Editing Works Volume 1 (section)

==Reception==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 =[[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref name="AllMusic">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=works-vol-1-r1657259|tab=review|pure_url=yes}}|title=Works Vol. 1 – Emerson, Lake & Palmer|access-date=11 December 2011|last=Eder|first=Bruce|publisher=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref>
| rev2 =''[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fielder|first1=Hugh|title=Classic Rock|chapter=Eight by Three|volume=76|date=February 2005|location=London, UK|pages=104|title-link=Classic Rock (magazine)}}</ref>
| rev3      = ''[[MusicHound Rock]]''
| rev3Score = {{rating|2|5}}<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Graff|editor1-first=Gary|editor2-last=Durchholz|editor2-first=Daniel|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|publisher=Visible Ink Press|location=Farmington Hills, MI|year=1999|section=Emerson, Lake & Palmer/Emerson, Lake & Powell|isbn=1-57859-061-2|pages=387–388}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev4Score = (favorable)<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/emersonlakepalmer/albums/album/133206/review/5941527/works_vol_1|title=Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Works, Vol. 1 : Music Reviews|access-date=3 September 2012|last=Walters|first=Charley|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=2 June 1977|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071110210624/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/emersonlakepalmer/albums/album/133206/review/5941527/works_vol_1|archive-date=10 November 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''Louder''
| rev5Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/emerson-lake-palmer-reissues-album-review-1|title=Emerson Lake & Palmer: ''Works Volume 1''|last=Sharp|first=Johnny|author-link=Johnny Sharp|website=loudersound.com|date=24 May 2017|access-date=26 February 2019}}</ref>
}}

The album was originally released just as the punk era was getting underway, when bands like ELP were perceived as bloated "dinosaurs". As a result, ''Works Volume 1'' received mixed-to-poor reviews and is often viewed as marking the start of an artistic downturn in the group's career, despite the great success of "[[Fanfare for the Common Man (Emerson, Lake & Palmer song)|Fanfare for the Common Man]]" as a single. In a contemporary review, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' did not care for either the Emerson or Lake sides but liked Palmer's selections, and reserved high praise for the two group numbers on side four. 

[[AllMusic]]'s retrospective review is mixed. They also criticize the solo sides of Keith Emerson ("on the level of a good music-student piece, without much original language") and Greg Lake ({{"'}}C'est la Vie', the featured single, says little that '[[Still...You Turn Me On]]', from their previous album, didn't say better and shorter"). They offer some praise for the Carl Palmer and group sides, but conclude that the group songs "cover a lot of old ground, albeit in ornate and stylish fashion."<ref name="AllMusic"/> Paul Stump's 1997 ''History of Progressive Rock'' characterized the album as excessive, indulgent, and "clodhoppingly stereotypical", but also asserted that it "is not without merit". In particular, he argued that while doing a piano concerto is a pompous and indulgent idea, Emerson pulls it off reasonably well, and his impressive virtuosity fits more comfortably in this context than in Emerson, Lake & Palmer's rock workouts.<ref name=Stump215/>