TARKUS

So, I will rank myself a level 2 on Tarkus, as I think I've heard most of the tracks, if not all of them, individually, but never all in order in one sitting. ELP, of course, is one of the all-time great classic prog bands, so what's not to love here? Let's find out.

Track 1 - Tarkus

This is a 20 minute + side-long suite in 7 sections as follows:

- a. Eruption (2:44)

- b. Stones of Years (3:44)

- c. Iconoclast (1:16)

- d. Mass (3:12)

- e. Manticore (1:52)

- f. Battlefield (3:51)

- g. Aquatarkus (4:04)

We fade in with synth sounds and go into a terrific 5-8 riff of pure prog ecstasy. Emerson is the star so far on this track. As we get into part b, the tempo slows, and we go into a moderate 4-4. Lake's vocal joins in as smooth as butter. Emerson takes over on organ again at around 4:20. There is a reason that he's regarded as one of the finest rock keyboardists of all time. We return to the odd meters on section c. Palmer is getting quite the workout on the drums here. Part d brings us a pentatonic rock riff then Lake's assertive vocals. Palmer gives us some "more cowbell" in this part as well. Outside of Jon Lord (Deep Purple), does anyone make an organ sound heavier than Emerson? Part e returns us to some odd-meter madness at a very fast tempo. (9-8 perhaps?) Palmer has some featured drum fills that bring us into the next section, f. This is in a moderately slow 4-4. Lake plays a guitar solo at around 14:45. Lake is in fantastic voice on this song. Part g sounds a bit like a victory march, with an unusual synth sound. Things fade out briefly around 19 minutes for a marching snare drum to be featured. Then everything comes back in grand style for the big finish. I love the sound of the final chord! Excellent track!

Track 2 - Jeremy Bender

Emerson kicks it off on a honky-tonk piano. Lake sings a silly tune with a funny story line. Just a quick little ditty.

Track 3 - Bitches Crystal

An organ part fades in slowly before the band goes into one of their signature proggy riffs. Lake begins singing at around 40 seconds in. This is a bit of a wild ride. The honky-tonk piano returns in the instrumental breaks. This has some of Lake's most aggressive singing since his King Crimson days. I like the big dynamic ranges in the instrumental break around 2:50.

Track 4 - The Only Way (Hymn)

A grand pipe organ starts us off here. I believe there is some Bach influence here. Lake's vocals are very peaceful on this one by comparison to the previous track. This one references the loss of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. The second part finds Emerson on piano rather than organ.

Track 5 - Infinite Space (Conclusion)

This track was meant to lighten the mood following the seriousness of the preceding one. There are some great shifting time signatures. The three of them seem to be playing live as a piano/bass/drum trio here with little to no overdubs. Nicely done.

Track 6 - Time and a Place

The Hammond returns as this one gets going. Lake starts singing and hits some high falsettos. He is using the type of vocal style we'd hear a couple of albums down the line on Karn Evil 9 (Roll up!). While I think most people who listen to prog know that Lake was a great vocalist, I don't think he gets enough credit for the diversity of his singing styles. The song ends with a high synth note.

Track 7 - Are You Ready Eddy?

The Eddy in question is Eddy Offord the great producer/engineer known for his work with both ELP and Yes. This is just an old 50s style rocker as an homage to Eddy's shills on the board. Just a bit of fun to close the album.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

The title track is definitely the showpiece of the album. It is a very quick 20 minutes due to the way it's structured in 7 small easily digestible chunks. The songs that make-up side 2 of the original LP version are a bit of a mixed bag in terms of quality, but I enjoy them all even the silly bookends of the album side. I still don't think that this is their finest overall album, but if I was judging it based on the Tarkus suite alone it'd be really close. However overall, I give this a 4.25 out of 5, which I believe ties it with Trilogy in my ratings if I recall correctly.

Clicking 4, but really 4.25!