TARKUS

So, my first review on this site is for the first prog album I ever listened, back like, 5 years ago. When I originally heard Tarkus (talking about the song right now, not the entire album - that part will come later), I wouldn't say that it blew my mind as much as that I really, really enjoyed it: coming from a classical background, I really valued a well structured and well written song, and that's exactly what the first piece in Tarkus is: a very well written 20 minutes rock suite, with many changes in pace and character in between, yet all in all masterfully cohesioned. What really was the biggest surprise for me when I first listened to this song, though, is how "eclectic" its style was. Going from an epic kind-of-jazzy modal instrumental, in the beginning, to a more slow-paced vocal part with masterfully written lyrics (oh, that's another one: the lyrics are great - not the best I've heard, but still great), it then goes again to a more "dissonant" take on the initial instrumental, and then, it changes to a "bluesy" part? And all of this, without going out of it's overall martial and mechanic - in a good sense - character (after all, this is an album about a giant robot armadillo that starts killing everythin, isn't it?). And, of course, I could talk about the incredible technical skill of the artists themselves - but everyone already knows about that. Just a quick shout out, though, to Greg Lake's basslines: they're usually kind of overlooked, and they're impressive enough to garner much more attention.

But that's only the first song, right? Of course, the rest of the album couldn't be as great as the first song, right? Well, no, it isn't, but it's still awesome. Now, most people who I see / hear talk about this album characterize it as "a long epic suite, and a bunch of other kind of cool songs". Now, were they really listening to the same album as I was? Because the Tarkus that I know doesn't have ONE long, epic suite, but it actually has two!

Yes, I've always thought that the songs "The only way hymn", "Infinite space" and "A time and a place" actually form a synthetic unity in and of themselves. And, though this "suite" that they form isn't as good as Tarkus, it's still impressive: after all, how do you go from a church hymn, to a Bach inspired organ transition, to a sober modal-jazzy part, to finally reach an explosive conclusion which still sounds kind of like the initial hymn mashed up with the previous jazzy transition, yet totally different?

And the three remaining songs, Jeremy Bender, Bitches Crystal and Are you ready, Eddy? don't dissapoint either. Specially because of the incredible Keith Emerson piano parts, though not exclusivelly.

So yeah, all in all? An awesome album. And well-deserved 5 stars.