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Topic: When was the last time you heard Tarkus?Posted By: Stool Man
Subject: When was the last time you heard Tarkus?
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 12:12
I have never heard this epic track before, and I am enjoying my first ever listen as I type this.
When was the last time you listened to it?
------------- rotten hound of the burnie crew
Replies: Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 12:21
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 12:22
According to iTunes, last August 11th.
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Posted By: HolyMoly
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 12:23
I think it was about a month ago. It's easily my most-listened-to ELP track, and one of my favorite prog pieces of all time.
------------- My other avatar is a Porsche
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased.
-Kehlog Albran
Posted By: Lightworker
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 12:28
Last night
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 12:54
Stool Man wrote:
I have never heard this epic track before, and I am enjoying my first ever listen as I type this.
When was the last time you listened to it?
I'm using "The Endless Enigma" (one of my favorite pieces with lyrics) on a project, and of course, I immediately pulled out Tarkus ... haven't heard it in quite sometime, and I'm not sure what it was about anymore! Go figure ... me not knowing that ... the shame!
------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com
Posted By: irrelevant
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 12:59
I've never heard Tarkus.
------------- https://gabebuller.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - New album! http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 13:03
HolyMoly wrote:
I think it was about a month ago. It's easily my most-listened-to ELP track, and one of my favorite prog pieces of all time.
Pretty much this actually.
Oh and for those of you who haven't yet heard this magnificent piece of progressive rock. This is for you:
------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
- Douglas Adams
Posted By: darkshade
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 13:07
I believe it was 2 months ago for me.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/MysticBoogy" rel="nofollow - My Last.fm
Posted By: DiamondDog
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 13:12
Haven't listened for a very long time, but you've just reminded me to rush off and do that very thing. Love Emerson and Tarkus, great prog moments.
Posted By: infandous
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 13:24
Couldn't say for certain, but I think I heard it in it's entirety on Sirius XM radio within the last 6 months. Probably my single favorite ELP piece of them all though.
Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 13:55
Humm...maybe 6 months ago.
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Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 15:26
Stool Man wrote:
I have never heard this epic track before, and I am enjoying my first ever listen as I type this.
When was the last time you listened to it?
Probably the first prog track I ever heard. Used to have the cassette and was constantly rewinding the bloody thing every day for about a year so I could play side one over and over again
( the year being 1976)
Nowadays I can go for 2 or 3 months at a time without playing it.I usually play it when a new remaster is released so my next listen will be in about another month
Posted By: Fox On The Rocks
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 15:27
About 3 months ago. I wasn't even listening to much ELP around then either, I just hasn't listened to it in a while at that point. Masterpiece!
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Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 15:48
Around about 6th November 1979.
Never could get into ELP. Perhaps it is time for a re-evaluation
------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time!
Posted By: Flyingsod
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 16:00
It's been about half a decade for me. I was playing an MMO game at the time and someone had the name "Tarkus". I tried a bunch of time to talk to them but the never did respond. I figured they were a bot and though it fitting given what a tarkus is.
-------------
This space intentionally left blank
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 16:01
In full, maybe eight years ago. I once liked ELP very much, and had the album (was never really into Tarkus, though), but I went off ELP quite a few years ago. I tried listening to the track again via that youtube clip, and I just can't get through it. It's too much for these ears, and I had to turn it off.
Posted By: zravkapt
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 16:18
Within the last five years...I can play it in my head at any time.
------------- Magma America Great Make Again
Posted By: colorofmoney91
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 16:45
It has been years since I've listened to Tarkus. I really just didn't care for it at all, but I see it mentioned a lot here so I may listen again soon.
Posted By: Man With Hat
Date Posted: June 07 2012 at 20:40
Months ago...certainly within 2011.
------------- Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.
Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: June 08 2012 at 02:11
About 4 months ago, maybe.
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: June 08 2012 at 02:21
one of my all time faves, I listen every few months
Posted By: spknoevl
Date Posted: June 08 2012 at 08:21
About a month ago. But I probably went 20 years without listening to any ELP. Like alot of 70s prog, not all of it wears well over time.
------------- http://martinwebb.bandcamp.com
The notes are just an interesting way to get from one silence to the next - Mick Gooderick
Posted By: Alitare
Date Posted: June 08 2012 at 09:08
It's been a couple years. I don't have any urge to listen to it any time soon, either. I may give it another listen a year or so from now if I feel like it.
Posted By: progresssaurus
Date Posted: June 08 2012 at 09:17
Not sure, about 6 months ago, I don't know exactly,
but thank you for inspiration, I going to listen it now
Edit: Yesterday
Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: June 08 2012 at 09:55
May 5th, 2012, just after midnight.
I remember that because that was the album I was listening to on the way to pick up my sister-in-law at the train station.
Posted By: The Truth
Date Posted: June 08 2012 at 10:32
Two years ago, I think. I've heard it twice if I recall correctly. Always been a bigger fan of Trilogy and Tarkus just doesn't get listened to when I'm in the mood for ELP which isn't often.
