TODAY'S ALBUM: No.12 (6th November 2011)

'Tarkus' 

by Emerson Lake & Palmer
(1971)

One of the genre's pre-eminent forces alongside the likes of Pink Floyd, Yes, King Crimson and Genesis, and one of the first super-groups of the era, Emerson Lake & Palmer belonged to that small set of innovative and highly-successful British progressive rock groups who would dominate the early-seventies musical landscape and, for many, define the very essence of the actual genre. During the early-to-mid 1970s the trio would release a number of technically accomplished albums that blended re-worked classical compositions within a modern rock context, whilst also embarking on a series of lucrative sold-out tours across the globe that turned them into household names, particularly throughout the United States were they rivalled groups such as Led Zeppelin for sheer popularity, in the process selling over twenty-five million records. However, as has often been stated, the higher you climb in any industry the bigger the potential fall, and with the onset of Punk during the latter half of the decade ELP found themselves cast as the number one musical villains, singled out by groups such as the Sex Pistols as the absolute epitome of bombastic and indulgent rock. ELP's fall from grace may have been a spectacular one, yet they left behind them some of the progressive rock genre's most challenging and ground-breaking albums and influenced a generation of progressive groups with their dynamic interplay, ambitious concepts and daring musical invention. 
Made up of keyboardist, organist and composer Keith Emerson, guitarist Greg Lake and drummer Carl Palmer, the highly-talented trio came together during the dying days of the sixties, though, if legend would have you believe, it could have all been so different if a certain superstar axeman from Seattle hadn't gone and accidentally killed himself. According to various figures of the time, Jimi Hendrix was starting to tire of blasting out his howling brand of cosmic blues with The Jimi Hendrix Experience and fancied a change of sonic scenery. Feelers were sent out to various agencies and industry people and Hendrix got wind of a mooted classical-rock project being cooked in London.  Emerson was, at this time, the leading creative force with The Nice, a London-based progressive outfit with strong classical leanings whilst Palmer was drumming with the bluesy hard-rock group Atomic Rooster and the two were seeking a guitarist to join them on their new venture. Hendrix apparently expressed an interest in taking up the reigns but, delayed by various contractual arrangements and management issues, the guitarist would sadly pass way and thus dash any possible union. Instead the job would go to King Crimson's Greg Lake, Emerson Lake & Palmer were born in a blaze of publicity and the rest, as they say, is history. 
The trio's first album, which was recorded at London's Advision studios with Palmer acting as producer and future Yes collaborator Eddie Offord credited as engineer, would appear in 1970 as a self-titled affair.  'Lucky Man', a Greg Lake-penned ballad, was issued as leading single and the album performed well, reaching the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaking at no.4 in the British charts. 'Tarkus' was the group's second album and was released in 1971, just as the progressive rock genre was starting to reach it's peak years. A hugely-ambitious double-sided concept album that was, according to Lake, a statement about the futility of war and the evils of the military industriual complex, 'Tarkus' took the classical-rock style of the group's debut a step further. Whilst their first album feautured many pieces that were either adapted from or influenced by various classical composer's works, such as Leos Janacek's 'Sinfonietta' or Bela Bartok's 'Allegro Barbaro', 'Tarkus', an album that positively rumbles with an ominous orchestral aggression and genuine sense of foreboding, features only original material. The centrepiece of the album is the epic, multi-part, twenty-minute long title-track, a piece seen by many as one of the group's most complete compositions and one of the very few ELP tracks to feature what is otherwise a fixture of the prog genre, the guitar solo, courtesy of Greg Lake. The second half of the album features some lighter, more melodic moments, with the jocular 'Jeremy Bender' providing brief relief from the thunderous musical battlefield of 'Tarkus', whilst once again Greg Lake showcases his deft song-writing touch, composing the luminous 'Infinite Space' with Emerson. Finally, the album finishes off with all three members contributing to the infectiously-ambling, organ-spiced piece 'Are You Ready Eddy?'.
Despite their much-maligned status in the world of rock music, ELP at their peak were a uniquely powerful entity whose combination of heavy rock, murky psychedelia and orchestral grandeur created some of the most original and daring music of the early-seventies. Whilst their self-titled debut showed promise, 'Tarkus' would be the album which saw the group strike an almost perfect balance between the trio's ambitious musical ideas and their undoubted musical abilities, bringing classical compositions into the rock world with an unbridled ferocity that bled into their infamous live shows and briefly turned the group into a major worldwide force. Although at times brutally discordant, at others beautifully mellifluous, and by no means an accessible piece of music, 'Tarkus' remains very much one of the definitive progressive rock records from the genre's earlier days. They certainly don't make them like this anymore.


Key songs: Tarkus, Bitches Crystal, Are You Ready Eddy?