“From The Beginning” by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer

Greg Lake wrote "From the Beginning" alone and produced it himself, and on Trilogy, Emerson, Lake & Palmer's 1972 album, it's the moment the prog trio lays down the heavy artillery and lets the song breathe. It was first meant for King Crimson's debut, In the Court of the Crimson King, until Robert Fripp decided it didn't fit there.

Everything hangs on an acoustic guitar figure in A minor, with electric rhythm and lead guitar and bass layered over it and Lake singing up front. Carl Palmer plays it light, with congas and timpani mallets and no cymbals at all, and Keith Emerson closes it out with a synthesizer solo stacked with overdubs. That restraint paid off: at No. 39, it became the trio's best showing on the American singles chart.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.