Tarkus

Awesome Armadillo-tank cover. Hard driving, but weird synthy percussion and bass. Wild-style prog-organ. I really want to love this. Side one delivers on all of it, aside from some short prog-for-the-sake-of-prog moments I wasn't wild about. Jeremy Bender opens side two with a jarringly straightforward sound. Compared to the previous 20 minute opener, it just feels out of place. Bitches Crystal follows and doubles-down on the weirdo heard on side one including some unhinged screaming vocals (always a plus). It does maybe go a little too far into the weirdo here and there. The rest of the album is sort of a blend of "trying a bunch of shit" that seems like I'm sitting in on a particularly polished but meandering practice session. Some stunningly talented performances, but just doesn't have the attraction of side one... Except for A Time and A Place, which fucking rocks, and is a true standout in the back half.

Es como muy prog pero luego de repente se vuelve casi rockability... progability???

Hmm, another cool band with a rather strange album...
After having the dubious pleasure of listening to “The Doors Sell Out” yesterday, today I'm trying to make sense of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's “Tarkus”. While yesterday's concept was easy to understand but just plain weird, today's case is a little different. Why would any sane person write songs about a radioactive armadillo? That might work in a visual medium with visually stunning (but plot-light) episodes, but here a generic title (e.g., “2”) would have made the whole thing better.
Now for the good news: the music doesn’t need this concept at all, so “Tarkus” is still a pleasure to listen to. My only recommendation would be to completely ignore all the trappings. Maybe you can even find the album with a neutral cover...

Люблю їх, памʼятаю в баті мого друга був цей альбом на сд і ми слухали. Класний задротський прог.

I’ve had a couple of albums that have challenged my anti-prog prejudices, but ELP just seem to epitomise all my worst prog stereotypes. They’re essentially the proggiest band that ever progged and I found this album such a slog.

That's a Top 10 album cover.

I loved ELP when I was a tot, even went to see them later on when they were touring on "Brain Salad Surgery." But eventually I moved on to more jazz-inflected prog like Soft Machine, Gong, and such, and never really looked back. So this is the first time I've listened to "Tarkus" in a very long while. And this will also be the last time I listen to it, hopefully.

Emerson was an incredibly gifted keyboard player, and Palmer does nice things on the drums. But I've come a point where I really can't stand Greg Lake’s singing and vaguely mystical lyrics. And while there are some nice instrumental passages on this record, as a whole it’s kind of a blunt instrument - altogether too much.

Best track: "Infinite Space," an instrumental.

Takes is perhaps the most *prog* of all the relatively mainstream prog albums (that I've heard at least). Parts of Tarkus are truly magnificent, but every once in a while, I think that ELP gets a little lost and just make a short section that is like staggering in composition and dizzying in performance, without being especially good music. But these moments are fewer and farther between than some people will tell you. There is a lot of great rock music here, it just gets periodically silly. Despite this I enjoyed Tarkus a lot, and there is like a real emotional heart, despite the goofing around.

Starting off this album with a 20 minute track is crazy. Rest of the music was meh. I’m not wowed

This is the kind of prog I don’t like. Preferred the second half but there were only a few moments I actively enjoyed

First song is crazy. Nice early prog, lots of keyboards - I liked the one that sounded like a duck.

prvu stranu čini sedmodijelna naslovna kompozicija koja mi je bila dosta dobra, možda s ponekim čudnim nepotrebnim djelićem, ali sve u svemu dobra. druga strana ono je što ljude, čini mi se, odbija, no meni nije bila ni ta strana loša. da, tekstovi znaju biti krindž i neki dijelovi mogu djelovati kao izdrkavanje, ali sve u svemu bilo mi je dosta dobro i htio bih ponovo slušati. nije mi bilo genijalno kao »pictures at an exhibition« koji sam prethodno slušao, ali svakako mi se dosta svidjelo sve osim odvratnog omota, stoga pristrana četvorka

There are two types of prog for me; that which truly takes you on an emotional rollercoaster of a journey with proper care paid to songwriting craft, and that which just widdles around without much rhyme or reason because it can. This is the latter in my view and, resultantly, it's nothing special, despite the obvious talent and proficiency.

Rock needs more organs and orchestral drama

⭐⭐⭐.51

tim and eric title

My Prog Rock Pros and Cons:

Pros:
- Experiments with unconventional song structures
- May encourage creativity
- Musicians are generally very skilled

Cons:
- Plodding
- Pretentious
- Cacophonous
- A bunch of attention-starved dorks saying, "Look what I can do!"

I feel like Emerson, Lake, and Palmer got the labels wrong on these lists, and created an entire album based on the "Cons" list. The only song I kind of liked was "Jeremy Bender," which was a necessary palate cleanser after "Tarkus."

De armadillo tank is niet echt hij kan je geen pijn doen.

Hmm. Seems a bit too up its own ass to be truly enjoyable.

So this is why prog has the reputation it does

Loved this. Everything after the monster opening track does feel a bit flat, but the first 18 minutes carry the album. And what a cover!