Tarkus
| Tarkus | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Studio album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer | ||||
| Released | 14 June 1971 | |||
| Recorded | January 1971, Advision Studios, London |
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| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 38:40 | |||
| Label | Island, Manticore | |||
| Producer | Greg Lake | |||
| Emerson, Lake & Palmer chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
| Rolling Stone | (not rated)[2] |
Tarkus is the second album by the British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1971.
In 1993, the album was digitally remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio. The remastered version was released by Victory Records in the United Kingdom and Rhino Records in the United States.
Contents |
[edit] The title track
The chief feature of the album is the "Tarkus" suite, originally forming the whole of side one of the album.
Greg Lake stated in an early interview that he viewed Tarkus as a representation of the military-industrial complex, and that his lyrics were about that, and about the futility of war and strife.
On the album cover, commissioned to the graphic designer and painter William Neal, and made after the music was created and recorded, Tarkus is depicted as a half armadillo/half tank creature, born from an egg erupted from a volcano.
The inner gatefold sleeve features a sequence of pictures depicting battles between Tarkus and other half-mechanical creatures, until its eventual defeat by a manticore - the only creature in the tale that is wholly organic. Tarkus is then shown, defeated but still living, and weeping a tear of blood as he floats down a river in "Aquatarkus". The band later named its own record company Manticore Records.
The lyrics of the "Tarkus" suite relate only very abstractly to the story as delineated in the images: "Mass" is musings on organised religion (as is "The Only Way"), while "Battlefield" is a general statement about war and what war causes (such as: "You talk of freedom? Starving children fall...").
Keith Emerson later said in his autobiography that he presented most of the piece fully formed to the rest of the band and as such Greg Lake was initially not pleased about the band's new direction.
[edit] Other songs
The track "Battlefield" features one of the rare electric guitar solos from Greg Lake. Some live versions also featured an excerpt from a King Crimson song, "Epitaph", originally co-authored and sung by Lake on Crimson's first album.
The final track, "Are You Ready Eddy?", was written for the band's recording engineer, Advision Studios' Eddy Offord. The song, whose music is an arrangement of Bobby Troup's "The Girl Can't Help It", ends with Carl Palmer exclaiming "They've only got 'am or cheese!", a reference to what were apparently the only sandwiches on offer in the Advision canteen.
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Side one
- "Tarkus" – 20:35
- "Eruption" (Emerson) – 2:43
- "Stones of Years" (Emerson, Lake) – 3:44
- "Iconoclast" (Emerson) – 1:15
- "Mass" (Emerson, Lake) – 3:11
- "Manticore" (Emerson) – 1:52
- "Battlefield" (Lake) – 3:51
- "Aquatarkus" (Emerson) – 3:59
[edit] Side two
- "Jeremy Bender" (Emerson, Lake) – 1:46
- "Bitches Crystal" (Emerson, Lake) – 3:55
- "The Only Way (Hymn)" (Johann Sebastian Bach, Emerson, Lake) – 3:49
- "Infinite Space (Conclusion)" (Emerson, Palmer) – 3:18
- "A Time and a Place" (Emerson, Lake, Palmer) – 2:57
- "Are You Ready Eddy?" (Emerson, Lake, Palmer) – 2:10
[edit] Personnel
- Keith Emerson - Hammond organ, church organ, piano, celesta, Moog synthesizer, backing vocals (Are You Ready Eddy?)
- Greg Lake - Electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, vocals
- Carl Palmer - drums, percussion, backing vocals (Are You Ready Eddy?)
[edit] Production
- Producer: Greg Lake
- Engineer: Eddie Offord
- Mastering: Zal Schreiber
- Arranger: Emerson, Lake & Palmer
- Director: Emerson, Lake & Palmer
- Paintings: William Neal
[edit] Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Billboard 200 | 9[3] |
| 1971 | UK Albums Chart | 1[4] |
| Preceded by Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones |
UK Albums Chart number-one album 26 June 1971 – 3 July 1971 |
Succeeded by Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel |
[edit] References
- ^ Couture, F. (2011 [last update]). "Tarkus - Emerson, Lake & Palmer | AllMusic". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r6752/review. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- ^ Lebin, D. (2011 [last update]). "Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Tarkus : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. http://web.archive.org/web/20071110193850/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/emersonlakepalmer/albums/album/117327/review/6068126/tarkus. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
- ^ Billboard chart peak position at Allmusic. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- ^ "UK chart history Tarkus". www.chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=37151. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
