Tarkus by Emerson Lake and Palmer

A monster of prog

Born from an egg on the side of an erupting volcano, the prog monster, Tarkus, was released on an unsuspecting world on 14th June 1971. Side one comprised of the title track, a seven movement, conceptual piece, composed mainly by Keith Emerson (first inspired by a rhythm Carl Palmer was beating out) although Greg Lake wrote the sixth movement, Battlefield, and the lyrics to the other two movements that were also songs: Mass and Stones of Years.

Side two was an uneven hotpotch of tracks bookended by the appalling Jeremy Bender and Are you Ready Eddy? I guess their inspiration was exhausted. The three centre tracks, Bitches Crystal, The Only Way/Infinite Space and A Time and a Place, are decent enough but nothing compared to what is delivered on side one.

Throughout my youth and adult years I have generally stuck to playing side one. This is what Tarkus is all about. So my discussion of this album will be based on side one, the 20 minute Tarkus suite.

From the start it was controversial. Many of the critics didn’t get it. Two days before its official release, Richard Green began his review for New Musical Express (NME) with:

The man from the National…