Tarkus [Limited Edition] [Import]

Product Description
UK remastered reissue of 1971 album, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve.

Tarkus,Lake & Palmer Emerson,Castle Music UK,Album Rock,Pop,Prog-Rock/Art Rock,Rock,Rock/Pop

Average customer rating: Rhino Re-Masters, SHOUT ,K2HD?? "REMASTERING", AD INFINITUM, AD NAUSEUM, AD WALLET what a great listen A Landmark Prog Gem Gets Remastered Right!

Tarkus Lake & Palmer Emerson Manufacturer: Shout Factory ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: Emerson, Lake & Palmer Trilogy Pictures at an Exhibition Brain Salad Surgery Works, Vol. 1 ASIN: B000NVL9KG Release Date: 2007-04-24

Tracks:

1. Medley: Tarkus - Eruption/Stones Of Years/Iconoclast/Mass/Manticore/Battlefield/Aquatarkus
2. Jeremy Bender
3. Bitches Crystal
4. The Only Way (Hymn)
5. Infinite Space (Conclusion)
6. A Time And A Place
7. Are You Ready Eddy?

Album Description

On the strength of an epic 20-minute opening track, ELP's second album, Tarkus, set the gold standard for progressive rock upon its release in 1971. Though the "Tarkus" medley is the album's centerpiece, it is only one half of a great album that demonstrates what these incredible musicians were capable of. Remastered from the original master tapes.

Customer Reviews:

Rhino Re-Masters, SHOUT ,K2HD??.......2007-07-13

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.

"REMASTERING", AD INFINITUM, AD NAUSEUM, AD WALLET.......2007-05-15

I can't think of another catalog that has been "remastered" more times than ELP's. Every few years since the early 90's, as ELP caravanned their catalog from label to label, we were presented with another set of supposedly superior mastered versions, and were expected to dutifully re-purchase them.

When you include the MFSL and Japanese dual-K2 efforts, where are we at now, at least seven different remasters of just the individual studio albums over the past 15 years? And how many "remastered" compilations? I've stopped counting, I'm beginning not to care anymore, and I suspect the fab trio and/or their management are now just cash-milking the fans.

Vowing not to be a seven(?)-time, complete-catalog-re-purchase sucker, I bought only the 2007 Tarkus RM and compared it against the 2005 Japanese K2HD mini-sleeve version. I'm staying with the K2HD, and I'm here to tell you: The dichotomy between the two is so non-trivial that I don't need to buy any more Shout! Factory ELP titles for comparison.

There are ELPists that dislike the K2's for "harshness". But, where fingers point at the K2 processing, I have always held the opinion that Are-You-Ready-Eddie Offord was rather level-meter-monitoring-challenged on his ELP and Yes engineering. If you accept that premise, then yes, the K2's do especially emphasize that flaw.

Even if you've heard these recordings hundreds of times, and even if you don't own the K2's, if you carefully listen to any ELP remaster with my Offord postulation in mind, I believe you'll hear what I do.

However, there is certainly additional detail and clarity in both the K2's that I've never heard on either Shout! Factory's Tarkus, or any of the earlier remasters, including the MFSL's. So, once I realized what I was actually hearing, I've dismissed "harshness" for what I believe are distorted passages in the original recordings, greatly amplified in the K2 mastering.

In addition, I found a bit more detail in the K2HD's over the original K2's; it's very VERY slight, and it is there to be heard, but probably only if you have really good gear/interconnects/speakers, or great headphones.

I've also seen original-ELP/K2-owners bad-mouthing the K2HD's, but primarily in eBay ads where they're attempting to jettison their K2's, so consider the source. It's expensive, replacing K2 catalogs (ELP, Kinks, Costello, Creedence, Focus, Rundgren & PFM, to name a few) with K2HD's (especially if you don't know how to pre-order them at the cheapest prices directly from Japan prior to release), but I suck it up and don't complain about it.

So, at least for the ELP catalog, I'm a K2HD guy, and I'm sticking with them. Inevitably, there will be someone with one of the umpteen other remastered versions who will disagree with me, and that's fine, because I'm stating my own opinions and personal preferences, and I welcome the discourse.

Lastly, however, a piece of advice: All Japanese mini-sleeve releases are limited edition, so if you're even tempted to pick up one to compare, don't wait until they're OOP and +$50 on eBay. As of this writing, there are still reasonably-priced ELP K2HD's out there (and even greater deals on the older K2's!).

