One of the true innovators of progressive rock in the very early 1970’s. Keith Emerson a genius playing the synthesizer. Carl Palmer a world class drummer and Greg Lake who laid down perfect vocals!
This melted my ears in high school when I began exploring progressive rock in the early 90's, back then you just bought the cassette and hoped for the best, that was my strategy and it payed off, especially with early Yes albums, including Relayer, which is truly an epic piece of music.
I saw an interview with Rick Wakeman once and he said Keith Emerson wrote the most beautiful melodies ever and I think This piece is one of the best examples.
I believe your made A comment about keyboards, not bad young men you witnessed one of the top three keyboard Maestros of all time, so I just wanted to point that out
1) This IS pioneering prog rock in its purest form. 2) Pink Floyd conjured Comfortably Numb from Greg Lake's brilliant guitar work in Battlefield. 3) Although a protest against all stupid wars, this was written during the tragic Vietnam War and captures its horror in epic fashion. 4) The futuristic sound and anthem is a warning that unless we rid ourselves of greed and selfishness we will graduate to ever more mindless dehumanizing technical conflict and eventual ruin.
When they talk about the greatest keyboardists the names Rick Wakeman of Yes, Tony Banks of Genesis, and then there is Keith Emerson of ELP. Emerson was the fastest keyboardist of them all. When he was in concert he would be surrounded by 5 or 6 keyboards, synthesizers, and the like. He dashed around the keys like a madman, yet the melodies were spectacular. Keith Emerson RIP.
ELP was one of the fathers of prog rock. Still can't believe they performed this one live. Keith did not have his sleeves rolled up - he often wore a vest with no shirt. Very nice reaction to a long piece... RIP Keith and Greg.
To really appreciate their music you must in my opinion listen to their greatness through headphones like you guys did .Having said that i saw them live and they were awesome! 😊
Not the most ‘musical’ work. But that’s what fascinated us. At 17 yrs old it did take me more than one listen.. Then I suddenly realised they were experimenting and setting the story to sound and vs versa. It remains in my top two. So innovative. Even Greg said he wasn’t convinced of the content. But Keith always pushing and it captured our imaginations plus the artwork as usual is stunning, important in those days.
Highly structured and composed along classical lines. Chaotic at times, while maintaining structure, by 3 brilliant musicians. Carl Palmer's Legacy still plays this live on tour. One of the world's best percussionists and he he still has it. RIP Keith and Greg. Watch Rachel Flowers perform this as a soloist. She is remarkable.
Tarkus is a probe that waits for the listener and shares his exoskeleton, it is almost metaphysical to see you two fall into his dimension and enjoy his timelessness. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Funny, you have a Blue Oyster Cult T on. When I saw EL&P in Chicago in 1977 with 70 piece symphony. All day before they rebuilt stage and came on. The concert started with Blue Oyster Cult, J. Giles Band, and Foghat! What a day shared with 87,000 other fans.
I love this piece of music, especially the last part, Aquatarkus. They thought they had destroyed him only to have him retreat into the sea and morph into a new creature. In my alternate universe there’s a Tarkus II where he emerges from the water and gets revenge.
Prog/Space Rock from my teens. ELP is almost unknown now. One of the primary reasons that I like this channel so much is because you react to groups like ELP.
Great reaction, guys! Always great to see people experience Tarkus for the first time, especially those who can appreciate it. Hope to see more ELP reactions in the future.
ProgRock! It's great to see that, after 52 years, tarkus is finally getting the attention it deserves. I have a great bumper sticker, "my other car IS Tarkus"!
I frequently comment on your reactions to Zappa, but today you two rose higher. I have benn an ELP fan since the early 70's. You guys seemed to like this one an awful lot! You guys are gadually becoming kids of the 70's. Good for you1
@@SpaceCattttt Zappa would have deeply admired your quest to see competition. Then he would have laughed and laughed and laughed at you for such a furious outburst. He would have Ike do a baritone Errrrr! in time with Bobby Martin doing the tenor!! Then they all would have had a petulant frenzy!
