ELP never really made a solid, great album, and
Tarkus is proof of that. Whereas the band's self-titled debut focused mostly on showcasing the band's musical skills, this album was their first time actually trying to write normal songs, and it made for a very mixed bag of good and bad.
Side one is taken up by the twenty-minute epic, "Tarkus", one of the best progressive rock songs ever made. It stands as the group's best song (or composition, as they'd rather it be called) and for good reason. Obviously the band was made up of virtuosos who were among the best at their instruments back in the day, but on this one they really came together to make a powerful and exciting song. Its lyrics are so over-the-top that they are almost stereotypical. They tell the story of an armadillo army tank creature who was born in a volcano and he must fight a creature known as the manticore (which the band would later name their record label) and the song has equally insane music to match this ***ed up premise. It is predominantly keyboard jamming, but when combined with Palmer's warlike and almost jazzy drumming, it makes for a sweet tune. Although at times it sounds like Super Nintendo game music, which some would consider overly silly, it's the best song they ever made or ever will make, and it stands among prog rock's finest. It's got soul and it's got groove and you can even headbang to it during the last seven or eight minutes, proving that ELP did in fact rock sometimes. (Also worth noting, we can hear a rare Greg Lake guitar solo on this one)
And then side two is where things begin to faulter. "Jeremy Bender" is annoying and silly, and not in a good way. It doesn't fit the album at all and it was obviously shat out just because the record company probably wouldn't let them release a great twenty-minute monster and call it an album. "Bitches Crystal" is slightly enjoyable. The upcoming tracks are all more or less pure filler (despite some interesting parts in "Infinite Space" despite it mostly being a needless keyboard jam) until "A Time and a Place" comes along to make this an album with only two (maybe three) truly good songs on it. Then we have one of the most unfitting and unneccesary closers in prog history, "Are You Ready Eddy", which may be the group's most annoying tune, pre-1977 that is. Not everything about side two is necessarily bad, it just doesn't make for great listening especially compared to the spectacular side one. Most of the tunes sound forced and unnatural, as if the ideas weren't exactly flowing on this one, likely due to inner tensions because of the three massive egos within this group.
Tarkus is an uneven and inconsistent album, yet it's worth hearing just to experience the title track, which is, again, the band's best song. As per usual, the musicianship is great and all that jazz (KEITH CAN PLAY REALLY FAST!!!) but because of the incredibly weak side two, it's not one of the band's best.
