TARKUS

This 1971 release is absolutely brilliant. The title suite, Tarkus, is a song comprised of 7 movements, all equalling out to almost 21 minutes in total length. Depending on where you stand with Prog-Rock, this could mean either Heaven or Hell for the listener. The best way to describe the Tarkus suite is "unrelenting." The beginning slams you into Drive, and there's no turning back. Keith Emerson is often called the keyboarding wizard, and upon listening to this track, you begin to understand why. Emerson's keyboard assault branches out in all directions, with Carl Palmer keeping a tight precision with the rhythm, matched with Greg Lake's phenominal bass work. After the Tarkus suite, the rest of the album tracks generally scale to about 3-and-a-half minutes. Many people who generally enjoy the Tarkus suite consider the rest of the album as mainly filler material. I disagree. Although I love the Tarkus suite, I find the rest of the album to be genuinely decent as well, but not so much ground-breaking as the title suite. An album that broke the mold with Prog-Rock, and for any true Prog fans, a definite must-buy.

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