June 14, 1971 - Tarkus

Only seven months after the release of "Emerson, Lake & Palmer" and exactly one month after my last release, the 3-piece released their second album "Tarkus" on June 14, 1971. Similar to Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother" and King Crimson's "Lizard" last year, ELP are my third band to make an album that has one side that is taken up entirely by one track; split into different interconnecting sections, while the second side is more standard length songs. This would become a bit of a theme for progressive rock bands to showcase their abilities in a very long progressive song. Let's see how ELP does it!

Side one is the over twenty minute title track "Tarkus" that takes up all of side one. It's broken down into seven sections, with all the odd sections instrumental the first part starting with an organ fade-in. Greg Lake plays some great bass while Keith Emerson plays several different keyboards. It sounds like mainly organ and synthesizers, and it sounds crazy good. A fantastic opening section. The second part is much slower, with another cool bass riff and Lake singing. His voice sounds amazing as usual and he takes lead as Emerson's organ plays in the background. After a couple verses Emerson plays a slow organ solo that sounds pretty cool, and when it speeds up it sounds quite amazing! Lake sings another two solid verses and this leads right into the third part, which has some fast drumming by Carl Palmer. Emerson goes off on another crazy organ solo and words do not justice to some of the things he can play. This also beautifully segues into the fourth part as ELP are really shining with this progressive epic so far. This new part has a fast trippy organ riff as well as some quick singing by Lake. Emerson plays piano as well and Lake also provides a cool bass riff. Palmer has a solid little drum bit going back and forth with the organ and Lake adds some guitar flourishes as well. Palmer's drumming is great in this part and after another quick-sung verse it moves into the fifth section, which when I say it's more awesome organ and drums, again just doesn't do all these different bits justice. Emerson plays some short solos on the celesta that sound pretty cool and again Emerson is using several different keyboard sounds together very nicely. An awesome drum ending by Palmer leads into the sixth part with guitar and organ sounding great together. Lake begins another new verse that sounds as epic as ever with slow piano and some cool drumming. Emerson flashes some more organ inbetween the verses and Lake plays a slow guitar solo that also sounds very epic! This whole section, called "Battlefield", really does sound like awesome battle music and after one more verse the final section of this epic song begins. This last part is carried by a trippy-sounding synthesizer riff as Emerson also plays another keyboard riff with his other hand. One of them keeps pace, the other solos all over the place! The synth solo hand sounds awesome and Emerson is so great at playing two simultaneous pieces that work well together. A gong crash signals a return to the fantastic opening that kicked it all off. We hear some more awesome organ and bass and Emerson ends it all with a fantastic synthesizer flourish. These guys are exactly the guys I want writing epicly long progressive rock songs and of the three in my library so far, this one is my favourite. What a fantastic song!

Side two begins with "Jeremy Bender" a short song led by an old time-y piano riff. It has handclaps and some very unepic singing by Lake, he sounds a little odd. The next song is called "Bitches Crystal" and what a name that is for a song! It has a quiet opening but quickly moves to a faster riff with Emerson playing piano and some trippy synths. There's a slow piano solo that sounds pretty good and a cool bridge with some great yelling vocals by Lake. Then Emerapn plays a much faster piano solo that is really quite something. They play out one more verse and Palmer plays some tight drumming. Track 4 is titled "The Only Way (Hymn)" which has a cool opening on a church organ. Emerson plays a very haunting riff and it sounds almost like Phantom of the Opera. Lake sings to fit the church hymn style and does a great job. Emerson switches to piano and Lake plays bass to segue into a new part with more great piano. The next song "Infinite Space (Conclusion)" is the second part of the hymn and it starts with a pretty catchy piano riff. Emerson plays a different piano riff with his other hand and every time he does this, it sounds amazing. Palmer plays a nice little drum bit, and we're back to the two piano riffs. It's a true solo for a bit and Emerson really shows off. Bass and drums return to jam out the end of a cool instrumental song. Track 6 is "A Time And A Place" and right from the get go we hear some cool organ and more great Lake singing. Their backed by some cool drums and a heavy bass riff that sounds great. I love when Lake yells "Show me those who understand!" and this is another fantastic song already! Trippy synths briefly replace the organ, and then we hear it all together. There is a lot of cool stuff packed into this 3 minute song. The last song on the record is "Are You Ready, Eddy?", which is about their recording engineer Eddy Offord. They came up with it on the spot in the studio as a celebration of finishing the epic "Tarkus" suite. It's in the style of an old rock and roll song and has some awesome piano and not surprisingly, solid singing. The lyrics talk about recording and has an amazing piano solo by Emerson. He plays some great stuff throughout this short song and it's a fun way to end the side.

That is the end of "Tarkus" and that was a great album! The title track was wonderfully crafted and there are several cool songs on the second side as well. But how does it compare to their debut album? While this album is really really good, I think "Emerson, Lake & Palmer" was so amazing that it doesn't quite reach those lofty standards. That is more a testament to that album than a knock on this one, and I'm sure this one will also end up somewhere on my year-end list. With two great albums so far, I can't wait to hear what ELP does next. That's it for this month, until next time!