I see I've arrived for the cocaine review. Good energy. That being said, this is one of what I call the Prog Trinity masterpieces: Close to the Edge, Firth of Fifth, and Tarkus to me are the ultimate prog rock classics. It doesn't get any better than this.
First time I saw Emerson he was with the group, The Nice, and they opened for a new group called Pink Floyd. Glad Emerson let Rachel Flowers try out your Moog. Perfect person to let this happen to. And she does a mean Tarkus. When this album came out a lot of my friends were delightfully shocked. Carl, keep you guys alive please.
Keith Emerson was a keyboard virtuoso and Carl Palmer a young drummer who really upped his game to play with Keith and became a top flight drummer in the process. Greg Lake , who came from King Crimson had experience in playing a progressive rock bass and guitar and his vocals were considered one of the better prog rock voices of the heyday of the genre. Check out Toccata from the Brain Salad Surgery album as another recommended track.
I see you are getting good comments from others, here is a few thoughts. I saw ELP five times, 4 in Seattle and the 1974 "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends" concert in Pullman, Washington. You said something about what kind of stuff they would have needed in the studio to create such a track, I saw them reproduce "Tarkus" live and could not believe they played a song for 20 minutes and it had all the stuff you had on the album but with no backing tracks or extra musicians like you see today. The 1974 concert was in quad with two huge speaker towers in the audience. There is a spectacular version of "Tarkus" on that album. The show also did permanent damage to my left ear, they were one of the loudest bands performing. Only The Clash was louder out of bands I have seen. I recommend the first 5 albums and the live "Welcome..." to get the best experience. Also check out The Nice with Keith Emerson, some great tunes and arrangements of some of that "classical s$#t" you don't listen to (I'm never going to let you live that down)! Their version of Leonard Bernstein's "America" from West Side Story is my all time favorite version of that song. here is a link to a great live version, about 6 and a half minutes in the song begins to dissolve into chaos. Sounds like Keith is attacking his organ with a knife (I know that sounds wrong), he actually climbed on top of it, would rock it around, get feedback out of it and stab it with a knife to short out circuits. Was fun to watch live, he did that during the Tarkus tour concert.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer were considered part of the Techno-Rock era . These were bands with huge amps to play there music loud in front of huge crowds. One summer I was lucky enough to see ELP , Pink Floyd and Yes in an open stadium 🏟. There music was all incredible and a musical experience I will never forget
Dig those dog pawing (air keyboardists) and when you went to their show, there would be many ELPhounds dog pawing their fastest to keep up with Emerson...the light show that went with the song and the help of El Cid to guide your way, you too would be in the Armadillo tank
Funny that you should mention Miles Davis. Actually both ELP and Miles Davis were playing at the same festival in 1970, the legendary Isle of Wight festival in England. Both artists were at the forefront of contemporary experimental music I would say 🙂
Yes, quite epic, an utterly amazing band, top 5 prog band and they just took flight in the 70s. Try Looking at how they performed when they headlined the California Jam in 1974. They blow the crowd away no matter where they played and one of the top live acts I ever saw. Try the amazing Endless Enigma suite off Trilogy, it is Endless Enigma into Fugue and back into Endless Enigma. You would appreciate the musicianship that is on display. Enjoy! 🎵🎹🎤🎸🎶
IMAGINE THE YEAR IS ABOUT 1972-73 AND YOU'RE A 15-YEAR-OLD BOY MAYBE 16 AND YOU HEARD THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! WELL THAT WAS MY EXPERIENCE AND THE FIRST TIME I HEARD EMERSON, LAKE, AND PALMER I WAS A FAN INSTANTLY BECAUSE I WAS DRAWN TO THE UNIQUENESS, THE FACT THAT NOTHING ELSE AT THE TIME SOUNDED LIKE THIS!! YES YOU HAD PINK FLOYD BUT PINK FLOYD WAS DIFFERENT, THIS WAS SOMETHING NEW AND UNIQUE AND THE VERY, VERY, BEGINNINGS OF PROG. ROCK!!
