dwill123 wrote: Tarkus, it's not even close.

 

yep 

Me2.....I almost picked both but Alex's guitar work is amazing on all of 2112.

I like Rush, but I've kind of gone away from them in the last few years.

Both equally although the live version of Tarkus blows just about everything away. The studio version is a tad bland and overproduced although as a composition its one of the greatest prog tracks. Emerson composed most of it on piano and Lake then added some very nice lyrics and songs to compliment it. Palmer is very fluid and inventive on the drums . Yep very nice. 

2112 is all about The Prof for me. Peart's drumming on Overture especially is remarkable and immediately fast tracked him to the top of the tree of prog and rock drummers. Both are inventive and interesting. ELP allowed for the possibility of expansion which Rush didn't but 2112 is perfect as it is.

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: For those who voted Tarkus would it have made a difference if I had Hemispheres on here instead of 2112?

No.

This...

I was comparing the overall albums...and still 

voted Tarkus without even thinking about it.  

If I want to listen to a drums/bass/keyboards band, I now tend towards Trace, Rare Bird or Greenslade (unless they have Dave Lawson's vocals).

People rave about Emerson but, for me, Rick van der Linden's classical training makes him a better keyboardist than Emerson.

Maybe, but I know who I would rather pay money to see!  RIP Keith.

I saw ELP at Newcastle City Hall, the gig where they recorded Pictures at an Exhibition.

I actually thought that Emerson's antics detracted from the performance and he made a number of errors. I never went to see them again, though I was supposed to be at High Voltage in 2010, but I had another engagement and gave my ticket to a friend. And he said they were extremely mediocre.

I prefer Hemispheres to 2112, but I still would have voted for Tarkus.

That's a great point, album vs album, the content of 2112 is pretty amazing. I'd venture to say just A Passage to Bangkok slays Tarkus side II.

Then end with Something For Nothing, a nice heavy/hard rock/metal treat.

Of all the top prog keyboard players Keith was probably the most prone to mistakes. I've been listening to ELP's concert from Wheeling , Arizona 1977 quite a bit recently and parts do make me cringe. Carl Palmer was probably the best musician in the band , he barely ever fluffs a thing even when playing at breakneck speed. However keyboard wise, Keith was easily the most exciting and inventive player of his generation. However there are plenty of great technical players of that era. Of course Rick van der Linden is one of the best but I would also name Patrick Moraz , Rick Wakeman , Eddie Jobson and Jurgen Fritz as equally special. We were blessed with some truly great players in those times! 

Misses the point; side 2 of 'Tarkus' shows the diversity of ELP that prog purists often don't get.  I agree about some of the lyrics but they are as sixth form as anything Peart came up with.  'Infinite Space' is beautiful and is too short.  'A Time and a Place' rocks - but all of side 2 (except 'Are You Ready Eddie' - and I love Keith's whacked out piano solo) has the same post-apocalyptic tone set by side 1.  

 

 

I love side 2 of Tarkus except for "Are You Ready Eddie". I even prefer it to side 1 of Brain Salad Surgery. For me, it is side 2 of Tarkus that gives that album the edge over Brain Salad Surgery (because I prefer "Karn Evil 9" over the "Tarkus" track).

 

 

 

For me both equally.

In my personal ranking they took the same score, 7,5/8 on 10. Good but not excellent.

Great effort, especially for Tarkus, but too many forced passages. 

This is pretty much me as well. I'm a 40+ year Rush fan and they are my favorite band but the song Tarkus is indeed, mind blowing. Now, for many 2112 is also mind blowing but unlike many (most perhaps?) Rush fans, 2112 was never as high on my list as some other fans put it. I appreciate it's importance in Rush history and I don't dislike it but, truth be told, I rarely listen to it anymore. I'd listen to Caress of Steel all day over 2112.

It's what Blacksword wrote about side II that is a common feeling about Tarkus, its a lot of ELP "pissing about". It has a feel of ELP not having any gas left after side I and they added some fun tracks that just don't exude much seriousness. 

I too not following "prog purist".......we are digressing from the OP.

Carry on..

Side Two of 2112 is fine but a bit 'standard issue' compared to the main suite and that is why ELP were such an interesting band. Nothing on Side Two of Tarkus is 'standard issue' and yes is mostly 'pissing about' but as far as bands just pissing about goes you would actually pay to see them do it (and many thousands did lol!!) .The other point is that they would happily piss about for free. They were actually having fun , you know that thing that serious prog bands are not allowed to have

What is the mass part of Tarkus? You do know this is about the side long tracks and not the whole albums right?

Nevermind, I figured it out. Anyway, there are parts of Tarkus that drag on a bit but imo that isn't one of them. So, I voted for both because I think if you balance it out they are both equally great. 

^ Mass is the track with the lyric 'The Weaver In The Web That He Made' and has an instrumental insert with the unique clicking technique from Emerson on the Hammond. When I first heard it just totally blew me away. In the live version you don't hear this at all and I remember that really bugging me when I was a kid , but I got over it. On the Steven Wilson reissue there is a separate longer studio jam of that instrumental bit which is quite interesting. 

I mean seriously?   We're talking about an album designed to appeal to fifteen year-old boys vs. one of the greatest and most influential ~ scratch that, most influential ~ album in prog history.

I mean I wouldn't call 2112 THE most influential album in prog history, although it might qualify in the prog metal cate--oh, you were talking about Tarkus. Well it's not like that cover art isn't teenage comic book reader fodder! :p

Tarkus was the reason I got into prog … as a fifteen year old!