And I will take those fabulous Japanese original album sleeve replications over their jewel-boxed counterparts any day of the week. It's tré-kewl having an actual album cover collection again, albeit in miniature!

Link to the K2HD version of Tarkus.

what a great listen.......2007-05-03

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.

A Landmark Prog Gem Gets Remastered Right!.......2007-04-26

I admit it,I don't know what a "tarkus" is,other than that tankadillo thing on the cover that,according to its gatefold painting,hatches from its volcano,destroys some beasts in its path,faces ELP's mascot manticore and the slides in some unknown state.(Or something like that.)The 20-minute track depicting this saga is such an involved,intense,mesmerising experience that don't have to follow the convoluted story to get hooked and exhilarated in the process.The second half isn't as tight as the biggie that took up a whole LP side(the 50's-rock thowaway closer "Are You Ready Eddy" being the main thorn on its side),songs like the sinister "Bitches Crystal","A Time And A Place" and "The Only Way(Hymn) with its companion piece "Infinite Space(Conclusion)are all strong on their own.Like its other Shout! reissue Emerson, Lake & Palmer,the remastering is a big improvment over the outdated 80s and 90s masters.Despite the lack of bonus tracks,fans of ELP or prog-rock shouldn't hesitate to pick up-or upgrade with-this reasonably-priced gem.

Average customer rating: ELP's Tarkus Suite as the epitome of synthesizer bombast

Tarkus Lake & Palmer Emerson Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: Trilogy Emerson, Lake & Palmer ASIN: B00008EPMA Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

1. Eruption
2. Stones of Years
3. Iconoclast
4. Mass
5. Manticore
6. Battlefield
7. Aquatarkus
8. Jeremy Bender
9. Bitches Crystal
10. Only Way (Hymn)
11. Infinite Space (Conclusion)
12. Time and a Place
13. Are You Ready Eddy?

Customer Reviews:

ELP's Tarkus Suite as the epitome of synthesizer bombast.......2005-07-13

The British Progressive (nee Classical) Rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer followed up their self-titled debut album with this second effort in 1971. That first album was a balance between the synthesizer overkill of Keith Emerson's keyboard work on tracks like "Knife-Edge" and the soaring melodic songs like Greg Lake's classic "Lucky Man." However, "Tarkus" is most decidedly in the camp of the former. As such, the first seven tracks on this album, considered collectively as the "Tarkus Suite," represents the best ELP effort in that vein, although "Aquatarkus" suggests the lads did not really have a way of ending the whole thing.

"Tarkus" is made of seven parts, alternating four instrumental sections ("Eruption," "Iconoclast," "Manticore," "Aquatarkus") with three songs ("Stones of Years," "Mass," and "Battlefield"). The suite does not really have a plot, although the cover artwork hints that Tarkus was some sort of hybrid armadillo tank that was born during a volcanic eruption. After a battle with a Manticore, Tarkus became Aquatarkus and apparently went swimming away to live happily ever after. However, if the story does not really hang together at least the music does, flowing from one section to the next and providing much more of a unified whole than we usually see in ELP's most ambitious efforts.

For me "Tarkus" is just too much at the extreme of synthesizer excess in terms of ELP's music career, although the album did make it to #9 on the Billboard charts. I really like the later synthesis between the two styles the boys attained with "Karn Evil 9" on "Brain Salad Surgery," although I suppose it comes down to a preference for the piano over the organ, which applies as much to the works of Beethoven and Back as it does to that of Keith Emerson. The rest of this album really comes across as leftovers from their first recording sessions that should have remained on the cutting room floor ("Jeremy Bender") with some really inane lyrics ("The Only Way (Hymn)"). After the thematic unity of the "first side," the remaining hodge-podge is pretty lame. If you like the heavy synthesizer use the Tarkus Suite is a great example of Emerson on the organ. But if you prefer him on the keyboard and songs that better feature Greg Lake's vocals (best represented by the "Battlefield" movement of the suite), "Tarkus" will have a lower place in your ELP rotation.

Average customer rating:

Tarkus Lake & Palmer Emerson Manufacturer: Jvc Japan ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Trilogy ASIN: B000AMZ1ZW Release Date: 2005-10-03

Tracks:

1. Tarkus Medley: Eruption/Stones of Years/Iconoclast/Mass/Manticore/Batt
2. Jeremy Bender
3. Bitches Crystal
4. Only Way (Hymn)
5. Infinite Space (Conclusion)
6. Time and a Place
7. Are You Ready Eddy?

