in the Nice's following--doesn't give a meaningful summary of the Nice's live shows whatsoever. C
