Tarkus

I fucking love Emerson, lake and Palmer.

The cover of this album is a giant mechanical armadillo with a cannon and tank treads and that's about the best thing I can say about it. I'm not totally against prog rock but this is just a bit much for me. I understand the musicianship but there's a lot of "look at what we can do here" and that's just annoying. And when you combine that with an organ? Forget it. Lake has a good voice, Palmer is a great drummer. I want to give this a 3 but I just can't. A 3 for me means...glad I listened to it, appreciate it, just probably wouldn't ever listen to it again. But I don't appreciate this, despite some of the good musicanship here...and I'm not glad I listened to it. Oh, just hit the piano section on Bitches Crystal...can't turn this off fast enough.

It was alright. I did snipe that it was greg lake from COTCK- 2.7

I’ve tried and I’m giving up on ELP. Every time I’ve attempted an Emerson, Lake, and Palmer record I’ve come away thoroughly disappointed, maybe even a little pissed off. While I can’t fully put my finger on the extent od my contempt, and think it’s mainly the drums. I’m not a drummer, but I’ve always been particularly drawn to drumming, especially bands where the drums are way out in front in the mix and a critical part of the soundscape (The National and Geese are examples of this). On Tarkus my ears hear technical drumming skill, but no SOUL. I will say the title track is epic and kicks ass in moments. But this is the first album on this list (I’m in the 900’s!) that I’ve stopped listening to and can’t bring myself to try again. On paper I should love anything resembling well regarded prog rock, but this sucks.

Ridiculous but fun and enjoyable

Somewhere between not bad and absurd. High 2.

My first exposure to progressive rock. I would say that it was okay, but it didn't grab me.

Super mario music

pretty freaking awesome, especially that title track which is crazy good

21 minute song? Get so for real right now and just split that shit up. You even already have four names for it. Oh so if I enjoyed a particular part I’d want to revisit I have to remember the exact time stamp to find it again. Don’t piss me off. I did enjoy parts of this though.

2.5. A bit too proggy for me, also quite all over the place in genre. I think they have some better tunes than this one

They sound like a Pink Floyd want to be without the guitar and as much talent. It was ok.

This is the 2nd EL&P album that's come up for me on this list, and both times the description had me feeling optimistic, and both times I was disappointed. Prog rock from this era is just too spastic. The melodies sound like a monkey at a keyboard poking at keys. Infinite monkeys at infinite keyboards will generate EL&P melodies at a faster rate than anything good.

Love me a lil ELP

The first track, a 20-minute multi-part suite, ranks with the best prog moments in history. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the album is a hodgepodge of weird experiments. But Tarkus alone is worth the price of admission

The cover is a shitty drawing of some sort of mechanical armadillo and the first song is like 20 minutes long and has multiple keyboard solos. This shit rules.

I enjoyed the 20 minute title track, rest was ok. ⭐⭐⭐

Pretty wild album, lacks a theme. Musicians are clearly talented; sounds like progressive jazz-rock fusion to me. Enjoyed, but wouldn't save for multiple listens.

🦔🔫

I did not enjoy the first track. And then it somehow got pretty good

Really enjoyed it

5/10

Prog Rock all the way, better like organs and mellotron. Not my fave ELP album

Wasn’t that bad at all, besides the 20 minute long song I didn’t listen to

Very cheesy, I was just waiting for it to be over. However it is cool to see the same style of organ playing that’s be found in Nobuo Uematsu’s soundtrack compositions, I assume he was greatly influenced by ELP

Trop excessif pour moi,

Absolut garbage. Almost unlistenable.

Foi engraçado terminar a música, eu abrir o Spotify pensando: "bom, acabou o álbum, por que mudou o estilo da música", e não, acabou a primeira música de 20 min kkkk. Mas gostei da primeira, bem conceitual. Veremos o resto. Quase ganhou 4 estrelas, mas não se destacou em nada. Foi divertido, mas nada de mais.

Parkus

Very overindulgent. Got bored of keith emersons ego trip very quickly

Great album cover illustration and I really enjoyed the opening 20 min track. Instantly goes down hill with the bizarre and vaguely transphobic Jeremy Bender and ends with a terrible rockabilly style track.

Four stars just for the cover artwork. The album? Fine, I'd listen to it again but I'm in no rush.

