TARKUS

1, Tarkus A great suite. Emerson starts off with some fine Hammond playing with a heavy sound and great bass from Lake. The vocal part is really atmospheric and in a latter fast passage Greg lake plays a fine guitar solo on the electric guitar. Of course, he´s no Robert Fripp, but good nevertheless. He even gets another one in a slower passage around the fourteenth minute, backed by Emerson. Carl Palmer´s drumming is excellent, especially in these faster passages. The track builds up on dramaticism as it progresses and it sounds great. The way the fast passages change with the slower ones is great. Still, Emerson´s moog solo (or what it is) starting around the seventeenth minute is too much to swallow. It is too long, boring, has no real melody or atmosphere to it and it sounds useless. However, after it ends the track gets better again and after a nice organ solo, the track concludes with a powerful climax. 5 stars

Jeremy Bender Filler, and it´s not even decent. A barr oom sounding track with a weak melody. Probably if Kinks did something like this in 1967 I would like it as afunny miniature, but not as it is done by ELP in 1971. Lake´s voice isn´t even fitting for this kind of stuff. 1 star

Bitches crystal A short jazzy mess with Emerson dominating on the piano. Lake doesn´t even sing, he just shouts. At least Palmer deserves some good mention as the drumming is marvelous. 1 star

The only way (Hymn) As the subtitle already suggests, this is a majestic track with a Bach like organ and a gorgeous vocal performance from Lake. A faster part follows, where Emerson switches to the piano and Lake plays some marvelous bass. 5 stars

Infinite soace (conclusion) Again, the title suggests what we have here. It is a conclusion to the previous track. Essentially, it is just a filler with jazzy piano from Emerson, who is at times joined by Lake and Palmer. At leads the track has a nice vibe to it. 1.5 stars

A time and a place A heavy rocker with raw vocals (mostly shouting) from Lake, gritty bass playing and Hammond organ. Very energetic and the melody is good enough as well. 5 stars

Are you ready Eddy A conventional uninspired a conventional rocker . At least the dissonant piano solo by Emerson is nice, as it creates contrast to the formulaic melody. 1.5 stars

Overal rating: 3 STARS

GOOD, BUT-NON ESSENTIAL. HOWEVER? I WOULD STILL BUY IT FOR TARKUS