Knife-Edge (Emerson, Lake & Palmer song)

Knife-Edge is a song by the British progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It is the third track of their eponymous debut album. The song is based on the first movement of Leoš Janáček's Sinfonietta (1926) with an instrumental middle section that includes an extended quotation from the Allemande of Johann Sebastian Bach's first French Suite in D minor, BWV 812, but played on an organ rather than clavichord or piano. Like the song "The Barbarian" on the same album, "Knife-Edge" was also not credited to its original composer. Janáček's family sued ELP for copyright infringement, but eventually the credit to Janáček was added, too. The song was released as a B-Side to ELP's single, "Lucky Man," also from the debut album. The song was a popular concert staple and has appeared on nearly every ELP compilation album. In May 2012, Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree remixed the debut album for a 3-CD reissue containing the original mix, the Wilson remix, and a DVD-Audio with Wilson's 5.1 surround sound version and a higher-bitrate version of his stereo mix. Wilson's remix of "Knife-Edge" has an extended ending; due to the difficulty of reproducing the song's original tape slowdown ending digitally, Wilson chose instead to include the end of the original album session at its original speed.

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• Keith Emerson - Hammond organ
• Greg Lake - bass guitar, vocals
• Carl Palmer - drums