TARKUS

Their second studio album saw ELP write an extended track across an entire side, like many other bands here on PA did (Floyd, etc). Unfortunately, most of the music on this album is not up to the standard set by their first album. The 'concept' for the long suite "Tarkus" is pretty goofy (a story about an armadillo-tank that goes around battling other strange machine-animal creatures, ultimately to be defeated by 'Aquatarkus'). But that is not the main problem. I think the problem is that ELP rushed this album without making sure it was sufficiently musical. Like Emerson's wild live synth solos, ELP was as much about the show as the music, and in some cases the music took second-place. There are some good moments on Tarkus (the song), but a lot of un-musical themes too. Indeed, some of the music here is plain-annoying. It is difficult to listen to all the way through, at least more than a couple of times. Well, at least that first side was ambitious, even if not fully successful. The second side is mostly filler, with some even-sillier tracks ("Jeremy Bender" and "Are You Ready Eddy?"). The result is an album that is, on balance, not musical enough to draw the listener too often. But I have to give some credit for the song Tarkus, which if nothing else, is unique. I give this album 5.1 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which translates to (high) 2 PA stars. ELP fans will obviously love it. The uninitiated - well, start with their debut, and Trilogy, first.

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