Awesome Armadillo-tank cover. Hard driving, but weird synthy percussion and bass. Wild-style prog-organ. I really want to love this. Side one delivers on all of it, aside from some short prog-for-the-sake-of-prog moments I wasn't wild about. Jeremy Bender opens side two with a jarringly straightforward sound. Compared to the previous 20 minute opener, it just feels out of place. Bitches Crystal follows and doubles-down on the weirdo heard on side one including some unhinged screaming vocals (always a plus). It does maybe go a little too far into the weirdo here and there. The rest of the album is sort of a blend of "trying a bunch of shit" that seems like I'm sitting in on a particularly polished but meandering practice session. Some stunningly talented performances, but just doesn't have the attraction of side one... Except for A Time and A Place, which fucking rocks, and is a true standout in the back half.

I cannot stand prog. I tried, again,and I regret it, again.

I got Pictures from an Exhibition last week, so the good news is I get original ELP songs this week. The bad news is I have no idea what the hell a "Tarkus" is and I probably don't want to know either. It feels like ELP loved to play around in the studio as much as possible. The first side of this album consists of "Tarkus," and the second half are short, pretty silly songs. The song Tarkus was more tolerable than I thought it was going to end up being. So that's the good news. Did we need two ELP albums in this book? I would argue probably not. I think Tarkus is the album to have in the book though, as it contains original songs, though I don't know anything about their other albums. This divided critics when it came out and for good reasons. It's weird and tonally is all over the place. This is not my favorite version of prog-rock, mostly because half of the album isn't even really prog-rock. Also, because the songs aren't very good. My favorite tracks: Tarkus A Time and a Place Are You Ready Eddy?

Too much prog for my rock.

Sick album cover

Nah cbs. RYM: N Saved a song: N

The only reason I have heard of this band is because my dad has this album on vinyl. I never listened to it but I will always remember the album cover that has a freakin' armadillo tank on it. Maybe the album lives up to the cover art. "Tarkus" - A 20 minute song? Some parts are rocking and groovy, while others feel pretentious and nauseating. Too much for too long. 2/5 "Jeremy Bender" - Followed by a under 2 minute song. Underwhelming 2/5 "Bitches Crystal" - Blazing pace and spacey sound. Cool piano solo. Okay, but I'm not connecting 2/5 "The Only Way (Hymn)" - Opening feels very gothic and very slow. I was waiting for this take off but never did. 1/5 "Infinite Space (Conclusion)" - I'm sure the musicianship during this instrumental is really good but this song goes nowhere for me. 1/5 "A Time and a Place" - This has a deep groove that I like. Probably the only song I have somewhat enjoyed so far on this album but still not a song I will playlist. 3/5 "Are You Ready, Eddy?" - An old school rock throwback, like 1950's old. I like the sound but it is cheesy and repetitive 3/5 No songs added to playlist This is not an album for me. All the musicians can obviously slay on their instruments but every song was a miss for me. I won't revisit this again. The armadillo tank deserved better. 2 stars

The headiness exceeded my capacity to absorb it. Cool stuff, but would need some real focus to appreciate it. 11/09/2026 *new album

Vrm cool je veut plus de truc comme ça

I have rarely seen uglier Yu-Gi-Oh! cards than this one.

A 20 minute song to start off your album is a big swing. That swing missed for me but I did kind of like some of the later songs on the album. Overall, kind of meh.

Es como muy prog pero luego de repente se vuelve casi rockability... progability???

Upon seeing my assignment for today, my first thought was: I'm probably not going to like this. I was correct. Weird 70's prog rock. Totally not my jam. (2)

Prague is one of those genres that I like, but I don’t always get it. And I feel like this is one of those albums. It’s probably a lot deeper than I’m initially giving it credit for. Maybe it’s just one of those albums that demands more of your attention. So while I do like it and it’s good, maybe I’ll appreciate it more if I listen to it additional times.

Cool sounds, seems like it really influenced videogame music.

The Tarkus suite is pretty cool wish more albums did something like that instead of five 6 minute songs that all sound quite similar

Don’t hate it; don’t love it. Probably won’t ever listen to it again. 2 stars.

Jazzy prog

Prog's great armadillo tank opus, and you're sitting dead center on it. Fair. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - Tarkus - Jeremy Bender - A Time and a Place

Not bad. Old Beatles vibes but better

This is #day804 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... here's to my second and final record by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, aka another prog rock album. Now, if you look at my prog rock album reviews, you can probably tell I'm not into the genre. Aside from Pink Floyd, this kind of music is just showy and cacophonous to me... This particular record isn't an exception. At least it sounded right on my Technics SU-7300. Otherwise, this is a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day805.

