TARKUS

My acquaintance with ELP music began here about 30 years ago. I still remember the musical ecstasy that the first part of the album plunged me into for 20 minutes. A powerful and, at first glance, chaotic wall of sound, in which a mighty guitar-synthesizer squall combined with a furious drum roll periodically transforms into a driving onslaught, then into calm lyrical vocal parts in the form of ballads. Like an ocean wave that becomes distinguishable and tangible as it approaches, and then picks up and carries you away, powerful, but safe. But at the same time, there is a constant feeling of some kind of restraining power, which the musicians periodically restrain and then release. From time to time, Keith Emerson's keyboards seem to go out of control, but this is a controlled spurt (at that time I did not yet know that the real out of control accompanied ELP concerts, where Keith Emerson put on a show in the style of Jimi Hendrix). This perception of ELP's music is correct for me in relation to a number of their albums of the classic period up to the obscure Love Beach. One of my acquaintances at the time described ELP this way: it's a band where the keyboards periodically go crazy. Yes, the first part of the album with the same name is a great way to start getting to know ELP, it's like the band's calling card. And although the first minutes are more like a tsunami, if your musical preparation includes 21st Century Schizoid Man from King Crimson's debut album or The Gates of Delirium from the Relayer album by their colleagues Yes, which is very similar in musical structure, then you will endure.

But then it is impossible to maintain the set tempo. Jeremy Bender with a good interaction of vocals and keyboards and the dashing rock and roll of Are You Ready Eddy sound like they were recorded in a pub, the only thing missing is the clink of mugs and drunken conversations. They are good and interesting in their own way, but their appearance on the same album with such an incredibly monumental rock-classical suite seems out of place. They seem to be from another dimension. The general line and level set in the first part of the album are picked up and maintained by generally good Bitches Crystal and The Only Way (hymn), but they seem torn out of the main suite and the general context. Perhaps, if they were to be placed separately, it would be necessary to do so right after Tarkus. The remaining compositions add little to the innovation and grandeur of the first part of the album. The monotonous Infinite Space looks like a keyboardist's warm-up before a concert, and the expressive A Time and a Place can no longer save the overall impression.

I don't know what prompted ELP to resort to the "suite + songs" album structure. Pink Floyd turned to a similar formula in Atom Heart Mother and Meddle, Mike Oldfield in Islands and Discovery. I haven't read the comments to these albums, but I think there are opinions there too that this combination didn't do them any good. But what's done is done. As a result, I can't rate this album 5 stars. The first part alone is definitely 5 stars, it's one of the pinnacles of progressive rock and one of the best examples of the style. But the second part spoils everything, here my rating fluctuates between 3 and 4 stars. Therefore, I consider the final score of 4 stars to be quite adequate.

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