Three years after the release of The Rules Have Changed, Robert Berry has revisited the music he made with Keith Emerson for a brand new recording. He tells Prog about the challenges he faced in recreating the work of one of the finest keyboard players of modern times for 3.2’s Third Impression.

Words: Rich Wilson Portraits: Dave Lepori

Making a good impression: Robert Berry.

“I thought that Keith was  this crazy, mad genius  who would be talking  in equations, but he was  the funniest and easiest  guy to talk to.”

In the mid to late 80s, Robert Berry was viewed as progressive rock’s great successor. Guided under the tutelage of renowned A&R man John Kalodner, circumstances led to him being lined up to replace John Wetton in Asia and Steve Hackett in GTR before effectively supplanting Greg Lake in Emerson Lake & Palmer.

Astoundingly, these opportunities arose within a few short weeks of each other.

“John Kalodner was really on my side,” says Berry. “Carl Palmer was in his office one day and they were having trouble in Asia. Carl called me and said they were either going to replace John Wetton or start a new band. We talked some more but it got to a point where a team wasn’t coming together. Then Steve Hackett left GTR. My manager then was Brian Lane, and he told me Steve Howe wanted to meet me. I spent some time with GTR but Max Bacon [vocalist] didn’t want me to sing a note. My agreement with Brian Lane was that at least I got to sing on one song if I gave up everything else. I loved playing with Steve Howe so much that basically, I was willing to give up my career. I like Max but there was something wrong, so I quit.