TARKUS

This is one of my top best albums of all time. I had heard the Tarkus suite a long time before I even knew what prog rock was, but I never took the time to find out who was responsible for it. Later I got introduced into the great world of prog and discovered ELP. After that, Tarkus became one of my favorite epic songs ever.

The album begins, of course, with the title track which is a 20-minute trip to prog heaven. Eruption is the most powerful intro I have ever heard in my life. I'm amazed at the incredible compositional skills of these guys, especially Emerson who composed some parts completely by himself. I don't know exactly what the story of the armadillo is about, but apparently it goes like this: It comes out of a volcano, kills a few odd-looking creatures and then goes into the ocean. Well anyway, Tarkus is IMO a milestone in the prog genre and one of ELP's most magnificent creative efforts.

The following songs on the album are all shorter, friendlier tracks. Neither compares to the killer epic but I also find them very enjoyable. Jeremy Bender reminds me of The Sheriff song on Trilogy. Bitches Crystal is a great tune with a nice jazzy feel provided by Emerson's unique piano work. The Only Way and Infinite Space are very proggy tracks IMO, the first one even includes some stuff composed by Bach!. A Time and A Place is the highlight of the second side, featuring once again Emerson's incredible Hammond organ, I also love Lakes vocals on this one. The last song on the album is the humurous Are You Ready Eddy?, which was dedicated to their sound engineer Eddy Offord. I actually find this one enjoyable in a jokingly kind of way, there's a moment on Emerson's solo where you can tell he didn't know what to do so he just banged the keys on the piano!.

The title track alone is worth the price of the album and I recommend this to anyone looking for top-notch symphonic prog. A MASTERPIECE OF PROGRESSIVE MUSIC!!!