Posted By: Gerinski
Date Posted: June 08 2012 at 12:48
Sorry mate, but your first ever listen to Tarkus and the only thing that comes to your mind is asking when was the last time we heard it??! I don't know what to make of that
I hope you will tell us what did you think of it.
Tarkus was one of the very first prog songs / albums I got into as a child, my older family playing it a lot when I did not even know what masturbation was, and it has remained one of my favourite songs ever.
So after all these years (I'm 45 now) it's quite "hardwired" in my brain and I do not feel the need to play it much anymore even if I still love it as much as back then.
The studio version I didn't listen to for surely over a year, maybe even 2 years, the last time I listened to it was from the Live At Nassau Colisseum album, maybe around 3 months ago.
Posted By: silverpot
Date Posted: June 08 2012 at 13:59
Since I joined PA I've been re-discovering all the old bands I listened to a lot to in the old days, except for Floyd who's always been with me. I've found that I still like a lot of them, and especially ELP, and Tarkus. I give it a spin every month or so.
Posted By: frippism
Date Posted: June 08 2012 at 14:34
2008?
------------- There be dragons
Posted By: KingCrInuYasha
Date Posted: June 08 2012 at 16:09
A couple of months ago. It's probably the best piece the band ever wrote.
Hey, I just looked up "Tarkus" on Wikipedia and, after doing a verification, found out that it's the Estonian word for "Wisdom". Kind of makes sense, given the anti-war lyrics.
------------- He looks at this world and wants it all... so he strikes, like Thunderball!
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: June 09 2012 at 01:19
KingCrInuYasha wrote:
A couple of months ago. It's probably the best piece the band ever wrote.
Hey, I just looked up "Tarkus" on Wikipedia and, after doing a verification, found out that it's the Estonian word for "Wisdom". Kind of makes sense, given the anti-war lyrics.
Interesting little nugget of info that.
Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: June 09 2012 at 01:50
richardh wrote:
KingCrInuYasha wrote:
A couple of months ago. It's probably the best piece the band ever wrote.
Hey, I just looked up "Tarkus" on Wikipedia and, after doing a verification, found out that it's the Estonian word for "Wisdom". Kind of makes sense, given the anti-war lyrics.
Interesting little nugget of info that.
If Emerson's autobiography is a reliable source (of which I'm frankly dubious) he claims the title was inspired by Henry Williamson's 1927 novel Tarka the Otter
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Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: June 09 2012 at 01:52
smartpatrol wrote:
About, I don't know, a year. Haven't been into ELP for a while.
Erm...ain't your avatar a bit ironic methinks?
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Posted By: tamijo
Date Posted: June 09 2012 at 02:34
All of it 15+ years , if i ever did listen to it all
Nerver was into ELP.
------------- Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
Posted By: smartpatrol
Date Posted: June 09 2012 at 03:47
ExittheLemming wrote:
smartpatrol wrote:
About, I don't know, a year. Haven't been into ELP for a while.
Posted By: JS19
Date Posted: June 09 2012 at 05:30
Just heard it for the first time. What's all the fuss about?
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Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: June 09 2012 at 05:50
^ 41 years ago it got to Number 1 in the UK album charts which reinforced the fleeting hope that there was a time in history where a discerning demographic might actually have a say in what is popular. Imagine a hierarchical system of merit that correlates to your own value judgements i.e. the content of PA - ain't that exciting? We'll soon get you up to speed laddie.
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Posted By: dennismoore
Date Posted: June 10 2012 at 10:53
lazland wrote:
Around about 6th November 1979.
Never could get into ELP. Perhaps it is time for a re-evaluation
Not sine 1979??? Simply unbelievable.
Since you have upgraded your avatar to a higher level primate on the evolution scale, perhaps you could elevate your listening abilities to include one of the top 5 musical compositions of the twentieth century???
Ok, that was a bit of a slam at one of my favorite overseas proggers....
Seriously... What has stopped you about ELP or Tarkus in particular? Is it all the keyboards and no guitar?
Keith's composition of Tarkus is so magnificent and brilliant yet accessible it is frankly humbling. I have the sheet music for Tarkus and I enjoy marveling at his chord progressions during Eruption almost as much as I enjoy listening to it!. And I am no master musician for sure.
For me, I listened to Welcome Back Tarkus 5 months ago, but I have not been playing music much as I have been building stuff... So I would listen more frequently than that in general...
Can't wait until this July when the original Tarkus record comes out in the 5.1 Steven Wilson mix.
------------- "Yeah, people are unhappy about that - but you know what, it's still Yes." - Chris Squire
Posted By: FromAbove
Date Posted: June 10 2012 at 11:02
I heard it for the first time on last.fm and that was the last time I have listened to it.
Checking it it says I listened to it....Hey, it says I've listened to it twice... that's odd.
Most recently it was March 11, 2011, but I don't even remember listening to it then. Actually, yeah... I do remember listening to it then, but I think I skipped before finishing. So the last time I full listened to it would be August 23, 2010...
which, quite frankly I still can't remember any portion of it.
