Customer Reviews

Tarkus

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When it comes to Emerson Lake & Palmer, one of two pieces is usually voted the band's pinnacle of achievement: "Karn Evil 9" from 1973's BRAIN SALAD SURGERY or the titular suite from 1971's TARKUS. And if "Karn Evil 9" is one of my top candidates for Best Prog Work Ever, "Tarkus" is a monolithic achievement nevertheless, one of the first sidelong epics in the annals of progressive rock, and one of its greatest.

Flying high on Keith Emerson's savage keyboards, grounded by Carl Palmer's seismic drumming, embroidered with Greg Lake's dour vocals and complementary bass licks, "Tarkus" alternates peaks of the loftiest beauty with storms of the basest profanity. There's a plot in Lake's overblown lyrics somewhere - I think it has to do with war, and the armadillo-tank on the LP cover, and something about a manticore as well - but lyrics have never been all that important in prog. They sound profound, and that's all that matters. The suite is partitioned into seven movements, but it's often difficult, amidst the hail of screaming organ solos and percussive whiplash, to discern where one ends and another begins. Besides, I listen to "Tarkus" as a whole, a mammoth example of everything good (and bad) about prog rock, so it's rather pointless to focus on the individual parts. It's a monster, to be sure, some of the most intricate, bloodthirstily confrontational music of the rock era.

Two prog workouts ("Bitches Crystal", "A Time & a Place"), a pair of goofy throwaways ("Jeremy Bender", "Are You Ready Eddy?"), and a bipartite mini-epic ("The Only Way (Hymn)"/"Infinite Space(Conclusion)") flesh out the remainder of the disc. After a behemothic opening like the title cut, the rest of TARKUS should be an anticlimax, and in many ways it is. But if it doesn't achieve the demented grandeur of Side I, Side II allows the band to calm down, stretch out, and defuse their self-conscious pomposity a bit. "The Only Way (Hymn)"/"Infinite Space (Conclusion)" in particular is great, featuring ecclesiastical organ, blazing bass figures, and a couple melodies "borrowed" from Bach.

If 70s prog ever needed a "poster band", there would be few acts better qualified to fill that role than ELP. By the same token, TARKUS plays about as near a 70s prog "poster album" as any album possibly could.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer once again gives the world another satisfying listen. Again, the keyboards are everywhere, just like on the debut. This time, though, they sort of changed gears and gave us some shorter and catchier tunes on Side 2.

The first half of the album is one GIANT medley of keyboards. It's really surprising to me how, even before I got into lengthy prog pieces and jams, I was STILL able to enjoy this song. It's because the band knows how to make their jams melodic and interesting. That was something they did very well back in the day.

It's a shame most people ignore the shorter songs on the second side of the album. There's some good stuff there, and entirely worth hearing if you're a fan of the band.

As mentioned in several other reviews, there is marked distortion in the right channel during Tarkus (side 1 on the original vinyl). Contrary to statements in these reviews, it is not from Shout Factory's mastering. I listened closely to the original (late 1980's) CD mastering from Atlantic records and the distortion is there, too, albeit far less noticeable. So, either the distortion is more noticeable due to a clearer mastering by Shout Factory or the master tape is deteriorating. Either way, you can't blame Shout Factory. Other than the distortion, this mastering sounds great, a definite improvement on the Atlantic CD mastering. As for the music, it is just as incredible now as it was when it was first released. This is one of ELP's best albums.

Just finished listening to the latest remastering of this album and I would suggest avoiding it. There is marked distortion in the right channel during the Tarkus suite, starting at 3:01. This has not been present in either of the 2 previous US remastering efforts, which also sound superior generally anyway. Secondly, the cover artwork is poorly reproduced compared with all previous editions. The additional photos and essay inside the CD booklet are nice however.

The reviews are many and mixed but what is Tarkus all about? First, no educated person would say "what is this Symphony No-9 of Beethoven, it's full of squeaky noisy sporadic sounds that go from a whisper then thunder and the only creditable piece is the song Ode To Joy." This personality trait was nicely ridiculed in the 1969 film The Magic Christian where Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr are cutting the noises' out of priceless paintings and reply; "If you see any more good noses' around just let us know!" Takus is a `Work Album' and not a song by song piece. Listen to the first piece which includes "Stones Of Years" and take note. If you still are having trouble getting your head around the work Tarkus by ELP, then just drop the comments and leave it to others better qualified.

Now About: What Happen To The K2-HD 24bit Remasters?

For all who are wondering what happen to the K2 HD remastered 35th Anniversary reissues of ELP, Look for Amazon, ASIN: B000AMZ1ZW, it is the UPC:4988002489879 for Tarkus; K2-HD, 35th Anniversary Remaster, Japan-Victor 9/28/2005

I consider the Limited Edition, K2-HD 24bit Digital Remaster's to be one of the best series to date.

Why so many versions? The answer isn't that Keith Emerson, Lake and Palmer (or others) are out to build a massive retirement fund. Technology has vastly improved and the quest for that perfect remastered reissue prevails. Sometimes, a remastering house project may fall short of expectations and the artist may need to shop around again for a better manufacturer for his work. Sometimes it involves record label contracts and the need to wait-out the contract in order to get it remastered by someone else.

Either way, the effort of most to remaster ones life's work is more about quality, not quantity.

See Album Details at: amazon.ca (and) amazon.co.jp
UPC Database Lookup: [...]

I don't have to worry about re-master anything, as I burned this off my scratchy and poppy vinyl to CD. It's no audiophile production, but with my worn out ears, it doesn't make much difference.

