TARKUS

Emerson, Lake & Palmer had all the media attention after their bombastic self-titled debut. The band found themselves with everything in their favor: the hit Lucky Man was one of the most listened-to songs in the U.S. and much of the world, and the album was a surprising commercial success for such non-mainstream music. With momentum on their side, the band seized the opportunity to do something more ambitious. With carte blanche from the label, they began working on something bigger, something conceptual: an idea by Greg Lake and Keith Emerson the story of the iconoclast Tarkus, an armadillo-tank hybrid who battles his nemesis, the Manticore. Defeated, Tarkus evolves into his aquatic form, Aquatarkus, and returns to conquer. The concept explores the futility of conflict, all expressed through a 20-minute piece that became the centerpiece of the album.

The title track was built around a 10/8 rhythm Palmer improvised backstage. Emerson composed the suite in less than a week at his London flat. After another six days of rehearsal, the band recorded it. The piece includes a brief motif from Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 and features a Moog "snorkel" effect in "Aquatarkus," inspired by Emerson's passion for scuba diving.

Side two features six unrelated songs. Jeremy Bender channels honky-tonk and Stephen Foster, while "Bitches Crystal" blends 6/8 boogie-woogie with Brubeck-style jazz. The Only Way (Hymn) includes themes by Bach and controversial lyrics recorded on a pipe organ at St. Mark's Church in London using a mobile studio. It's followed by the contemplative "Infinite Space (Conclusion)," a piano-driven piece meant to contrast the intensity of its predecessor.

Led Zeppelin loosely inspired A Time and a Place, which was recorded in just a few takes and has a heavier, more direct feel. Are You Ready, Eddy? was an impromptu jam recorded in one take to celebrate completing Tarkus, drawing inspiration from Bobby Troup's "The Girl Can't Help It." The title refers to engineer Eddy Offord, and the track includes playful spoken lines like Palmer mimicking a sandwich shop worker with a Greek-Cockney accent which baffled many American fans.

Two outtakes were left off the original album. Oh My Father, an emotional acoustic ballad by Lake about the loss of his father, was withheld for being too personal, though it appeared on the 2012 reissue. Another track, Just a Dream, was recorded during a session without Emerson and Palmer. It featured Lake on piano alongside Gary and Tris Margetts of Spontaneous Combustion, and offered a more introspective tone that could have balanced the album's dense, keyboard-driven style.

The album was well received?though not as widely as their debut?but it reached number one in both Italy and the UK. Many bands across Europe found inspiration in ELP's bold fusion of classical music and hard rock, drawn to the sheer virtuosity of its members. The striking cover art was created by Scottish illustrator William Neal, who also designed a comic-style gatefold that visually narrates the Tarkus story. The eleven-panel sequence begins with a volcanic eruption, from which Tarkus hatches, and follows his battles against cybernetic foes, culminating in a dramatic fight with the Manticore, who wounds him and sends him bleeding into a river. Eddie Offord's production is impeccable, and the mix remains one of the technical highlights of ELP's career.

1971 was undoubtedly the year of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Not only did they release Tarkus, but also the ambitious live album Pictures at an Exhibition. While Tarkus was a triumph, it left the label uneasy?there was no new Lucky Man. That pressure strained the band's relationship with the label and pushed them to seek greater independence. Still, with Tarkus, they delivered another masterpiece, solidifying their place as the most important progressive rock band of that moment.

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