TARKUS

The year was 1971, a blessed year for progressive rock, with works like "Nursery Cryme" from Genesis, "Meddle" from Pink Floyd, "Pawn Hearts" from Van Der Graaf Generator, "Aqualung" from Jethro Tull and other great works. The second album from Emerson, Lake & Palmer, "Tarkus", defines the bases of symphonic prog rock, being one of the most important works of progressive rock. Emerson's organ is perfect, Lake's voice is magical (since the KC era, I love Lake's voice) and his guitar and bass fits great in the music, and of course, Palmer's drums are consistent.

Tarkus (20:41) -> The song is divided in 7 pieces (Eruption, Stones of Years, Iconoclast, Mass, Manticore, Battlefield and Aquatarkus) and It's about an armadillo-tank, born from an egg erupted from a volcano. Tarkus fight with half-machine creatures until the Manticore, the only organic creature on the tale, defeats Tarkus. He is still alive, and he is floating down a river. Crazy, but amazing story. Greg Lake revealed years later that It's an anti-war song. The instrumental is magical, with amazing organ solos from Keith Emerson.

Jeremy Bender (1:50) -> Short song who tells a tale about Jeremy the crossdresser Jeremy Bender. Great piano and drums.

Bitches Crystal (3:58) -> My favourite from side 2. Good synthesizers/organ, great dums and the emotional voice of Greg Lake, making it great.

The Only Way (3:49) -> Very dark song. Starts like a church song and It becomes darker. When Lake's voice comes, starts an atheist message, citizen the god concept. Amazing song.

Infinite Space (Conclusion) (3:20) -> As the title says, It's the conclusion of the previous track. Great instrumental work, with Lake's Bass and Emerson's organ at one of the best moments.

A Time and a Place (3:02) -> Great lyrics, pretty deep. The synthesizers/organ fits perfectly with the Lake's vocals, and the drums from Palmer follow the rhythm, in his heaviest moment.

Are You Ready Eddy? (2:11) -> After dark songs, the "joke song", which appears constantly in ELP albums. Great organs (like the '20 and '30 type) and the vocals are perfect for the "joke" lyrics.