I bought this when it came out. I was a single GI living in the barracks at Torrejon AB in Spain. I was getting into all kinds of music, and spent most of my money on stereo equipment and albums.

Side one is hands-down, the best track(s). I love Tarkus and can play it over and over again. For progressive rock, they nailed it better here than most other bands of that ilk, or for that matter, themselves. I never liked any of their other albums as well, and compare them to side 2, which is okay, more in a pop vein, but nothing to write home about. Though I was a faithful fan and purchased most of their other albums, I ended up being a tad disappointed. If I hear Karn Evil 9 one more time I'm going to scream. Or, that out-of-tune Moog improv at the end of Lucky Man. However, this has them all beat for sheer virtuosity.

From Emerson's keys, to Lakes nasal voice and bass riffs, to Palmers energetic and intricate drumming, this has it all. Highly recommended.

I should start this review by pointing out that I am reviewing this album based on the K2HD AND the MFSL versions that I own & NOT the one for sale from SHOUT Factory. I consider the two versions cited to be definitive examples of the state-of-the-art recording, at their respective times and that we do not need to dwell upon their respective audiophile tweakish differences - on which I could expound, boringly & probably boorishly for hours.

What I would like to say about this album, and most notably the title "track", is that this is probably Emerson's most "complete" work, to date (since I haven't heard his soon to be released KEB album due in July 2008). Keith's Piano Concerto was a work from the heart, which I feel will stand the test of time, but TARKUS (the suite) is a truly thematically complete work, from a man whom his own band-mates, of many years, accuse of "... never finishing anything...". It is impossible to categorize - it's not rock, it's not jazz, it's not classical - it's Emerson, with a fair shake of the highly talented Mr. Palmer for flavor (I'm not including Mr. Lake as I feel that this piece stands alone as an extremely powerful instrumental piece). From the furious intro of Eruption to the sombre and unsettling Battlefield, this piece moves me like few pieces of music in my 50+ years have done. I recently found out that it has been arranged for trombone and orchestra and will likely be picked up by other major orchestras for arrangement. THIS is what struck me most as an adolescent when I first picked up and heard this album - the title track was so HUGE in sound - it needed an orchestra. This arrangement - by a 3 piece band - still sounds like a full orchestra, even 37 years ago. This is a must have for any true music lover.

By the way, most of the other material is darned good, too - even the "throw-away" tracks like "Jeremy Bender" and "Are You Ready Eddy".

This is one of ELP's signature albums, the first with one of those classic, side long epic suites in the title track. It's one of their greatest songs, and one that I never tire of. It's pretty much an Emerson tune (even though Palmer said he wrote the drum line but never got credit for it), but it has some of Lake's best lyrics. The next 6 songs are a bit erratic. Jeremy Bender is a great little ditty. Bitches Crystal is one of ELP's most complex songs, with some unique, mysterious lyrics. The Only Way is an atheistic "hymn". Infinite Space is rather dull. A Time and a Place is good, and Are You Ready Eddy? sounds like The Girl Can't Help It by Little Richard, and sounds like it was improvised on the spot. It's a silly song, and rather a strange way to end the album. The album as a whole is a little uneven. There's no Lake ballad on it, and I miss that. Despite its uneveness, it's definitely worth buying for the title track (which is better than all subsequent live versions), and Jeremy Bender, Bitches Crystal, and The Only Way.

I picked the newer remaster up used a couple of days ago and it is a nice sounding piece of prog rock history.

The B3 is sharp and distinctive and the drums are tight and clean.

If you are an ELP fan,then adding this to your collection is a no-brainer.

It is such a drag to have a decent sound system and be forced to listen to flat and muddy sounding recordings.

This is an exception.

I am one who had these great ELP albums on vinyl. I also only have bought ELP,PICTUES, TRILOGY through the Rhino Re-master series. I have BSS on regular CD, but would like to find a definitive CD on that one. I also bought WELCOME BACK twice on disc. One on the original CD and the other, I believe, was a Japanese import because the sound on the first is awful. Really, it wasn't cleaned up much on the Japanese import either. Now that explanation is over.......on to Tarkus. First of all, I listened to the ELP album (Rhino re-master} right before it. I believe this disc is very well done. You can hear Lake's bass up front along with vocals and the crashing of Carl Palmer's symbols. The piano parts on Take a Pebble are wonderful. This is the first Tarkus I have been able to find outside of vinyl at a reasonable price. As for volume on re-masters and that controversy of loudness issues.....I left the volume in the same place for the Shout Tarkus as the Rhino ELP. For my ears, the Tarkus was exactly the same for loudness. Since I haven't listened to my vinyl Tarkus in awhile, I can say it sounded like listening for the first time in a long time. I thought the Shout sounded very good also. Is it better than the Rhino ELP, Trilogy or Pictures? I don't here much of a difference. As far as Bob's review below. I have not suffer through all these re-masterings. I am now quite happy with my Rhino reproductions only bought once. I hear no major sonic difference with the Shout Tarkus as opposed to the Rhino's. In most cases, Rhino does a pretty darn good job with everything. As far as the K2HD's, Bob links the Tarkus for 45.49. I have never heard them so I won't comment. Though, I will say, I'm sure for some audiophiles it might be worth it. For me, I'm not sure how much better production you can get from master tapes than what Rhino or Shout has done. I hope this review helps someone in their choices. By the way, Tarkus is a wonderful choice in music. I have loved it since I was a teenager. There isn't much music around like this or Yes anymore.