Prog Rock kings. Saw them in the 70's and never looked back. Was also at the 2016 Keith Emerson Tribute Concert - so many great musicians took part in the jam (Rachel Flowers among them) - check out the video / DVD. Thanks, you made my day!
For your own enjoyment, listen to this as was performed on their live album, "Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends". If you're allowed by YT, do a reaction to the Karn Evil suite of songs that conclude the aforementioned live album. It's just over 35 minutes long, but you can easily break it into two separate reactions because the two halves aren't directly related to each other.
I always thought 'Tarkus' was ELP's best. ... I saw them in Toronto a couple of times and this was the best tour. ... This music inspired me to be a musician. ... 50-years later I still play, just not this.
If you actually have the album artwork theres kind of a comic strip that explains the story. Tarkus is the tank, he's born wanders around picking fights until eventually he is defeated.
Fantastic epic song played by 3 people at the top of their game and if you look at the album the inside of the album cover tells a story, unfortunately Tarkus was defeated and killed by the Manticore
Saw ELP in the 70s at the California Jam right after they came out with Brain Salad Surgery and they were amazing. This though is one of my favorites. Especially side one.
And to think Greg Lake wouldn’t want any of this piece Emerson and Palmer started working on; it became one of ELP’s anthems. By the way, among other bones, there’s a Manticore skeleton in the background on the album cover, obviously defeated by Tarkus.
Ugghh. What a chore listening to this. On the other hand the live performances of this in the early - mid seventies was amazing. They made it way better than this.
Really dug this one when it came out (I had a thing for side-long cuts)... Picked up the album Pictures at an Exhibition (1971) which followed but my misikal interests were moving towards Jazz by then and that was it for me & EL&P~
1971, the yer "Tarkus" came out, was probably the greatest year for rock music; so many excellent albums came out this year. This list is just an excerpt; we could easily triple it: Van der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts Focus - Moving Waves Pink Floyd - Meddle Amon Düül II - Tanz der Lemminge (German for "Dance of the Lemmings") Magma - 1001° Centigrades. Though it is very debatable if Magma are really rock music; they single-handedly created their own musical style called "Zeuhl". Magma claim to be from the future and from the planet Kobaïa, a planet mankind will exile to in the future some time in the future after having ecologically destroyed planet Earth. They even created their own language they sing in which is called "Kobaïan". The French/German TV-channel ARTE that broadcasted a feature about them last year called Zeuhl a mixture of jazz, rock, classical, modern avant-garde, rhythm and blues, metal and world music; we would throw in funk, soul and even disco into that mix to describe their music. Being at a Magma concert truly is a spiritual experience. It is not just us saying this; many who have been at a Magma concert say the same. There is no band that even remotely sounds like Magma. Many of their albums consist of one long track only; their longest called "Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré" is 51 minutes long and very much resembles a black mass; there are some truly dark passages in it. Deep Purple - Fireball Can (one of the most influential bands of all time) - Tago Mago Hawkwind - In Search of Space Deep Purple - Fireball Birth Control - Operation Guru Guru - Hinten (German for "Behind"; the cover shows a nude male ass that probably belongs to their excellent drummer Mani Neumeier) Uriah Heep - Birth Control Atomic Rooster - In Hearing of... UFO - UFO II Focus - Moving Waves Yes - The Yes Album Genesis - Nursery Cryme Embryo - Embryos Rache (German for "Embryo's Revenge") Jade Warrior - Jade Warrior Jefferson Airplane - Bark Tangerine Dream - Alpha Centauri Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel Black Sabbath - Master of Reality Black Widow - Black Widow King Crimson - Islands Karthago - Karthago Led Zeppelin - IV Santana - III Renaissance - Illusion Shocking Blue - 3rd Album Soft Machine - Fourth Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink Catapilla - Catapilla The Doors - L.A. Woman Faust - Faust Egg - The Polite Force We could continue this list endlessly. Also keyboarder Keith Emerson, who was truly excellent, was a huge fan of German organist Barbara Dennerlein, which is really saying something. She is a German jazz and jazz-rock/fusion organist who is especially renowned for her foot pedal work. She plays jazz on Hammond organ as well as pipe organs; about half of her concerts are on pipe organs. She has played on about 400 pipe organs all over the world. Here a clip of her: th-cam.com/video/tsW3V4rrRsw/w-d-xo.html The part in which she plays "piano" is actually played on an organ; she integrated MIDI-technology into her Hammond organ with which she can make it sound like piano, vibraphone, trumpet and, for the bass pedals, like acoustic bass.