Dipping into the bottomless well of prog rock albums the list insists I have to hear before I die.

I enjoyed Jeremy Bender, The Only Way (Hymn), and Infinite Space (Conclusion). The rest are eh. So therefore I give it a 2/5 stars, but I would Luke everyone to keep in mind that the two I mentioned before are good and definitely worth a listen, especially Infinite Space, which is my favorite from the album.

Mangler revidering

I’m not really into prog rock so this doesn’t do much for me, towards the end we got some more intense vocals which were a welcome addition but too little too late.

Its worse that you could possibly imagine . . .

Tarkus - Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1971) Why do I hear boss music? More seriously, there are some low ratings here, but I thought it was a very fine album overall. But then I like anything that's a bit proggy and with a lot of overdrive, keyboard and Hammond organ in it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 7.5/10

Nor for me. Rambling nonsense

p240. 1971. 1 stars. Prog rock wankage. And a 20+ minute opener. Oh dear. No disputing they can play well, but Lord this is tedious, and the lyrics are shite. Thank God for punk (and an honourable mention in dispatches for T.Rex, Bowie, and Slade).

Crazy intro, sounds like a budget Pink Floyd

this doesnt give me anything king crimson cant already give me

some highs and some very low lows, the opener fucks

I really love early 70's prog rock, ELP is up there as one onf my favorites in this genre. I really love a 20min song. That being said this is not one of their best albums. I still enjoy it but would prefer pretty much any of their other albums to this one. Their songs are a full rollercoaster ride and this album is no exception.

It was weird and I don’t know what else to say about it

More art rock wankery. Bunzzzzzzzz. Had some moments that weren’t total crap but it put me in a bad mood after listening to it. Pretentious.

Nah-not my thing at all. Not even really sure what I listened to

3,5

Kinda weird

good album this was recommended to me by a salesperson in a CD/Record store back in about 1999 at the time they were calling it slacker pop or rock I just liked the vibe of the album I can just put it on and chill out, hearing it after all these years I still enjoy it

Rate: 7.5/10.

Used to play title track (side 1) on the jukebox at the Gatekeeper bar during college every time I went there. Such a value! And great background music for Harley Davidson pinball.

I had quite some fun with this one, also the album cover makes me laugh

Typisches Psychedelic Feuerwerk aus Anfang der 70er, viele Brüche, viel Orgelgeschredder. Top Qualität aber an vielen Stellen gewollt unkonventionell. Etwas für schwer bekiffte Nächte.

Starting an album with a 13 minute synthesizer solo was certainly a choice. Overall the band won me back with some good tunes on the B-Side

Talented instrumentally, and had some sweet key solos, but there wasnt an overall sound that I loved

progrockig hat mich! aber nicht outstanding

the album art is cool. the music isn't my thing

Their only no.1 album, co produced by Lake and Yes's Eddy Offord (name- checked on the last throwaway pastiche number), the epic title track caused major friction between Emerson and Lake and is the only track in the legendary album canon of 1971 to recount a battle between an armadillo shaped tank and a manticore! The second side is a collection of altogether less distinguished tracks despite still showing off the mix of pretentiousness and virtuosity the band were renowned for. It was just a released in the epicentre of when prog was cool so it retains its reputation. Had it been released in 1977 it would have been in bargain bins!

I have ELP in the 9th circle of prog. That’s a little Literary Reference for the progs, they love that book-lernin’.

🤦🏻‍♂️ Thank goodness for punk...

I am not mich of a prog fan, I usually find it too cheesy for me, but side one here is pretty good. I was planning on giving this album a 4, but side two is where the prog campyness comes in and ruins the album. Side two is pretty bad and drops the whole thing down to a 3. Mid 3.

Cool album cover. The beginning first minutes of the album sounds like the background music for a Mario game. God the first song was too long. Their music feels overly complicated and jumbled. Personally can’t see how this one made it on the list. Must have been some bribery

I often enjoy prog rock, but there is too much on this record that is just too damn weird

Got very Prog Rock there for a bit, which is fine but I feel like you've got to stick the landing on a lot of that if you're going to do that (and they accomplish that a few times). Some nice melodies but the main thing to write home about is the cool album cover. That's about it

I'm coming at this as an avowed hater of prog. I thing it's indulgent showcasing in virtuosity to appeal to pseudointellectuals. I don't enjoy hearing it. It's not interesting. I do have to say though that I did like a lot of the drumming on here and the vocals were not annoying. The parts I found grating were usually just how much organ needed to be blasting through each song. I like when bands switch up the timbre occasionally.