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: June 10 2012 at 11:39
I played three tracks off the album back in January according to WinAmp, but I may have listened to it on something else. I was doing the big rotation for about two years so I at least listened to the title track within that time.
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: June 10 2012 at 12:09
dennismoore wrote:
lazland wrote:
Around about 6th November 1979.
Never could get into ELP. Perhaps it is time for a re-evaluation
Not sine 1979??? Simply unbelievable.
Seriously... What has stopped you about ELP or Tarkus in particular? Is it all the keyboards and no guitar?
It might have been after 1979. It was a (rather poor) attempt on my part at humour.
Having said that, no I wasn't a big fan, and still am not.
Why?? Well, for the absolutely simple reason that I found them so over the top and bombastic, in other words for the very same reasons why so many people loved them
------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time!
Posted By: dennismoore
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 09:39
lazland wrote:
Why?? Well, for the absolutely simple reason that I found them so over the top and bombastic, in other words for the very same reasons why so many people loved them
I love our chats because I always end up expanding or revisiting old vocabulary. bom·bas·tic (ofspeech,writing,etc.)high-sounding;high-flown;inflated;pretentious.
Ok, fair enough. I heard ELP from records and all I really cared about was the music. I never cared for or was impressed by all the theatrics they do, it was always about the music for me and with ELP their music stands up with anything that was ever written, I do believe.
On ELP recordings there are no knife throwing or piano spinning, just unbelievable music.
------------- "Yeah, people are unhappy about that - but you know what, it's still Yes." - Chris Squire
Posted By: infandous
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 13:22
dennismoore wrote:
lazland wrote:
Why?? Well, for the absolutely simple reason that I found them so over the top and bombastic, in other words for the very same reasons why so many people loved them
I love our chats because I always end up expanding or revisiting old vocabulary. bom·bas·tic (ofspeech,writing,etc.)high-sounding;high-flown;inflated;pretentious.
Ok, fair enough. I heard ELP from records and all I really cared about was the music. I never cared for or was impressed by all the theatrics they do, it was always about the music for me and with ELP their music stands up with anything that was ever written, I do believe.
On ELP recordings there are no knife throwing or piano spinning, just unbelievable music.
You know, I'm always stunned when prog fans suggest that "bombastic" and "pretentious" are somehow negative in music. Prog is nothing, if not bombastic and pretentious. I mean really, that was the whole point!!! To move rock music beyond the blues framework it was born out of.
Frankly, I've always loved ELP for those traits. I don't listen to them regularly anymore (did plenty of that in the 90's), but I still pull out an album or two ever couple years and marvel at how excellent it all still sounds. Tarkus was always my favorite, and I love the "B" side.......though not as much as the title suite, to be sure.
Posted By: bb1319
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 13:38
Maybe 3 months ago, and I hardly ever listen to the B side. I've heard the B side maybe three times total and thought it was utter garbage. The title track is great, though. I'm not really a huge ELP person, either.
------------- "I'd say that what we hear is the quality of our listening." -Robert Fripp
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 13:47
Posted By: FromAbove
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 13:52
bb1319 wrote:
Maybe 3 months ago, and I hardly ever listen to the B side. I've heard the B side maybe three times total and thought it was utter garbage.
I still haven't heard anything from the second side except for Infinite Space (Conclusion), and I still can't remember it. Maybe I should even dare to listen to that Side 2.
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 13:55
I really like side 2. But then, I am what one calls an "ELP fan".
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 14:08
I always thought side two of Tarkus was 'Plan B'. Would the world accept a keyboard driven side long peice based on a non existent creature that looked like an armadillo crossed with a first world war tank? If not we have some fun stuff , a bit of rock n roll and a very important song about religion that should please the hippies that havn't yet expired.
Posted By: FromAbove
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 14:09
Then I haven't listened enough to ELP to cast away side 2. I'll listen to it once I get my hands on the record.
richardh wrote:
I always thought side two of Tarkus was 'Plan B'. Would the world accept a keyboard driven side long peice based on a non existent creature that looked like an armadillo crossed with a first world war tank? If not we have some fun stuff , a bit of rock n roll and a very important song about religion that should please the hippies that havn't yet expired.
Well weren't Lake and Emerson fighting over having the track on the album? Who knows what would have been on the album if Tarkus wasn't there.
But yeah, I guess the second side kind of balances out Tarkus, for what it is in that time period it was released.
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 14:13
I think I heard it for the last time about two years ago. But it remains great.
Note: I did not play side 2 back then.
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Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 14:32
infandous wrote:
dennismoore wrote:
lazland wrote:
Why?? Well, for the absolutely simple reason that I found them so over the top and bombastic, in other words for the very same reasons why so many people loved them
I love our chats because I always end up expanding or revisiting old vocabulary. bom·bas·tic (ofspeech,writing,etc.)high-sounding;high-flown;inflated;pretentious.
