Emerson, Lake and Palmer (UK)Tarkus (1971)Genres: progressive rock, pomp rockKeith Emerson, the keyboard wizard of ELP, has endured more ridicule than most people. He is really a sitting duck for those who dislike progressive rock. I must admit that I often find him quite silly myself. Sometimes when I hear him play I can see visions of him playing with his teeth, like an Yngwie Malmsteen, or dressed up like Bach in an 18th century suit, whig and all. He does not deserve that I am sure. Needless to say Emerson is a good keyboard player, he is not only dexterious, he also has a style of his own on both moog and hammond (sometimes it sounds as if he uses his hammond as a percussion instrument). It is however worth pointing out that ELP stands for Emerson, Lake and Palmer, not Emerson, Emerson and Emerson. Palmer is a good drummer with a nice drum sound and Lake is a great singer and bass player (which is more apparent on King Crimson’s debut album than here).
ELP has two sides, the pompous (and somewhat wanky) side that comes to the fore in the longer pieces and a poppier side present in the shorter pieces. I suspect that Emerson is responsible for the former side, while Lake is responsible for the latter. After getting aquinted with the poppier side of ELP I must say I prefer the pompous side. The problem is that ELP can sound embarrassingly cheesy when they try to rock or sound catchy. The side long epic “Tarkus” is consequently the best track of the album. It is ELP at their wankiest and best. Emerson plays furiously at a variety of keyboards and sometimes it gets to much, but more often it works. Both lyrics and music have a military theme which seem to fit all members of the band very well. A fine piece of music that alone makes the album decent enough.
The 20-minute long title track offers music of top quality. Emerson’s use of the moog and other keyboards was never to be matched and Palmer’s drumming reached a new and ultimate level as well, not to mention Lake’s fantastic singing and bass playing, plus some guitar parts that sound really exciting, biting and fresh – even to this day. This piece of music is really Emerson, Lake and Palmer not just Emerson. Lyrically (lyrics by Lake) the suite shows strong influences from Lake’s former Crimson band-mate Peter Sinfield. And the military theme is strong in both music and words as the other reviewer (Daniel) has noticed.
After such a discharge on side A the B-side with its six short tracks seems rather poor and “Jeremy Bender” and the Eddy Offord tribute “Are You Ready Eddy?” are throwaways; but here is also a couple of decent songs like “Bitches Crystal”, which combines jazz influences with themes similar to the title track’s, and “The Only Way (Hymn)”. The highlight on this side is without a doubt “A Time and a Place” which also shows similarities with the title track.
This is the one Emerson, Lake and Palmer album I would recommend to all because of the amazing title track.
