TARKUS

A game of two halves this album!

Side one of the LP was occupied entirely by "Tarkus", a magnum opus representing the cream of ELP's entire work. It is structured as a number of sequential sections, but in reality, it is the whole which far exceeds the sum of the parts. From the inaudible, gradually swelling intro, to the final bursts of the synthesiser over 20 minutes later, "Tarkus" stands as a composition to match any classical piece. It also represents prog at it's finest and indeed purest.

Greg Lake's voice never sounded better, Palmer's drumming is inspired (only the briefest of solos!), and Emerson's keyboards create stunning landscapes of sound. Rest assured, "Tarkus" will be performed live in future times in the way classical music is performed now. A true masterpiece.

Side 2 of the album appears by and large to be filler. It has the odd inspired moment such as the upbeat and dramatic "A time and a place". On the other hand, "Jeremy bender" and "Are you ready Eddy" are lightweight songs, pleasant enough but hardly worthy of an ELP album. While most of the tracks are listenable, with the possible exception of the rather tedious closing piano section of "The only way (Hymn)/Infinite space", they pale in comparison to the title track.

While the title track is an undoubted Masterpiece of progressive rock, overall the album is flawed by undistinguished supporting tracks. Most owners of the original LP probably have a very worn side one, and a pristine side 2!

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