in the sleeve notes to the 2015 CD/DVD reissue, remix engineer Jakko Jakszyk is quoted as saying "I've discovered [it is] actually Greg playing... muted strings on his bass guitar". "From the Beginning" is a soft, acoustic guitar-based song that peaked at on the US charts. More often appearing in ELP compilations than live concerts, the track lent its name to a 1997 retrospective of Greg Lake's work. "The Sheriff" was written as a prelude to the country-themed "Hoedown", which closes the side. During the opening drum solo, Palmer accidentally hit the rim of his tom-tom with a drumstick, and he can be heard responding with "Shit!". The song ends with a honky tonk-type piano solo with Palmer playing woodblocks. "Hoedown" is an arrangement of "Hoe-Down" from the ballet Rodeo (1942) by American composer Aaron Copland, who gave the band permission to adapt the piece. It became a live favourite, and opened the band's shows between 1972 and 1974. Side two "Abaddon's Bolero" sounds like a bolero turned into a march (in 4/4 rhythm rather than the usual 3/4). The piece was originally titled Bellona's Bolero after the goddess of war. A single melody containing multiple modulations within itself is repeated over and over in ever more thickly layered arrangements, starting from a quiet Hammond organ making a flute-like sound over a snare drum, and building up to a wall of sound – Maurice Ravel's famous Boléro uses a similar effect. There is also a quote from the British traditional song "The Girl I Left Behind". "Abaddon's Bolero" is replete with overdubs. Almost every time an instrument comes in, another overdub follows. "Abaddon's Bolero" was only played live a handful of times, with Greg Lake handling Mellotron, bass pedals, and additional Moog synthesizer duties (other synth parts accompanied them from a reel-to-reel tape playing off-stage which Emerson had pre-recorded); the song turned out to be a disaster, and led to a heated backstage argument when the tape stopped mid-way through the song during one show, after which, it was cut from the set list. The band brought the piece back for the start of their 1977 tour, during which they were accompanied by an orchestra. Cover The artwork was designed by Hipgnosis. It depicts a combined bust of the three members, while the interior of the original gatefold sleeve features a photomontage of the three in Epping Forest. Spanish artist