TARKUS

Maybe I shouldn't review this album, but I am going to anyways. I say this because I only listened to the tracks on the second side twice, and that was all I could take. However, the first side, the Tarkus suite, I listen to constantly. In my opinion, this is THE best song that ELP ever turned out, and also this is one of my favorite prog songs of all time. I don't think that the songs on the second side are horrible or anything, but they pale in comparison to the Tarkus track.

That being said, even if you only listen to the first side, the album is worth owning. The Tarkus suite is a prog monster that is easy to appreciate. It is chock-full of synthesizers, organs, and keyboards. This song sounds to me like the archetypical prog song. If you wanted to show someone of good example of what prog is all about, this would be a good song to play. For the most part the song is hard, loud, and bombastic. The song starts out with Eruption which has one of the coolest intros I have ever heard to a song. It is so powerful and rocks so hard. Basically, after that there is a song with lyrics, followed by another instrumental, another lyrical song, another instrumental, one last lyrical song, and ends with an instrumetal. I won't go into depth for each section, but each section is just as good as the others. Each lyrical song also has a solo in the middle of it. Each solo is astounding in its own right. Even Greg Lake has a guitar solo that is very good in the Battlefield section.

The last section Aquatarkus, some would say, is kind of anti-climactic. I actually think that it fits in well, at least in my mind. I like to think of the first wimpier sounding part of aquatarkus as some creature (aquatarkus) sort of barking and making noises at tarkus while circling, trying to intimidate tarkus. Tarkus responds by letting out a massive war cry, represented by the re-statement of the theme from Eruption. Of course this causes aquatarkus to be completely obliterated. Granted, this sounds a little out there, but it works for the song and it works in my mind.

In conclusion, Tarkus is an essential prog song, but I can't really recommend the rest of the album. Either buy the album for the Tarkus suite alone and maybe you will enjoy some of the other songs on the second side; otherwise, download the Tarkus suite if you can. I am giving this album four stars because the first side carries the whole album, and it is one of the best sides of an album in all of prog music.