Tarkus (Deluxe Edition)

Got this one for a dime less elsewhere....that's competition!
This is a good deal from Amazon too. The sound is very good as
this album is 40 years old and Sony remastered it this year.
Greg Lake's voice is cool and the band is a talented bunch. I
own three ELP discs and I think "Trilogy" is my fave. It's
not everyone's cup of tea but if you want to get into this
sound, try out the the first cut on this. It's 20 minutes long
and once again "it's worth it".....

The title cut from this album is arguably the piece that defined Emerson, Lake And Palmers sound (the song Luckyman notwithstanding). It is interesting to note that the band almost split up over it, Greg Lake having suggested to Keith Emerson that he should save it for his (Keith's) solo album. Nevertheless, this twenty minute conceptual piece was par for the progressive rock course when it came out, putting itself in a class with Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, Pink Floyds Echoes and Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick. The songs that follow pale somewhat in comparison although most maintain a quality that stands up well against any other works of the genre. The five star rating is based on the title track.

Regards
Steve Andersen - Keyboards
Seven Virgins & A Mule
Canada's Emerson, Lake & Palmer Tribute

The first ELP albums I heard were Brain Salad Surgery and Works Volume 1. I was 17 the first time I saw them in 1987, as Emerson Lake and Powell, which from then on I explored and followed the music of this band. It was extremely disappointing that they disbanded after thier 1998 tour. They were absolutely "phenominal." They never sounded better or more in synch with each other. To this day, the only equal to Kieth Emerson is Rick Wakeman. None to Carl Palmer, especially after seeing him play live.
Tarkus....I hated this album when I first bought it. I was expecting to hear something similar to Brain Salad Surgery. The interesting thing with ELP's music is the more you listen to it, the more you discover it, and the more you like it.. Tarkus is now my second favorite ELP album. There is so much going on, different sounds, different structures, different styles, it is really quite an amazing music score. There is no music quite like it. It has very heavy percussion, and if you like keyboard music, you are going to really like this, maybe not your first time listening to it, but you will discover all the different musical complexities that are going on. Lakes' singing is fitting to the music, particularly in Tarkus and Bitches Crystal. This is true progressive music. You have the Tarkus suite which is comprised of 7 pieces of music (the Battlefield was the pinnacle of the suite), An almost "ragtime" tune in Jeremy Bender, A piano and ribbon synth volatile song in Bitches Crystal, church organ in The Only Way... and more. I recommend this to any enthusiast of keyboards, percussion, or progressive rock music. Just be open minded, because this is a different world of music waiting for you to discover.