@@garygomesvedicastrology I think it would be very misleading to call Magma's music "Rock Music". Their music is Zeuhl and nothing else. Rock Music definitely is an element of Zeuhl, but so is Jazz, modern composers like Carl Orff or Béla Bartók, World Music, Classical Music, Soul, Funk, even Metal. We saw them live many times.
@@BaldJean Folks, I think if I follow your logic, then I would have to take ELP, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Henry Cow, Frank Zappa and a whole bunch of other groups out of the rock column, as many of them developed unique one of a kind sounds from a variety of sources. Zeuhl isn't a very large tradition. You are free to have your read on them. I am a huge Magma fan myself, and blended these components into a marvelous language. That is what progressive/fusion music is all about! Magma is a one of a kind group, but so were all of the bands I mentioned. Subdivisions tend to divide audiences, I think. Just my opinion.
And they sounded this good live, too. Caught their act twice during the Brain Salad Surgery tour. The 3 lp set for yous old enough to remember vinyl. What Emerson would do to his organ...tsk.
If you think he’s number two on your list, then you need to listen to him more. I don’t think you’ve heard a song that really shows off his piano skills. As a keyboardist I don’t think anybody comes close. Take a pebble his piano is gorgeous. On Carnival nine second impression is piano work and keyboard work are astounding. Give him more lessons before you decide who’s number one
There is a difference between best and favorite. The Doors have a special place in Dan’s heart so it’ll be hard to overtake him as the favorite, regardless of how much better he may or may not be on the instrument
It is such a trip watching this generation getting into this music. Bought it when it first was released, got toasted and on a high powered stereo system, Bose speakers, cranked it up and let the music take me away. As the TV commercial used to say take me away Calgon lol
I do think Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery are both better albums overall than Tarkus, but the title piece is just spectacular and might be their very best. On the live album, Lake brought in vocals from the King Crimson song, Epitaph, as part of Tarkus, as well.
Lyrically, it's about the mindset that reanimates the war machine and its continued evolution, or as Lake put it, "He's a mean bastard." According to Emerson, there were ideas in the original Tarkus that weren't fully developed, so the band continued to improve upon it live with the 1974 versions being the most realized renditions.
True Prog giants. At this point, there was nobody better as musicians, and for the Zappa zealots, it includes anyone he may have had. Keith Emerson, along with Wakeman were way ahead of all else. Carl Palmer's drumming was top of the tree too. For contrast, you had Greg Lake's beautiful voice along with brilliant bass/rhythm, accoustic and lead guitar. This isn't my favourite piece by them but even so, most bases of excellence are covered. Saw them do P.A.A.E. and a year or so later, tour Trilogy. Exceptional group and musicians. 👍
Greg Lake R.I.P. had some standout guitar playing as well as outstanding vocals and bass playing throughout.. Keith Emerson R.I.P. and Carl Palmer were not so shabby either…
Truly the geekiest reactions to Tarkus ever. I can't tell if you are into it or not. I give you credit for choosing Tarkus, and good commentary at the end.
You mention the tech catching up with the talents. This is also a case of the talents pushing new tech to its limits. Emerson took the Moog synth and showed what it could do. It's hard to understand what it took to churn out his music, but this wasn't just sitting at a keyboard and throwing switches. You practically had to build synthesizer by hand, plugging in wires and throwing dials. It's more like a switchboard operator than a computer programmer. But I think this song really goes out to Carl Palmer, a virtual machine gun. Sorry I won't get to see his tribute tour this year.
Ok, you guys obviously know this piece. I like the way Dan was doing Keith Emerson and Sifa was doing both Greg Lake and Carl Palmer. Tarkus and the intro to Karnevil 9 are my favorites.
