Review Summary: ELP's sophomore effort, and a solid step up from their debut. May not be their best, but certainly one of the better records they have to offer.
Tarkus, Emerson Lake & Palmer's second album, is a classic of progressive rock. Though the lyrical content may be offensive to some, this album is a masterpiece nonetheless.
The album's centerpiece, Tarkus, is a twenty minute long epic divided into seven sections and the best song on the album. It tells the story of a half tank-half armadillo born from a volcano who defeats other machine-animal hybrids until falling to a Manticore, and is seen floating alive down a river as "Aquatarkus". Three of the sections of Tarkus feature lyrics, but the lack of lyrics doesn't take anything away from the music. This song also sees some guitar playing from Greg Lake, which is a nice touch. The songs Jeremy Bender and Are You Ready Eddy? are the two fun songs on the recording which take away from the seriousness of the rest of the album, and are relatively quick and are vocally driven. B*tches Crystal takes jabs at gypsies and fortune tellers, and is the second best song on the album. A faster song, with some of the vocal highlights and great (as always) keyboard playing from Emerson. The Only Way (Hymn) attacks monotheistic religion and the organ provides great backing to Lake's vocals. A Time and a Place is a fast song with strong vocals from Lake and excellent keyboarding.
From the Keith Emerson's frantic keyboarding, to Greg Lake's wonderful voice and skilled bass playing, and Carl Palmer's powerful drum performance, this album is nothing short of epic. The Tarkus medley alone is worth the price to me, and the other great songs are just an added bonus. I would strongly recommend this album to any fan of progressive rock without hesitation.
