TARKUS

Complexity is certainly one of the characteristics of prog music and, as you can imagine, progressive rock is without a doubt my favorite kind of music. Not always, however, the complexity meets my personal tastes: sometimes, even in prog music, it is better to "remove"rather than "add"; in this album, instead, everything is too emphatic, too bombastic and too technical.

"Tarkus" is one of the most famous album of ELP and one of their most popular works, but I've never been able to understand and to appreciate it fully. There are good moments, almost all in the first side (the title-track suite), but for most of the time you feel a total lack of "heart": ok, the music is played incredibly, but where are the emotions?

Listening to the beginning of the epic Tarkus you were immediately immersed in a frantic series of notes played at supersonic speed in jazz style, and so far so good ... but why suddenly stop it all with a tremendous four-note dissonance of moog synthesizer? And could someone explain to me what kind of emotion one feels listening to "Iconoclast" or "Aquatarkus"?

Fortunately there are some great moments: "Stones Of Years" is embellished with a pretty good singing by Greg Lake. In "Battlefield" the useless virtuosity finally give way to epic atmospheres beautifully designed to represent the clash between the "Tracked Armadillo" and Manticore. Of course Emerson is always to keep the scene with his undeniable technical and with the customary use (and abuse) of synthesizers.

The second side is what leaves the most perplexing. One gets the impression that some songs are a mere filler, as well as a clear overall heterogeneity among the various tracks that leaves the listener totally disoriented. The ramshackle rock and roll of Are You Ready Eddie? is out of place and the ballad Jeremy Bender absolutely forgettable.

If you like the other ELP albums (especially "Brain Salad Surgery" and "Trilogy"), then "Tarkus" is a must for your collection. If you're a fan of Yes "Relayer" you can try. In other cases, it is probably better to listen to other stuff.

Rating: 4/10.

Best song: Tarkus

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