Ok, fair enough. I heard ELP from records and all I really cared about was the music. I never cared for or was impressed by all the theatrics they do, it was always about the music for me and with ELP their music stands up with anything that was ever written, I do believe.
On ELP recordings there are no knife throwing or piano spinning, just unbelievable music.
You know, I'm always stunned when prog fans suggest that "bombastic" and "pretentious" are somehow negative in music. Prog is nothing, if not bombastic and pretentious. I mean really, that was the whole point!!! To move rock music beyond the blues framework it was born out of.
Frankly, I've always loved ELP for those traits. I don't listen to them regularly anymore (did plenty of that in the 90's), but I still pull out an album or two ever couple years and marvel at how excellent it all still sounds. Tarkus was always my favorite, and I love the "B" side.......though not as much as the title suite, to be sure.
I never said it was negative. I just don't like it much, which is a different thing altogether.
Not all prog, BTW, is bombastic & pretentious. I also never said pretentious, just bombastic and over the top, again rather different things.
------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time!
Posted By: Gerinski
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 14:34
Snow Dog wrote:
I really like side 2. But then, I am what one calls an "ELP fan".
In the vinyl days I might sometimes listen to side 1 only, but since the CD age if I listen to Tarkus I always listen to the whole thing, I like side 2 more than enough too.
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 14:42
Gerinski wrote:
Snow Dog wrote:
I really like side 2. But then, I am what one calls an "ELP fan".
In the vinyl days I might sometimes listen to side 1 only, but since the CD age if I listen to Tarkus I always listen to the whole thing, I like side 2 more than enough too.
It's nice to see that not everyone has a downer on it. It definitely has a different flavour to Tarkus itself....but that's one reason why I like it. Vive la difference!
Posted By: bb1319
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 17:01
FromAbove wrote:
bb1319 wrote:
Maybe 3 months ago, and I hardly ever listen to the B side. I've heard the B side maybe three times total and thought it was utter garbage.
I still haven't heard anything from the second side except for Infinite Space (Conclusion), and I still can't remember it. Maybe I should even dare to listen to that Side 2.
You're not missing much, unless you're a die hard ELP fanatic, in which case maybe it is possible to like the B side. I mean, I could spare you the whole side and tell you to just listen to "Are You Ready, Eddie?", which is about the biggest b*****dization of Chuck Berry-style rock 'n roll I have ever heard.
------------- "I'd say that what we hear is the quality of our listening." -Robert Fripp
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 17:03
Posted By: FromAbove
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 18:00
bb1319 wrote:
You're not missing much, unless you're a die hard ELP fanatic, in which case maybe it is possible to like the B side. I mean, I could spare you the whole side and tell you to just listen to "Are You Ready, Eddie?", which is about the biggest b*****dization of Chuck Berry-style rock 'n roll I have ever heard.
Alright then. I'll think about it and get listening to it when the 3 disc comes out.
Snow Dog wrote:
Side 2
Thank you for your input and help SnowDog.
I hope I'll enjoy Side 2.
Posted By: dennismoore
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 21:06
lazland wrote:
I also never said pretentious, just bombastic and over the top, again rather different things.
WTF???
We just defined bombastic as pretentious. Straight from a genuine dictionary.
First we were arguing against ELP - Tarkus
Now we are arguing against reality!
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear....
@Laz: How did we get you in a corner so easily??? I am surprised.
------------- "Yeah, people are unhappy about that - but you know what, it's still Yes." - Chris Squire
Posted By: dennismoore
Date Posted: June 11 2012 at 21:40
infandous wrote:
You know, I'm always stunned when prog fans suggest that "bombastic" and "pretentious" are somehow negative in music. Prog is nothing, if not bombastic and pretentious. I mean really, that was the whole point!!! To move rock music beyond the blues framework it was born out of.
Frankly, I've always loved ELP for those traits. I don't listen to them regularly anymore (did plenty of that in the 90's), but I still pull out an album or two ever couple years and marvel at how excellent it all still sounds. Tarkus was always my favorite, and I love the "B" side.......though not as much as the title suite, to be sure.
Wassup Skippy????
Your 1st paragraph is spot on, IMHO. There is a syndrome when a musician is SO over the top brilliant and then the band becomes very big, people just find fault for fault's sake or to take a shot at "the giant". I am not sayin Laz did that, (I think he just got his words all jumbled for a wee bit...)
As far as side 2 of Tarkus, for all the side 2 naysayers here, a closer review might prove helpful.
1. Jeremy Bender - People accuse Keith of being "bombastic"(pretentious) but when he lightens it up with a nice little ragtime ditty on Jeremy Bender, people criticize that as being trivial. fact is most of Keith's hero musicians were old ragtime piano players, so JB is about as "Keith Emerson" as you can get!
2. Bitches Crystal - A pure rocker showcasing Greg Lake's awesome tenor and his vocal forcefullness. Wicked piano all throughout the song. ELP is a keyboard band, some of the best piano playing is found right here in this song.