Album Description

Japanese pressing of their 1971 album. Comes packaged in a miniature LP sleeve and has been remastered. JVC. 2005.

Album Details

Special 24bit K2 High Definition Coding Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic from the Progressive Rock Power Trio in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.

Average customer rating: challenging listen The Megalith that is Tarkus... Sizzlefingers, Lake and Palmer! A CLASSIC A Progressive feast from Eruption to Ham or Cheese

Tarkus Emerson Lake & Palmer Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Rhino Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Trilogy Emerson, Lake & Palmer Pictures at an Exhibition Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends Works, Vol. 1 ASIN: B0000033P0 Release Date: 1996-05-21

Tracks:

1. Tarkus
2. Jeremy Bender
3. Bitches Crystal
4. The Only Way (Hymn)
5. Infinite Space (Conclusion)
6. A Time And A Place
7. Are You Ready Eddy?

Customer Reviews:

challenging listen.......2007-05-19

This is a good CD. When I first starting listening to music it was whatever was on the radio. This was back in the 70's and most of the music from then was fairly simple.
Then I got a taste of progressive music. Unusual time signatures have always remained fascinating to me. This album is great just to hear something different. Even after all these years I love this thing.
Tarkus is a great piece of music. It has the great 5/4 time signature which is deceptively simple but makes the song interesting. All the 7 parts of this suite really don't flow together as well as I would like. I think if they had spent a few more months recording and polishing this it would have been even more amazing. I think they recorded this album in about two weeks. But it's still good.

The second half of this album is a mixed bag. Its almost a disappointment after hearing the Tarkus suite. Jeremy Bender is a great little tune but a little silly.
Bitches Crystal starts nice and slow and has a weird piano note playing constantly off beat through the entire thing. Magic.
The Only Way and Infinite Space are really one song. The lyrics might put off a few of the sensitive people out there but that's probably just as well because most people are easily offended these days. Oh well. The piano melodies heard here are amazing and challenge your ear to pick up everything that's being played.
A Time and a Place is a great little rocker just seething with deep bass and creaking, distorted organ. The lyrics are strange but that's part of the charm.
Are you ready Eddy? is another bit of a goof song, but still enjoyable. It's not a great closer but the only song that could have been the closer. I guess Eddy would be Eddy Offord, the man who engineered this album.

So all in all this is essential listening for people who actually HEAR the music they listen to rather than just listening to it blindly and buying all the new processed and formulated 'hit' crap that's out there now. Do yourself a favor and listen to something that will challenge your ears instead of dulling them to a stupor. Buy this album.

The Megalith that is Tarkus..........2006-11-16

If Emerson Lake and Palmer were considered by some as major architects of progressive rock with the release of their first album, they easily cemented that impression with their second offering, Tarkus. There is little to say that hasn't already been said about this iconic album, but in the unlikely case you're discovering ELP for the first time, consider this a mandatory listen for any self-respecting prog rock fan. That said, there are some noteworthy differences between Tarkus the opus and Tarkus the album. The first half is devoted to the title track. As a work, Tarkus is grandiose in both its ambition and delivery. Largely Keith Emerson's vision, it is also a complex, sinewy juggernaut that at times seems to challenge Greg Lake and Carl Palmer to keep up the pace. To their credit, no one is left behind and the entire piece would be something significantly less without the contributions of each member and the synergy of these three superb musicians.
Tarkus as an album is another matter. Following the Tarkus suite is a daunting task and the second half of the album illustrates the difficulty as it is noticably weaker than the first half. They introduce what was to become the obligatory honky-tonk piano piece with Jeremy Bender. Pleasant enough, but a bit of a let down after the take no prisoners performance of Tarkus. [...] Crystal makes up for it with high tempo and intensity. The Only Way and Infinite Space are subdued and a little frustrating in their restraint, more so because they are squeezed between Crystal and the other part two highlight (and equally intense) A Time and a Place. Are You Ready Eddy? is a complete throwaway and an almost shameful end to the album considering how it begins. And yet, even with its faults, Tarkus holds its place as one of the most influential progressive rock albums ever released. If they never matched Tarkus as a single work, ELP cranked out at least two more albums, Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery, that were almost as strong and by most accounts more listenable as a whole, but Tarkus binds their undisputed standing as progressive rock's first supergroup and well earned it is.