Hahaha we are honored that you would think we’ve heard this before! In reality we were just letting the music take over ☺️ looks like we did pretty well!
She 100% correct. This is some of the most progressive music to ever be born of rock. It incorporates a wide range of musical styles which is a big part of being progressive.
Hey girl I loved it that you were working on keeping up with the drums that was totally awesome all right my loves from Brooklyn look there is so much to unpack here sorry for being so f****** wordy you know I always wondered the start of the song had that voice type synthesizer I think it might have been a melaton using voice tapes you know it's funny it took me so long to figure that out on the keyboard that first riff you know course I can't remember it now but it was like either all black keys are all white keys I don't remember you know it's really strange but there's so many outside courts it's like man he got away with so much it's like what can I get away with without it's sounding you know really a total or messed up or whatever he just broke so many rules that Keith guy man when I saw the little warning that you guys were doing this I just couldn't believe it I had to scramble to get over and check it out yeah if this was final that would have been the first side of course you'll have to do songs on the second side as well it's a solid album Eddie offered did the mixing board when they recorded it he also did close to the edge by yes of course when they do a song dedicated to him at the end it's like a 50s rockabilly song it's hilarious but yeah I love that gong in there and how you stop it real quick and then go back into the scene you know and you're playing two totally different lines counterpointing each other it's just nuts you know I don't know if you guys ever heard of Oscar Peterson but he actually had a program where he brought Keith Emerson on to the show and they played some stuff together it was really awesome course Oscar Peterson is like one of the two best jazz piano players in the world the other one I think is Paul Smith but there you go I think Paul Smith actually played on lumpy gravy along with Ray Brown on base pretty awesome stuff when you think about it I love it that they had backwards guitars you know overdove guitars I mean you don't have a guitarist in the band it was just Greg Lake you know throwing in some guitar work which just really made it you know it's a nice bonus you know that one part where it sounds really oh gosh really abrupt when they play the organ what's so cool about that is that effect is the dirt on the contacts as it goes across that that spinning rod that's how the frequencies are are created these metal rods that spin at a really fast rate and they have these ridges ground into these rods anyhow the contacts that switch on the Note as you're playing the organ if they're dirty they make that really cool sound it adds like a little bit of distortion right at the start of the note but only for that brief millisecond yeah you know it's so cool if there was some girl who I mean you could say unfortunately she is blind but I guess that might not be the case here her name is Rachel flowers and she learned how to play this and other stuff by Keith Emerson and it's so cool she'll play one of these amazing things like this tarkus right here and when she's done you know everybody's so happy and she she moves her hands in a circular motion you know you know showing her happiness or exuberance you know it's so touching to watch anyhow Keith Emerson found out about this scale this young girl and he gifted all his old synthesizers to her so that she could get the right sounds for everything and here's another cool thing Rachel actually showed up at a diesel you know concert where he does all his dad's songs and she played Evelyn the modified dog I don't know if you've done that one yet but that's a great song but yeah she did it live and it was pretty awesome I saw that video anyway so she did this performance where she played some of Keith Emerson's compositions and it was right after Keith that just passed away recently an old man talk about tugging on your Heartstrings cuz well she was playing this music and she started to cry another really cool thing is when she was really young you know I don't know 9 10 11 yeah so anyhow Ray Charles showed up to Mentor her you know Giver some tips and encourage her you know I thought that was absolutely cool so yeah what a epic thing you know one of the things you got to realize is Keith Emerson was really heavily influenced by ragtime and Boogie Woogie that sort of stuff and to take that and mutate it into this absolutely stupendous crazy music is insanely awesome all right you nutty kids oh by the way I'm on patreon now so I have to go over there and check it out chickity check it out take care of you Grupo sportivo
Tarkus is basically musical science fiction that's all ,a monster movie Godzilla, Rodan fun stuff .
The best ever progressive band! Greg's voice is timeless! So fun to see a new generation enjoy them too!
No overdubbing, they are just that good.