3. The Only Way (Hymn) - ELP trying to mix classical (Bach) with modern early 70's pop culture. Independence from the old ways. Any keyboard player can only drool over how Keith masters the pipe organ and then the piano. Greg is able to keep up vocally to the piano which is no small feat. The words are about religious independence so traditional conservatives will probably be put off by this... Very nice off meter groove/jam to end out the piece.
4. A Time and a Place - A straightforward rocker which may perhaps be one of the most powerful vocal exhibitions ever. Greg Lake goes from clarion clear rich tenor to full rage shouting while keeping a singing voice. Future generations have prided themselves with their generation's screamers or "rough" vocal stylings. Well go no further than this song to see how it is done with aplomb. Oh, bad ass-fat moog synth and polyphonic horns all over this keyboard rich rock-attack.
end of album
Yes... Are You Ready Eddie... That was made up last minute after recording Tarkus when the engineer told the band they still needed a few more minutes to round out the two sides, but ELP had no more material to record. So it was a spur of the moment throw in which happens to have some truly unreal rock piano bangin/playin. Named after the engineer: Eddie Offord.
Cheers!
DM
------------- "Yeah, people are unhappy about that - but you know what, it's still Yes." - Chris Squire
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: June 12 2012 at 00:37
FromAbove wrote:
Then I haven't listened enough to ELP to cast away side 2. I'll listen to it once I get my hands on the record.
richardh wrote:
I always thought side two of Tarkus was 'Plan B'. Would the world accept a keyboard driven side long peice based on a non existent creature that looked like an armadillo crossed with a first world war tank? If not we have some fun stuff , a bit of rock n roll and a very important song about religion that should please the hippies that havn't yet expired.
Well weren't Lake and Emerson fighting over having the track on the album? Who knows what would have been on the album if Tarkus wasn't there.
But yeah, I guess the second side kind of balances out Tarkus, for what it is in that time period it was released.
Yep Lake regarded it as an Emerson solo peice. Not sure what changed except that Lake added lyrics and also fleshed out some of the parts. Add Palmers innovative percussion work and the wonderfull production of Offord and you have something special. Lake later regarded it as a good 'headphone track' , a complete immersable experience.
Side Two isn't bad but nothing that could be regarded as 'progressive' as such. Are You Ready Eddy? was recorded after a drunken night out and was included because .. I don't know really. Never did them any favours and Carl's need to miss a beat just to show he was clever doesn't help either. Jeremy Bender is just childish. The middle 3 tracks are okay and make side two just about worthwhile. A Time And A Place is the most powerfull track on the album and defines what a power trio is imo. The Only Way has Lake's most beautifull singing in ELP (again my opinion) while Bitches Crystal demonstrates Emersons skills as a jazz pianist.
EDIT - just read Dennis's post above which explains Are You Ready Eddy? Also interesting comments on the other tracks particularly re Lake's singing. Perhaps it indicates the the tug of war between Lake and Emerson during the making of the album and perhaps Side Two was Lake's chance to shine??!
Posted By: Stool Man
Date Posted: June 12 2012 at 08:04
Gerinski wrote:
Sorry mate, but your first ever listen to Tarkus and the only thing that comes to your mind is asking when was the last time we heard it??! I don't know what to make of that
I hope you will tell us what did you think of it.
Tarkus was one of the very first prog songs / albums I got into as a child, my older family playing it a lot when I did not even know what masturbation was, and it has remained one of my favourite songs ever.
So after all these years (I'm 45 now) it's quite "hardwired" in my brain and I do not feel the need to play it much anymore even if I still love it as much as back then.
The studio version I didn't listen to for surely over a year, maybe even 2 years, the last time I listened to it was from the Live At Nassau Colisseum album, maybe around 3 months ago.
I said in my original post that I was enjoying it. (and it wasn't the only thing that came to mind, I don't have to post every thought I have, eh?) I certainly did enjoy it, and have listened twice more to it since then - it's better than anything on Brain Salad Surgery in my opinion.
I know what you mean about 'hardwired' - I'm nearly 50, and feel the same about Dark Side Of The Moon which I first heard way back then.
I have yet to hear everything ELP did, but I'll be surprised if they did much that appeals to me more than Tarkus does.
------------- rotten hound of the burnie crew
Posted By: infandous
Date Posted: June 12 2012 at 08:59
dennismoore wrote:
infandous wrote:
You know, I'm always stunned when prog fans suggest that "bombastic" and "pretentious" are somehow negative in music. Prog is nothing, if not bombastic and pretentious. I mean really, that was the whole point!!! To move rock music beyond the blues framework it was born out of.
Frankly, I've always loved ELP for those traits. I don't listen to them regularly anymore (did plenty of that in the 90's), but I still pull out an album or two ever couple years and marvel at how excellent it all still sounds. Tarkus was always my favorite, and I love the "B" side.......though not as much as the title suite, to be sure.
Wassup Skippy????
