Emerson, Lake & Palmer - ”Tarkus” (1971)

Time for a deep dive into the progressive music world through the prog monster Tarkus. This album was created by the early supergroup ELP, the band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (bass, guitar, vocals) and Carl Palmer (drums). The members had played in institutions like The Nice, King Crimson, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Atomic Rooster before ELP was created. For a while it was rumored that Jimi Hendrix would also be part of the constellation, which then would have been called HELP.

This was ELP's second album, and much revolves around the A-side - the nearly 21-minute epic song Tarkus, consisting of a number of shorter pieces. It only took four days to record, which probably says something about the musicians' expertise. Keyboards of various kinds dominate the soundscape - Hammond organ, Moog organ, piano – which gives the music a different sound than many other progressive bands. The guitar is largely lacking on Tarkus, throughout the album, and appears only in exceptional cases. It might make the music a bit more difficult to dig, not counting the progressive touch, expecially if you are used to guitar domination. The combination of bass, drums and keyboard is what the listener mostly gets on Tarkus.
 

The A-side is really good. Although the individual parts of the song Tarkus is different from each other they stick together well and create a whole. One reason for this wholeness is probably the special ELP sound that's present in all the songs. I hear one long song, in its various twists, and not a number of short pieces. Apparently the song is about the ancient monster Tarkus and its battles with other prehistoric creatures...

It may take a while to learn to like the A-side, especially if you don't listen that much to progressive music. It's not always easily accessible. Instrumental tunes are mixed with those with song and it's not always in a 4/4 time signature... And as mentioned, it's a different sound which might offer some resistance. It perhaps says something that I think the A-side's best part is Battlefield where a guitar shows up and plays a solo.

The song Tarkus is such a great creation that the B-side gets in the shadow. I have tried to listen to the B-side with an open mind, but it's impossible to enjoy it as the A-side. It's simply not as good. Many of the songs are relatively dull and feels to some extent like fill outs. It's as if the band members used up their creativity on the A-side and exhausted tried to create something to side B. The finishing song Are You Ready Eddy? is a rockn'roll piece that feels misplaced on the album.

But the song Tarkus is definitely reason enough to purchase this album, at least if you have a good eye for progressive music. Are you curious about this genre, it can certainly be a good start, but possibly the challenge is a little too big. There are other bands in the progressive universe that are probably a little easier to spontaneously like. But it must be said that this album ended up on the top-10 list in the U.S. and got the top spot on the list in England. So obviously there is a commercial potential in music. Or people were simply different in the early 70s.

The band name Emerson, Lake & Palmer was created to ensure that all the focus wasn't at Emerson, who was the most famous artist of the three. The album is produced by Greg Lake (he produced the band first five records) and the cool sleeve is created by the artist William Neal.

Tracklist

Side A
1. Tarkus 20:40
- Eruption 2:43
- Stones of Years 3:43
- Iconoclast 1:16
- Mass 3:09
- Manticore 1:49
- Battlefield 3:57
- Aquatarkus 3:54

Side B

1. Jeremy Bender 1:41
2. Bitches Crystal 3:54
3. The Only Way (Hymn) 3:50
4. Inifinite Space (Conclusion) 3:18
5. A Time And A Place 3:00
6. Are You Ready Eddy? 2:09