This album is one of the biggest reasons I'm on this web forum, 35+ years after I first heard it. A total game changer for me, matched by many albums I've heard since, but for me surpassed by few to none. The Tarkus suite is my personal definition of "what is Prog?"
Here is a fantastic rendition of Tarkus for classical saxophone quartet that to me shows how interesting and versatile this music is:
Bill
I was 13 when this came out. My mother gave it to me for Christmas that year. My first prog album. It rarely if ever get's better than that title track. I love the whole album start to finish.
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Gonna needlessly add my two cents. I think this is the most cohesive work they ever put out. Though I said the second side doesn't indicate "extended brilliance," I still love it and enjoy every minute of it. The title suite alternates between complex grooves and melodic vocals, giving both equal weight. The second side is a succession of songs that make their point concisely, tip their hat, and lead you to the next one. It's my favorite ELP anything. It probably doesn't hurt that it was my main listen in college (along with Yes's "Drama").
"Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)
Whoa, that's pretty awesome! Someone's got some pretty heavy breath control to handle those ostinato parts so cleanly.Originally Posted by Sputnik
The track "Tarkus" was actually the very first piece of music played at Nearfest. Bonus points for anyone who can name the band who played it.
Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)
Alaska?
Yep.
Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)
Just listened Bitches Crystal. It is one of my The favourite short prog songs. I love the energy and the aggression of it!
My progressive music site: https://pienemmatpurot.com/ Reviews in English: https://pienemmatpurot.com/in-english/
the whole second side is filled with throwaway tracks... Nowadays, I only own the debut and Pictures.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Bah. Bitches Crystal is brilliant and The Only Way, Infinite Space and Time And A Place are all also very good.
My progressive music site: https://pienemmatpurot.com/ Reviews in English: https://pienemmatpurot.com/in-english/
They could easily make second side a suite as well, throwing off Bender and Eddy, and put into seamless cohesiveness all the rest. By adding some uptempo grooves, mixed with slower bridges.. And people would say, wow, this is fantastic.... Taking only the songs from Tarkus suite( Stones of Years, Mass, Battlefield) and put them on par with Bitches Crystal, The Only Way, A Time & A Place, of all that tunes I'd put Stones of Years on top, A Time & A Place second, The Only Way third, Battlefield fourth, Bitches Crystal fifth, and the Mass I'd place on last position. Generally speaking, I think what makes Tarkus a great thing, is the first 10 minutes of it. Eruption, and Stones, respectively. I love every bit of it, Manticore, Iconoclast, Aquatarkus, and all, and the whole brave concept. Pity they threw out Lake's Oh My Father, could be a nice closing track, in a mode of first album..
^I'm thinking that would be an interesting kinda variation on their such a rich spectrum of ideas put into those unique pieces. But I would keep the sequence Mass - Manticore - The Battlefield, it sounds blowing perfect to me. That said, Infinite Space - Bitches Crystal would make one of the most powerful couple of pieces in the Prog Rock history ever heard, IS sounds to me a damn perfect bridge to the aggressiveness of BC
I dont get that either... how the hell can songs like those be "throw away?" You can throw away something in that lame pop world I hear on the radio instead.
A classic! Side A is the best thing they ever did i.m.o. And any weaknesses of Side B can't take this classic status off.
I'm probably alone in this, but I think the <b>Tarkus</b> material was much, much better in its various live incarnations, especially on <b>WBMFTTSTNE</b>.
Not putting down the album; suggesting that ELP was a band that fit Fripp's "love letter/hot date" dichotomy.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
IMO, it's more "the same thing, only different". Studio and live and both great, but in different ways.
I like it most on Mar Y Sol.
Yeah, it's almost a throwback to Keith's Nice days and songs like "Azrael."
I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.
Maybe it's the fact that saxophones are playing it, but aspects of the intro melody make me think that it could segue very nicely into "a night in Tunisia"
I wonder - has anyone ever done ELP's music for a jazz big band? There's that Japanese orchestral version of "Tarkus", of course. But if you listen to the way Keith played - his harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary, the Moog tones he preferred - it's hard to escape the notion that the orchestral sound in his head was, unlike that of most symph bands, not the London Philharmonic. Instead, it might have come pretty close to the Stan Kenton Band, with the huge brassiness of Kenton's expanded trumpet, trombone, and sometimes mellophonium sections. Just imagine "Tarkus", or almost anything by ELP, with lead trumpet taking Keith's Moog lines, the sax section filling out Greg's voice, guitar and piano and bass and maybe vibes and bari sax all handling those ferocious left-hand ostinati, and the sectional harmonies expanded from the Hammond parts.
I don't know about you, but I think that could work really well. Somebody might want to talk to Ed Palermo about it, since he already has a big band. He certainly loves rock - some of it, anyway - and it's not impossible that he might be interested.
Last edited by Baribrotzer; 03-23-2016 at 12:00 PM.
Alas it's not available.
Well, it's been done for marching bands.
As I said already, I think the live version on Welcome Back... is indeed a much tighter, musically superior performance than what we hear on the studio album. But 'Eruption' in particular works better for me on the studio original....for one thing, the live version does not have that magnificent, ethereal intro, and the tempo is a little hell-for-leather. I'm glad that both exist.
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