Sizzlefingers, Lake and Palmer!.......2006-05-10

There is nobody, NO-BOD-Y, better at the keyboards than Keith Emerson. This has been proven on every album ELP's ever released, from the first eponymous one with "Lucky Man" on it, to "Love Beach". How this man keeps from getting carpal tunnel syndrome, I'll never know, for the aural histrionics are incredible! On this album, their second and one of their best, the magic of Lake's sonorous, nasal low tenor, Emerson's adeptness and overdubbing and Palmer's percussive punctuation, helps the ELP formula take shape, though there isn't a classical cover here, like there is on the first album,"Trilogy" and "Love Beach", but there is "The Only Way" and "Time and Space", which SORTA sound classical.

Has anybody ever noticed how much Greg Lake looks like etchings or paintings of protestant reformer Martin Luther? He seems to have the same sort of fire the medieval rabble-rouser had in his vocals as well, like he's trying to foment demonstrations all over the place in the group's songs. But the scary thing is how the entire group looks like they just stepped out of the road company cast of "Lord of the Rings" or a very grand Dungeons and Dragons game! Chances are ELP was and has been the Muzak of the D&D crowd for years, anyway, so it all fits!

The grand work on this album, "Tarkus" takes up the first side, going from the track "Eruption" to "Aquatarkus", whatever that is, but you don't care what it's about, you just groove to the stream-of-consciousness rant of Lake's singing and Emerson's mind-boggling keyboard work.

It turns out that "Tarkus" is the name of that strange combination creature on the cover of the album, an armadillo with the bottom half of a Sherman tank, who is an analogy of the brutality of war. Another creature, called a Manticore, (at one time, the name of the label WEA Records allowed ELP to form for its releases,) drives this marauding juggernaut away, saving the people and the countryside from its destruction. You know what...you really couldn't care less about this tale! You just groove on the incredible music and talent involved in the production! This album, along with "Trilogy", "Emerson, Lake & Palmer", "Love Beach" and perhaps "Brain Salad Surgery" are among the best things you will ever hear issue out of a hi-fi speaker, classical, rock, jazz or otherwise...

The second side has the incredible "The Only Way", a song that asks the musical question: "Can You believe...God makes you breathe? How did he lose...six million jews?!" and my personal favorite from the album, "Bitches' Crystal", a song apparently celebrating the world of, you guessed it, DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS!! With a "heretic priestess", tortured spirits that cry and ghostly images dying, the arrangement sees Emerson flashing his fingies across the piano keys like some unreal Padarewski, faster than anybody I've ever heard play keyboards.

Save up your shekels, and buy "Emerson, Lake and Palmer", "Tarkus", "Trilogy", Brain Salad Surgery", and "Love Beach", and just sit back and be dazzled by some of the best musicianship to see a Billboard chart!

I really can't praise these guys enough!

A CLASSIC.......2006-05-03

I read a not so flattering review of this disc from someone here and when I checked the other reviews he/she is obviously not a prog rock fan so why he/she is bothering to review discs like this is beyond me. This is a classic prog rock disc and it would still be even if it was just side 1.

These are quality musicians playing some fantastic prog rock. Keith Emerson is a beast on the keys and Carl Palmer shows off his formidable chops in keeping up with Keith, and of course Greg Lake holds it all down. The pace starts off fast and furious on side 1 with changes galore but the band is tight and nails it. This disc is a must-have for any pro rock collection, regardless of what a certain somebody said. If you want cute little 3 minute pop songs, look elsewhere!

www.electriceyes.us

A Progressive feast from Eruption to Ham or Cheese.......2006-05-02

The voices start out and BANG they hit you with the Hammond organ on fire in Eruption for the Tarkus suite and don't let up until the last laugh at the end of Are you ready eddy. Highly recommended and this is their best.

Average customer rating:

Tarkus Tarkus Manufacturer: Get Back Italy ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music ASIN: B000Q3632A Release Date: 2007-07-26

Tracks:

1. El Pirata
2. Martha Ya Esta
3. Cambiemos Ya
4. Tempestad
5. Tema Para Lilus
6. Tranquila Reflexion
7. Rio Tonto
8. Tiempo En El Sol

Album Description

This Peruvian hard rock band recorded their one and only album in 1972. Only fifty promo copies were ever made making it one of the rarest and most collectible albums in the whole Latin rock arena. The album is a lost classic, but their sound was very heavy for the time and their label did not think that there was a market for it. Today, however, the heavy guitars and dark atmosphere make it sound very contemporary. All lyrics in Spanish. Get Back Records. 2007.

