and painted by William Neal, who produced every canvas. Palmer bought one of them after he had completed it. The album was packaged in a gatefold sleeve, the outside of which depicts blank picture frames labelled with the titles of the pictures: "The Old Castle", "The Gnome", etc. The paintings were large oil paintings containing various images related to the band, like the Tarkus background in "The Hut" and the white dove embossed into the titanium white oil paint in "Promenade" (visible only on the original painting), resembling the cover of the band's debut album. On the inner gatefold all of the paintings were revealed, but "Promenade" remains blank; this section of the suite is not about a picture, but represents a walk through the exhibition. Some later pressings on CD use only the "revealed" version. Neal's paintings were later hung at Hammersmith Town Hall, and photographed by Keith Morris and Nigel Marlow, both former graduates from Guildford School of Art. Release and reception After the album was recorded Lake was wary that its classical content would make the public compare Emerson, Lake & Palmer to The Nice, and argued against its release before Tarkus. As a compromise Pictures at an Exhibition was to be released at a budget price, but upon learning this Atlantic Records vetoed the idea. The label could not decide whether to promote it as a rock or classical record and at one point, considered putting it out on its subsidiary, Nonesuch Records. Fearing that this would lead to poor sales, the band decided to shelve the work. Palmer said the group received letters from fans expressing their anger at the delay. After the album was broadcast in its entirety on WNEW-FM in New York City, the public's demand for the album convinced Atlantic to release it at full price. The band had hoped to release it in the UK for 99p, but it was released at £1.49. Originally, the group had thought of releasing Pictures at an Exhibition as a double album, with the suite on side one and the material they had recorded for Trilogy (1972) on side two, but they thought the public had waited long enough for Pictures to be released and wanted to put it out sooner. The album was released in November 1971, and reached number 3 on the UK Albums Chart. Budget-priced albums were eligible for inclusion at the