Your 1st paragraph is spot on, IMHO. There is a syndrome when a musician is SO over the top brilliant and then the band becomes very big, people just find fault for fault's sake or to take a shot at "the giant". I am not sayin Laz did that, (I think he just got his words all jumbled for a wee bit...)
As far as side 2 of Tarkus, for all the side 2 naysayers here, a closer review might prove helpful.
1. Jeremy Bender - People accuse Keith of being "bombastic"(pretentious) but when he lightens it up with a nice little ragtime ditty on Jeremy Bender, people criticize that as being trivial. fact is most of Keith's hero musicians were old ragtime piano players, so JB is about as "Keith Emerson" as you can get!
2. Bitches Crystal - A pure rocker showcasing Greg Lake's awesome tenor and his vocal forcefullness. Wicked piano all throughout the song. ELP is a keyboard band, some of the best piano playing is found right here in this song.
3. The Only Way (Hymn) - ELP trying to mix classical (Bach) with modern early 70's pop culture. Independence from the old ways. Any keyboard player can only drool over how Keith masters the pipe organ and then the piano. Greg is able to keep up vocally to the piano which is no small feat. The words are about religious independence so traditional conservatives will probably be put off by this... Very nice off meter groove/jam to end out the piece.
4. A Time and a Place - A straightforward rocker which may perhaps be one of the most powerful vocal exhibitions ever. Greg Lake goes from clarion clear rich tenor to full rage shouting while keeping a singing voice. Future generations have prided themselves with their generation's screamers or "rough" vocal stylings. Well go no further than this song to see how it is done with aplomb. Oh, bad ass-fat moog synth and polyphonic horns all over this keyboard rich rock-attack.
end of album
Yes... Are You Ready Eddie... That was made up last minute after recording Tarkus when the engineer told the band they still needed a few more minutes to round out the two sides, but ELP had no more material to record. So it was a spur of the moment throw in which happens to have some truly unreal rock piano bangin/playin. Named after the engineer: Eddie Offord.
Cheers!
DM
Fantastic review, and I agree completely. The only song I don't really care for is the final one, and even that I thought was okay the first couple times I heard it. But, being a "joke" song, it doesn't really reward repeated listening. Jeremy Bender is less than 2 minutes long, so really, how bad can it be? I think it's a nice, simple breather/interlude, before the more intense stuff and after the masterpiece. I always felt the album was very well constructed. I didn't know about why Are You Ready Eddie? got on there, but it makes perfect sense. Too bad Lake didn't have anymore childhood songs to record like he did for the first album when they didn't have enough material to finish the album (Lucky Man). I guess this time they decided to wing it, and it failed.
Posted By: zravkapt
Date Posted: June 12 2012 at 18:43
I've always liked 'A Time And A Place' but the rest of side 2...blah.
------------- Magma America Great Make Again
Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: June 12 2012 at 18:53
lol, I actually listened to this a couple of days ago.
Posted By: jammun
Date Posted: June 12 2012 at 23:15
It's probably been a year. It's still in rotation, but the rotation is deep.
------------- Can you tell me where we're headin'?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon.
Posted By: akaBona
Date Posted: June 13 2012 at 04:37
about 20 years ago ...
Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: June 13 2012 at 05:05
There's some good stuff on side 2. Not to keen on the lyrics of Hymn, but musically it's great and Bitches Crystal and A Time And A Place are very good too. Jeremy Bender is wonderful as well. I could miss Are You Ready Eddie but I don't mind it. ELP was an enormously versatile band.
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: June 13 2012 at 15:54
Moogtron III wrote:
There's some good stuff on side 2. Not to keen on the lyrics of Hymn, but musically it's great and Bitches Crystal and A Time And A Place are very good too. Jeremy Bender is wonderful as well. I could miss Are You Ready Eddie but I don't mind it. ELP was an enormously versatile band.
True and they certainly didn't want to be stuck playing the same stuff all the time. Ironically though this appears to be a reason why they aren't taken as seriously as say Yes. Seems a bit unfair really.
Posted By: The Bearded Bard
Date Posted: June 13 2012 at 17:00
Less than a month ago, I think, but reading this thread makes me wanna listen to it again, so it probably won't be long 'til next time.
-------------
Posted By: Zombywoof
Date Posted: June 14 2012 at 01:54
A few weeks ago. Its an awesome epic!
------------- Continue the prog discussion here: http://zombyprog.proboards.com/index.cgi ...
Posted By: smartpatrol
Date Posted: June 14 2012 at 02:41
ExittheLemming wrote:
smartpatrol wrote:
About, I don't know, a year. Haven't been into ELP for a while.
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: June 14 2012 at 03:57
About a year ago, according to my Itunes.
------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!
Posted By: JS19
Date Posted: June 14 2012 at 04:23
ExittheLemming wrote:
^ 41 years ago it got to Number 1 in the UK album charts which reinforced the fleeting hope that there was a time in history where a discerning demographic might actually have a say in what is popular. Imagine a hierarchical system of merit that correlates to your own value judgements i.e. the content of PA - ain't that exciting? We'll soon get you up to speed laddie.