I loved your attempts at drumming along with Carl Palmer! So funny! Carl is a bad-assed drummer, indeed!
My favorite ELP album.
Actually, one of my favorite albums off all time.
The Hammond gets a wonderful outing here!
One of the true innovators of progressive rock in the very early 1970’s. Keith Emerson a genius playing the synthesizer. Carl Palmer a world class drummer and Greg Lake who laid down perfect vocals!
One of their very best compositions, showing their unique talent!! I will always have a special love for the music of Emerson Lake and Palmer!!
This melted my ears in high school when I began exploring progressive rock in the early 90's, back then you just bought the cassette and hoped for the best, that was my strategy and it payed off, especially with early Yes albums, including Relayer, which is truly an epic piece of music.
I saw an interview with Rick Wakeman once and he said Keith Emerson wrote the most beautiful melodies ever and I think This piece is one of the best examples.
Simply the best trio I ever saw live. Carl Palmer is a beast and what to say about that voice and not bad keyboards either.
I believe your made A comment about keyboards, not bad young men you witnessed one of the top three keyboard Maestros of all time, so I just wanted to point that out
Haha well said. We were spoiled with musicianship from elp and some others live minimum tech.
Saw them in 1974. Best concert ever. First and still holds up. My wife loves this album. I prefer Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery.
Super talent in this band. Literally a 3 piece orchestra capable of playing anything at all. R.I.P. Keith and Greg.
Emerson and Palmer areWOW!
I've been listening to ELP for half a century and I'm beginning to like Tarkus the best.
I WAS SUCH A FAN OF THIS BAND THAT I ONCE LEFT A LIVE ALLMAN BROTHERS CONCERT SO THAT I COULD GET HOME AND WATCH ELP LIVE ON TELEVISION!!
Woahhh! That’s dedication ☺️!
Interesting parallel- I saw the Allman Brothers open for the Nice in Boston in 1970.
Love the Miles Davis comparo. That is some strange, next level music.
ELP is another outstanding band I listened to late 60's early 70's!!! You will love the bass playing with Greg Lake!!! Outstanding band!!!
1) This IS pioneering prog rock in its purest form. 2) Pink Floyd conjured Comfortably Numb from Greg Lake's brilliant guitar work in Battlefield. 3) Although a protest against all stupid wars, this was written during the tragic Vietnam War and captures its horror in epic fashion. 4) The futuristic sound and anthem is a warning that unless we rid ourselves of greed and selfishness we will graduate to ever more mindless dehumanizing technical conflict and eventual ruin.
Well explained. They were amazing saw them live in early days.
Keith Emerson is on piano, synthesizer organ and leader of the band, 3 outstanding musicians in theyre own right!!
When they talk about the greatest keyboardists the names Rick Wakeman of Yes, Tony Banks of Genesis, and then there is Keith Emerson of ELP. Emerson was the fastest keyboardist of them all. When he was in concert he would be surrounded by 5 or 6 keyboards, synthesizers, and the like. He dashed around the keys like a madman, yet the melodies were spectacular. Keith Emerson RIP.
ELP was one of the fathers of prog rock. Still can't believe they performed this one live. Keith did not have his sleeves rolled up - he often wore a vest with no shirt. Very nice reaction to a long piece... RIP Keith and Greg.
We’ll take the vest cause it equates to no sleeves and no button up😆! Rip Keith and Greg!
I think they played all compositions live.
That Greg Lake really knew how to play the bass, huh?
almost as good as Chris Squire. not quite
To really appreciate their music you must in my opinion listen to their greatness through headphones like you guys did .Having said that i saw them live and they were awesome! 😊
I was lucky to see them in a smallish venue. Wonderful.
Not the most ‘musical’ work. But that’s what fascinated us. At 17 yrs old it did take me more than one listen.. Then I suddenly realised they were experimenting and setting the story to sound and vs versa. It remains in my top two. So innovative. Even Greg said he wasn’t convinced of the content. But Keith always pushing and it captured our imaginations plus the artwork as usual is stunning, important in those days.