Album Details

This Peruvian Hard Rock Band Recorded their One and Only Album in 1972. Only Fifty Promo Copies were Ever Made, and it Has Never Been Repressed on Vinyl Until Now, Making it One of the Rarest and Most Collectible Albums in the Whole Latin Rock Arena. The Album is a Lost Classic, but their Sound was Very Heavy for the Time and their Label Did Not Think that There was a Market for It. Today, However, the Heavy Guitars and Dark Atmosphere Make it Sound Very Contemporary. All Lyrics in Spanish.

Average customer rating: challenging listen The Megalith that is Tarkus... Sizzlefingers, Lake and Palmer! A CLASSIC A Progressive feast from Eruption to Ham or Cheese

Tarkus Lake & Palmer Emerson Manufacturer: Mobile Fidelity ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: Trilogy Emerson, Lake & Palmer Pictures at an Exhibition Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends Works, Vol. 1 ASIN: B000000IT4 Release Date: 1994-03-29

Tracks:

1. Tarkus Medley: Eruption/Stones of Years/Iconoclast/Mass/Manticore/Batt
2. Jeremy Bender
3. Bitches Crystal
4. Only Way (Hymn)
5. Infinite Space (Conclusion)
6. Time and a Place
7. Are You Ready Eddy?

Customer Reviews:

challenging listen.......2007-05-19

This is a good CD. When I first starting listening to music it was whatever was on the radio. This was back in the 70's and most of the music from then was fairly simple.
Then I got a taste of progressive music. Unusual time signatures have always remained fascinating to me. This album is great just to hear something different. Even after all these years I love this thing.
Tarkus is a great piece of music. It has the great 5/4 time signature which is deceptively simple but makes the song interesting. All the 7 parts of this suite really don't flow together as well as I would like. I think if they had spent a few more months recording and polishing this it would have been even more amazing. I think they recorded this album in about two weeks. But it's still good.

The second half of this album is a mixed bag. Its almost a disappointment after hearing the Tarkus suite. Jeremy Bender is a great little tune but a little silly.
Bitches Crystal starts nice and slow and has a weird piano note playing constantly off beat through the entire thing. Magic.
The Only Way and Infinite Space are really one song. The lyrics might put off a few of the sensitive people out there but that's probably just as well because most people are easily offended these days. Oh well. The piano melodies heard here are amazing and challenge your ear to pick up everything that's being played.
A Time and a Place is a great little rocker just seething with deep bass and creaking, distorted organ. The lyrics are strange but that's part of the charm.
Are you ready Eddy? is another bit of a goof song, but still enjoyable. It's not a great closer but the only song that could have been the closer. I guess Eddy would be Eddy Offord, the man who engineered this album.

So all in all this is essential listening for people who actually HEAR the music they listen to rather than just listening to it blindly and buying all the new processed and formulated 'hit' crap that's out there now. Do yourself a favor and listen to something that will challenge your ears instead of dulling them to a stupor. Buy this album.

The Megalith that is Tarkus..........2006-11-16

If Emerson Lake and Palmer were considered by some as major architects of progressive rock with the release of their first album, they easily cemented that impression with their second offering, Tarkus. There is little to say that hasn't already been said about this iconic album, but in the unlikely case you're discovering ELP for the first time, consider this a mandatory listen for any self-respecting prog rock fan. That said, there are some noteworthy differences between Tarkus the opus and Tarkus the album. The first half is devoted to the title track. As a work, Tarkus is grandiose in both its ambition and delivery. Largely Keith Emerson's vision, it is also a complex, sinewy juggernaut that at times seems to challenge Greg Lake and Carl Palmer to keep up the pace. To their credit, no one is left behind and the entire piece would be something significantly less without the contributions of each member and the synergy of these three superb musicians.
Tarkus as an album is another matter. Following the Tarkus suite is a daunting task and the second half of the album illustrates the difficulty as it is noticably weaker than the first half. They introduce what was to become the obligatory honky-tonk piano piece with Jeremy Bender. Pleasant enough, but a bit of a let down after the take no prisoners performance of Tarkus. [...] Crystal makes up for it with high tempo and intensity. The Only Way and Infinite Space are subdued and a little frustrating in their restraint, more so because they are squeezed between Crystal and the other part two highlight (and equally intense) A Time and a Place. Are You Ready Eddy? is a complete throwaway and an almost shameful end to the album considering how it begins. And yet, even with its faults, Tarkus holds its place as one of the most influential progressive rock albums ever released. If they never matched Tarkus as a single work, ELP cranked out at least two more albums, Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery, that were almost as strong and by most accounts more listenable as a whole, but Tarkus binds their undisputed standing as progressive rock's first supergroup and well earned it is.