Woah there - I just meant I thought it was ok but I've heard better. No need for that! I was trying to be as amiable as possible
-------------
Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: June 14 2012 at 04:26
^ no offence was intended but reading my post back it sounds a tad patronising (that wasn't the intention so apologies for that)
-------------
Posted By: JS19
Date Posted: June 14 2012 at 04:45
Understood - no hard feelings eh? Maybe I'll enjoy Tarkus more with a few more listenings?
-------------
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: June 14 2012 at 04:48
JS19 wrote:
Understood - no hard feelings eh? Maybe I'll enjoy Tarkus more with a few more listenings?
If you don't, you don't. I love it but I don't expect everyone to feel the same way. It may not sound great to you, but had you been alive when it was released you could have a different perspective.
Posted By: ScorchedFirth
Date Posted: June 14 2012 at 11:48
It was today! Though it's probably a few weeks since the time before. I'm not much of an ELP fan, I actually mostly just listen to that one song, I find it to be easily their best.
Posted By: stacyj
Date Posted: June 14 2012 at 19:14
...in like, 4 ever!
Posted By: darkshade
Date Posted: June 14 2012 at 19:16
Gave it a listen the other day. The title track is amazing, one of the best prog epics ever made. The rest of the album is very weak. The songs seem like they're just there.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/MysticBoogy" rel="nofollow - My Last.fm
Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: June 14 2012 at 19:35
darkshade wrote:
Gave it a listen the other day. The title track is amazing, one of the best prog epics ever made. The rest of the album is very weak. The songs seem like they're just there.
That's why their debut is the best album they made, all strong.
------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: June 15 2012 at 00:39
Horizons wrote:
darkshade wrote:
Gave it a listen the other day. The title track is amazing, one of the best prog epics ever made. The rest of the album is very weak. The songs seem like they're just there.
That's why their debut is the best album they made, all strong.
Trilogy has the same consistency
With Brain Salad Surgery ,Karn Evil 9 is 29 minutes long (35 minutes live) and is virtually an album on its own. That is the most coherent complete work they ever acheived imo. The debut album and Works Volume One could be seen as a pair of albums where ELP explore solo ideas as well as group ideas (Carl Palmer saw it that way). The debut lacks real excitement for me although it does have stunning moments of grandiosity such as Three Fates that I like very much.
Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: June 15 2012 at 00:44
richardh wrote:
Horizons wrote:
darkshade wrote:
Gave it a listen the other day. The title track is amazing, one of the best prog epics ever made. The rest of the album is very weak. The songs seem like they're just there.
That's why their debut is the best album they made, all strong.
Trilogy has the same consistency
With Brain Salad Surgery ,Karn Evil 9 is 29 minutes long (35 minutes live) and is virtually an album on its own. That is the most coherent complete work they ever acheived imo. The debut album and Works Volume One could be seen as a pair of albums where ELP explore solo ideas as well as group ideas (Carl Palmer saw it that way). The debut lacks real excitement for me although it does have stunning moments of grandiosity such as Three Fates that I like very much.
Another reason i like their debut is it doesn't seem pompous or overblown is soo many parts. I haven't listen to ELP in a while, including the debut i own - but all i remember about the albums i heard was just annoying keyboards and the musical embodiment of spaghetti without any sauce.
------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.
Posted By: darkshade
Date Posted: June 15 2012 at 01:14
I think the debut is the best too, though I too haven't really listened to ELP much in a long time. Of the first 4 albums, I never gave Trilogy enough listens. Brain Salad Surgery is mostly good. I never went further than that (I've never even heard Love Beach, just to see what all the fuss was about ).
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/MysticBoogy" rel="nofollow - My Last.fm
Posted By: Dayvenkirq
Date Posted: June 15 2012 at 02:36
In its entirety? Four years ago. Bits of it - a month or two ago.
Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: June 15 2012 at 03:35
The last time I heard it was also the first time. Probably nine or ten years ago. Polite as I used to be, I sat there with my enthusiastic flatmate for the hour or two it lasts, while secretly begging for the torture to end.
Posted By: silverpot
Date Posted: June 15 2012 at 12:53
dennismoore wrote:
infandous wrote:
You know, I'm always stunned when prog fans suggest that "bombastic" and "pretentious" are somehow negative in music. Prog is nothing, if not bombastic and pretentious. I mean really, that was the whole point!!! To move rock music beyond the blues framework it was born out of.
Frankly, I've always loved ELP for those traits. I don't listen to them regularly anymore (did plenty of that in the 90's), but I still pull out an album or two ever couple years and marvel at how excellent it all still sounds. Tarkus was always my favorite, and I love the "B" side.......though not as much as the title suite, to be sure.
Wassup Skippy????
Your 1st paragraph is spot on, IMHO. There is a syndrome when a musician is SO over the top brilliant and then the band becomes very big, people just find fault for fault's sake or to take a shot at "the giant". I am not sayin Laz did that, (I think he just got his words all jumbled for a wee bit...)
