Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Works Volume 1 – Записи 1976-1977 годов.

Works Volume 1 is the fifth studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released as a double album in March 1977 on Atlantic Records. Following their world tour supporting Brain Salad Surgery (1973), the group took an extended break before they reconvened in 1976 to record a new album. They were now tax exiles and recorded new material in London and overseas in Montreux, Switzerland and Paris, France. Works Volume 1 features a side dedicated for each member to write and arrange their own tracks, while the fourth side features songs performed collectively. Keith Emerson recorded his Piano Concerto No. 1, Greg Lake wrote several songs with lyricist Peter Sinfield, and Carl Palmer recorded tracks of varied musical styles. The album peaked at No. 9 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 12 on the US Billboard 200 and went gold in both countries, the latter for 500,000 copies sold. The group track "Fanfare for the Common Man", Emerson's adaptation of the 1942 composition by Aaron Copland, was released as a single in May 1977. It went to No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart to become the band's highest charting single in the UK. Additional material recorded in 1976, plus songs from previous studio sessions, were released as Works Volume 2. Both albums were supported with the 1977–1978 tour, which featured the band playing with an orchestra on stage for some early shows.

In August 1974, Emerson, Lake & Palmer finished their ten month world tour in support of their fourth album, Brain Salad Surgery (1973). This was followed by the triple live album Welcome Back, My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends ～ Ladies and Gentlemen (1974) which earned the group their highest charting position in the US with a peak of No. 4, and No. 6 in the UK. The trio took an extended break, having been on the recording and touring circuit each year since their formation in 1970. Keith Emerson said that at this point in their career, the group's musical direction had been "milked dry" and they wanted to spend time planning their next step. In 1976, the three had decided to start on a new studio album and became tax exiles, meaning they had to record overseas. Lake recalled that this was an unpopular opinion as the members had family based in England. They settled in Montreux, Switzerland where they recorded at Mountain Studios. For Works, Lake wanted to take a more serious approach in writing and singing ballads, and felt singing with an orchestra added greater variety to his songs. In March 1977, Lake said that the band had completed additional material that would be released on Works Volume 2. The work's third movement reflected Emerson's mood at the time of the fire, and he was able to get "a lot of anger" out through the music. Side 2 is the Greg Lake side, and consists of acoustic ballads, all of which were written by Lake and Peter Sinfield. Side 3, the Carl Palmer side, includes a remake of "Tank" from the band's self titled debut album released in 1970, with orchestral accompaniment and minus the drum solo. "L. A. Nights" features Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh on lead and slide guitar and scat vocals. Two arrangements of classical pieces are included: Two Part Invention in D minor, BWV 775 by Johann Sebastian Bach and a piece titled "The Enemy God Dances With the Black Spirits", an excerpt of the 2nd movement of the Scythian Suite by Sergei Prokofiev.

The fourth side features two group performed pieces. "Fanfare for the Common Man" is an adaptation of the same titled piece by American composer Aaron Copland. Emerson sought Copland's permission so the group could use it; Copland found their version appealing but was puzzled at the solo section in the middle of two fairly straightforward renditions of his piece. The 13 minute "Pirates" originated from a piece Emerson had written for a cancelled film version of Frederick Forsyth's book The Dogs of War. When Lake and Sinfield got together to write lyrics for the track, Emerson had told Lake that he wrote it with mercenaries in mind, which Lake found distasteful and wanted the song to be about something else. He conjured images of the sea upon listening to Emerson's piece, which made him think of pirates. Sinfield liked the idea, and the pair wrote words at Lake's mountain chalet. "Pirates" was recorded in two separate studios; Lake had a falling out with the orchestra used in Montreux, so recording moved to Paris with the National Opera of Paris orchestra and conductor Godfrey Salmon. Sinfeld recalled the band wanting Leonard Bernstein to conduct the orchestral arrangements on "Pirates", and arranged for Bernstein, who was conducting at the nearby Opera House, to visit the studio and hear the piece.

The same verse and chorus melody as in the song "C'est la Vie" is used for the Zdravko Čolić's 1984 song "Ruška" and the Divlji Kesten's 1995 song "Svrati ponekad".