Sizzlefingers, Lake and Palmer!.......2006-05-10

There is nobody, NO-BOD-Y, better at the keyboards than Keith Emerson. This has been proven on every album ELP's ever released, from the first eponymous one with "Lucky Man" on it, to "Love Beach". How this man keeps from getting carpal tunnel syndrome, I'll never know, for the aural histrionics are incredible! On this album, their second and one of their best, the magic of Lake's sonorous, nasal low tenor, Emerson's adeptness and overdubbing and Palmer's percussive punctuation, helps the ELP formula take shape, though there isn't a classical cover here, like there is on the first album,"Trilogy" and "Love Beach", but there is "The Only Way" and "Time and Space", which SORTA sound classical.

Has anybody ever noticed how much Greg Lake looks like etchings or paintings of protestant reformer Martin Luther? He seems to have the same sort of fire the medieval rabble-rouser had in his vocals as well, like he's trying to foment demonstrations all over the place in the group's songs. But the scary thing is how the entire group looks like they just stepped out of the road company cast of "Lord of the Rings" or a very grand Dungeons and Dragons game! Chances are ELP was and has been the Muzak of the D&D crowd for years, anyway, so it all fits!

The grand work on this album, "Tarkus" takes up the first side, going from the track "Eruption" to "Aquatarkus", whatever that is, but you don't care what it's about, you just groove to the stream-of-consciousness rant of Lake's singing and Emerson's mind-boggling keyboard work.

It turns out that "Tarkus" is the name of that strange combination creature on the cover of the album, an armadillo with the bottom half of a Sherman tank, who is an analogy of the brutality of war. Another creature, called a Manticore, (at one time, the name of the label WEA Records allowed ELP to form for its releases,) drives this marauding juggernaut away, saving the people and the countryside from its destruction. You know what...you really couldn't care less about this tale! You just groove on the incredible music and talent involved in the production! This album, along with "Trilogy", "Emerson, Lake & Palmer", "Love Beach" and perhaps "Brain Salad Surgery" are among the best things you will ever hear issue out of a hi-fi speaker, classical, rock, jazz or otherwise...

The second side has the incredible "The Only Way", a song that asks the musical question: "Can You believe...God makes you breathe? How did he lose...six million jews?!" and my personal favorite from the album, "Bitches' Crystal", a song apparently celebrating the world of, you guessed it, DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS!! With a "heretic priestess", tortured spirits that cry and ghostly images dying, the arrangement sees Emerson flashing his fingies across the piano keys like some unreal Padarewski, faster than anybody I've ever heard play keyboards.

Save up your shekels, and buy "Emerson, Lake and Palmer", "Tarkus", "Trilogy", Brain Salad Surgery", and "Love Beach", and just sit back and be dazzled by some of the best musicianship to see a Billboard chart!

I really can't praise these guys enough!

A CLASSIC.......2006-05-03

I read a not so flattering review of this disc from someone here and when I checked the other reviews he/she is obviously not a prog rock fan so why he/she is bothering to review discs like this is beyond me. This is a classic prog rock disc and it would still be even if it was just side 1.

These are quality musicians playing some fantastic prog rock. Keith Emerson is a beast on the keys and Carl Palmer shows off his formidable chops in keeping up with Keith, and of course Greg Lake holds it all down. The pace starts off fast and furious on side 1 with changes galore but the band is tight and nails it. This disc is a must-have for any pro rock collection, regardless of what a certain somebody said. If you want cute little 3 minute pop songs, look elsewhere!

www.electriceyes.us

A Progressive feast from Eruption to Ham or Cheese.......2006-05-02

The voices start out and BANG they hit you with the Hammond organ on fire in Eruption for the Tarkus suite and don't let up until the last laugh at the end of Are you ready eddy. Highly recommended and this is their best.