As far as side 2 of Tarkus, for all the side 2 naysayers here, a closer review might prove helpful.
1. Jeremy Bender - People accuse Keith of being "bombastic"(pretentious) but when he lightens it up with a nice little ragtime ditty on Jeremy Bender, people criticize that as being trivial. fact is most of Keith's hero musicians were old ragtime piano players, so JB is about as "Keith Emerson" as you can get!
2. Bitches Crystal - A pure rocker showcasing Greg Lake's awesome tenor and his vocal forcefullness. Wicked piano all throughout the song. ELP is a keyboard band, some of the best piano playing is found right here in this song.
3. The Only Way (Hymn) - ELP trying to mix classical (Bach) with modern early 70's pop culture. Independence from the old ways. Any keyboard player can only drool over how Keith masters the pipe organ and then the piano. Greg is able to keep up vocally to the piano which is no small feat. The words are about religious independence so traditional conservatives will probably be put off by this... Very nice off meter groove/jam to end out the piece.
4. A Time and a Place - A straightforward rocker which may perhaps be one of the most powerful vocal exhibitions ever. Greg Lake goes from clarion clear rich tenor to full rage shouting while keeping a singing voice. Future generations have prided themselves with their generation's screamers or "rough" vocal stylings. Well go no further than this song to see how it is done with aplomb. Oh, bad ass-fat moog synth and polyphonic horns all over this keyboard rich rock-attack.
end of album
Yes... Are You Ready Eddie... That was made up last minute after recording Tarkus when the engineer told the band they still needed a few more minutes to round out the two sides, but ELP had no more material to record. So it was a spur of the moment throw in which happens to have some truly unreal rock piano bangin/playin. Named after the engineer: Eddie Offord.
Cheers!
DM
Exactly.
Posted By: Gerinski
Date Posted: June 15 2012 at 13:21
dennismoore wrote:
As far as side 2 of Tarkus, for all the side 2 naysayers here, a closer review might prove helpful.
1. Jeremy Bender - People accuse Keith of being "bombastic"(pretentious) but when he lightens it up with a nice little ragtime ditty on Jeremy Bender, people criticize that as being trivial. fact is most of Keith's hero musicians were old ragtime piano players, so JB is about as "Keith Emerson" as you can get!
2. Bitches Crystal - A pure rocker showcasing Greg Lake's awesome tenor and his vocal forcefullness. Wicked piano all throughout the song. ELP is a keyboard band, some of the best piano playing is found right here in this song.
3. The Only Way (Hymn) - ELP trying to mix classical (Bach) with modern early 70's pop culture. Independence from the old ways. Any keyboard player can only drool over how Keith masters the pipe organ and then the piano. Greg is able to keep up vocally to the piano which is no small feat. The words are about religious independence so traditional conservatives will probably be put off by this... Very nice off meter groove/jam to end out the piece.
4. A Time and a Place - A straightforward rocker which may perhaps be one of the most powerful vocal exhibitions ever. Greg Lake goes from clarion clear rich tenor to full rage shouting while keeping a singing voice. Future generations have prided themselves with their generation's screamers or "rough" vocal stylings. Well go no further than this song to see how it is done with aplomb. Oh, bad ass-fat moog synth and polyphonic horns all over this keyboard rich rock-attack.
end of album
Yes... Are You Ready Eddie... That was made up last minute after recording Tarkus when the engineer told the band they still needed a few more minutes to round out the two sides, but ELP had no more material to record. So it was a spur of the moment throw in which happens to have some truly unreal rock piano bangin/playin. Named after the engineer: Eddie Offord.
Cheers!
DM
Spot on, so many people despise side 2, possibly because of the contrast with side 1, yet it's so much better than a lot of other praised music around. They were brilliant at that time.
Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: June 15 2012 at 13:35
richardh wrote:
Moogtron III wrote:
There's some good stuff on side 2. Not to keen on the lyrics of Hymn, but musically it's great and Bitches Crystal and A Time And A Place are very good too. Jeremy Bender is wonderful as well. I could miss Are You Ready Eddie but I don't mind it. ELP was an enormously versatile band.
True and they certainly didn't want to be stuck playing the same stuff all the time. Ironically though this appears to be a reason why they aren't taken as seriously as say Yes. Seems a bit unfair really.
I agree: they just took a different route than Yes. Any of the old albums is a microcosm in itself, which is a big effort.
Posted By: Glucose
Date Posted: June 16 2012 at 10:37
It was on our night trip from Macedonia (the tiny caounty next to Greece), the driver decided to listen to Tarkus to not fall asleep. What magical maments! :)
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: June 18 2012 at 11:00
Glucose wrote:
It was on our night trip from Macedonia (the tiny caounty next to Greece), the driver decided to listen to Tarkus to not fall asleep. What magical maments! :)
and how did you survive after the bus crashed?
Posted By: Eria Tarka
Date Posted: June 23 2012 at 17:16
March 4th, 2012... besides right now
Posted By: CCVP
Date Posted: June 23 2012 at 17:35