There's a element here and there where this sounds cool. But that's like 10% of this album...the other 90% is needless overdone wankery. I thought after the side one epic, I might like the second side of discrete tunes, but no, its just as bad. This is prog rock when its too self-indulgent.

Can be p groovy at times

Fun!

Not my favorite prog band, but still a great band

never heard these guys before but ive sure as hell seen that album art. it whips. the album itself tho.... that, im not so sure about. the first half is real solid. its got everything i want from prog rock.... unusual time signatures, early synths, electric organs, its all there and im here for it. it gets crazy technical in a bunch of places and im just in awe in those moments. but the back half? it falls off haaaardd..... its been a while since this last happened but, i really did just spend the last 10 mins or so hoping it'd end soon so i could go back to the start again. maybe its just cos the first half is as good as it is but, like, its not even like it's a long album either. i shouldn't be feeling this after less than 30 minutes, right? so as much as i like the "tarkus suite" or whatever, i really don't feel like i can justify anything more than a 3 for the album as a whole. not when any future listens will almost certainly stop at the halfway mark. unfortunate.....

Hmm, another cool band with a rather strange album... After having the dubious pleasure of listening to “The Doors Sell Out” yesterday, today I'm trying to make sense of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's “Tarkus”. While yesterday's concept was easy to understand but just plain weird, today's case is a little different. Why would any sane person write songs about a radioactive armadillo? That might work in a visual medium with visually stunning (but plot-light) episodes, but here a generic title (e.g., “2”) would have made the whole thing better. Now for the good news: the music doesn’t need this concept at all, so “Tarkus” is still a pleasure to listen to. My only recommendation would be to completely ignore all the trappings. Maybe you can even find the album with a neutral cover...

These songs are way too long. Not my taste

Every song was a different genre, opens with one of the best electronic tracks I've heard then does generic 70s but then fun rock, gothic baroque and something just...crap. interesting experiment.

Wow. Weird.

The acoustic representation of Brits' cognition. Every British person I've ever met seems like their brain sounds like this on the inside. So weird. Clever but overbearing.

KRASSES COVER he de erst song isch halt so prog shit aber kinda geil hä. moll finds irgendwie no cool. aber au nöd sooo catchy dases viel mit mir macht. Glaub würkli wiedermol en fall vo musig wo a mir verbiigoht. Bitches Crystal zum Bispil isch recht fun aber hö? nöd so öpis woni mi dra cha festmache glaub. Ich assoziier sie irgendwie mit Orgle? kei ahnig wieso. ou why did they lose six million jes? ou isch das es holocaust album?? han ich nüüüt mitgschnitte? ok weiss nöd. aber uf jede fall hani nöd so spass? gib ich amne prog album es 2?

FREEWHEEL BURNINGGG mal luege, ihres live-album hani glaub na okay gfunde? hahah joo de ahfang findi 8 täkt lang geil, denn chömmed 4 täkt woni chli arsch find etc. aaaber find no cool wenn denn sini klar stimm innechunnt, wo chli en kontrast git prog rock het halt mengisch das ding, sos halt eifach lauft und es isch kinda cool, kinda impressive aber s meiste lauft halt? UHHH jz das langsame gitarresolo holt mich zB wiedermal ab wowww the only way het vill orgle isch aber na es schöns lied infimitie space isch na cool aber es isch au 3 min lang de glich rhythmus? düdüdüdüDÜ düdüdüdüDÜDÜ A TIME AND A PLACE GAHT JA AAAAB eddy isch na herzig, will so unseriös isch joaaa. ich gönns dene lüt wo emotional öppis us dem chönnd günne, ich ghör nöd dezue. drei OMG I FORGOR SORRY

I love prog rock and even prog techno, popularly led zeppelin, pink floyd and king crimson. This album showed me a very different form of prog rock which I'm not sure I entirely enjoyed (at least I didn't like the first song very much, it reminded me of video game music and only became okay at the end). This album didn't quite hit the mark for me, but it wasn't by any means horrible, just meh.