Average customer rating:

Tarkus Lake & Palmer Emerson Manufacturer: Sanctuary UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Emerson, Lake & Palmer Trilogy Works, Vol. 1 Meddle Tarkus ASIN: B0002HV4V0 Release Date: 2004-11-16

Tracks:

1. Tarkus: Eruption/Stones of Years/Iconolast/Mass/Manticore/The ...
2. Jeremy Bender
3. Bitches Crystal
4. Only Way (Hymn)
5. Infinite Space (Conclusion)
6. Time and a Place
7. Are You Ready Eddy?

Album Details

Digitally Remastered Edition of the Second Full Length from the Progressive Rock Trio. The Musical Complexity Strained the Relationships of the Members, but the Resulting Recording was a Hit with Fans and Only Helped Strengthen their Star Higher.

Average customer rating:

Tarkus Lake & Palmer Emerson Manufacturer: Sanctuary UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music ASIN: B000NQQ1Y0 Release Date: 2007-05-15

Tracks:

1. Tarkus Medley: Eruption/Stones of Years/Iconoclast/Mass/Manticore/Batt
2. Jeremy Bender
3. Bitches Crystal
4. Only Way (Hymn)
5. Infinite Space (Conclusion)
6. Time and a Place
7. Are You Ready Eddy?

Album Details

2007 Digitally Remastered Edition of the Second Elp Album. "Tarkus" was an Instant Hit and Showed the Trio Stretching Out their Awesome Musical Talents. Nearly 30 Years Down the Line, "Tarkus" Has a Charm and Appeal that Has Gathered with the Passage of Time - You Forget Just How Much Fun They Were!

Average customer rating:

Ao Vivo Em Niteroi Tarkus Manufacturer: Musea/Rock Symphony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music ASIN: B000NA7EFG Release Date: 2005-09-11

Tracks:

1. O Portal
2. Mundo Novo
3. Vida Nova
4. Pensamentos
5. A Dança Escolhida
6. A Conquista
7. O Retorno Da Lenda
8. O Hino
9. Dumont
10. Ensaio Dos Ventos

Product Description

In the little game of names borrowed from legendary album titles of of the Seventies Progressive rock movement, TARKUS is one of the most evokative examples. And yet, this Brazilian outfit owes hardly anything to EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER ! Perfectly in line with the South-American school, "A Gaze Between The Past And The Future" (2002) is an excellent symphonic Progressive rock album, sung in perfect English. The obvious references to GENESIS and CAMEL are well present, a voluble flute and lyrical guitar parts in the foreground. As for the voice of Valdir ZAMBONI, it would be difficult not to think of Peter GABRIEL's. The six long titles (Including two covers of Rod ARGENT and DEVIL DOLL) have a little soul added, which makes them be much more than a mere imitation. This is even probably one of the most successful works in the genre in the last few years. Reissued by the Musea and Rock Symphony labels today, this opus provides a reworked booklet as well as a bonus track. This music surely stands undoubtedly at the top of today's South-American school, and thus deserves the greatest attention... "Ao Vivo Em Niteroi" has been recorded September 11th 2005, in the theatre of the side of Rio De Janeiro where the Rock Symphony label is located. That's probably why the musicians performed so well ! Here are ten tracks, and about one hour and a quarter of music. Excellent !

Average customer rating:

Tarkus/Pictures at an Exhibition (JPN) (Dig) Kuroda Manufacturer: Jvc Japan ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Beyond the Beginning Endless Enigma: A Musical Biography of Emerson, Lake and Palmer (Feedback Series) At the Movies ASIN: B0001N1NCA Release Date: 2004-05-03

Tracks:

1. Eruption
2. Popup Fugue
3. Stones Of Years
4. What A Wonderful Train
5. Iconoclast
6. Prepoplude
7. Mass
8. Running Piano Train
9. Manticore
10. Eruption Part Ii

Rock Music:

1. The Best of the Flamin' Groovies: Oldies But Groovies [Import]
2. The Great
3. The Very Best of the Eagles [Original recording remastered] [Import]
4. The Whole Thing's Started [Import]
5. Tim Finn
6. Tip
7. Translucent Flashbacks
8. Trilogy [Import]
9. Ultimate Collection [Import]
10. Utopia

Rock Music