Highly structured and composed along classical lines. Chaotic at times, while maintaining structure, by 3 brilliant musicians. Carl Palmer's Legacy still plays this live on tour. One of the world's best percussionists and he he still has it. RIP Keith and Greg. Watch Rachel Flowers perform this as a soloist. She is remarkable.
Thanks Marc!
Yes chaotic. Yet beautiful. And precise at the same time.
Tarkus is a probe that waits for the listener and shares his exoskeleton, it is almost metaphysical to see you two fall into his dimension and enjoy his timelessness. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Thanks for watching!
Emerson was the greatest. Period.
Absolutely amazing band and for me their bets record…. Just stunning 🤩 txs guys!
Thanks for watching Rene!
Unquestionably the greatest rock album side EVER composed!
right after Close to The Edge and Thick as a Brick,
Funny, you have a Blue Oyster Cult T on. When I saw EL&P in Chicago in 1977 with 70 piece symphony. All day before they rebuilt stage and came on. The concert started with Blue Oyster Cult, J. Giles Band, and Foghat! What a day shared with 87,000 other fans.
OMG thanks for doing this, one of my all time favorites. I always use this to test sound systems.
Thanks for watching Brian!
I love this piece of music, especially the last part, Aquatarkus. They thought they had destroyed him only to have him retreat into the sea and morph into a new creature. In my alternate universe there’s a Tarkus II where he emerges from the water and gets revenge.
Prog/Space Rock from my teens. ELP is almost unknown now. One of the primary reasons that I like this channel so much is because you react to groups like ELP.
Great reaction, guys! Always great to see people experience Tarkus for the first time, especially those who can appreciate it. Hope to see more ELP reactions in the future.
We’re glad we did! Thanks for watching!
You must listen to Pictures at an Exhibition.
ProgRock! It's great to see that, after 52 years, tarkus is finally getting the attention it deserves. I have a great bumper sticker, "my other car IS Tarkus"!
☺️nice. Thanks for watching Joe!
Sifa I love your improvisation to this. I don't think I've ever seen you this active to any reaction. Well done!!!
☺️thanks Brian!
I frequently comment on your reactions to Zappa, but today you two rose higher. I have benn an ELP fan since the early 70's. You guys seemed to like this one an awful lot! You guys are gadually becoming kids of the 70's. Good for you1
Err......ELP is not higher than Zappa. Nothing is.
@@SpaceCattttt Zappa would have deeply admired your quest to see competition. Then he would have laughed and laughed and laughed at you for such a furious outburst. He would have Ike do a baritone Errrrr! in time with Bobby Martin doing the tenor!! Then they all would have had a petulant frenzy!
We had a lot of fun! Thanks so much, we love the 70’s!
@@SpaceCattttt I doubt, Zappa too often was parody and just poking his finger in someone's eye. ELP were quality.
Lol
I'm not a pianist. At all. But for my untrained ear, Keith Emerson sounds most magical to me out of all the keyboard greats of the last 50+ years.
He was one of a kind ❤
Totally agree, play me ……Keith , oh ok!
Miss Keith and Greg so much hope I meet them in the other place!
This is definatly progressive rock, infact many regards this album as the grandfather of all progrock. All hail ELP!
I see I've arrived for the cocaine review. Good energy. That being said, this is one of what I call the Prog Trinity masterpieces: Close to the Edge, Firth of Fifth, and Tarkus to me are the ultimate prog rock classics. It doesn't get any better than this.
Just an early morning coffee review
@@SightAfterDark That energy was truly epic. 😁😅😂
First time I saw Emerson he was with the group, The Nice, and they opened for a new group called Pink Floyd. Glad Emerson let Rachel Flowers try out your Moog. Perfect person to let this happen to. And she does a mean Tarkus. When this album came out a lot of my friends were delightfully shocked. Carl, keep you guys alive please.
Wow, Rock history! Thanks for sharing tixximmi1!
Keith Emerson was a keyboard virtuoso and Carl Palmer a young drummer who really upped his game to play with Keith and became a top flight drummer in the process. Greg Lake , who came from King Crimson had experience in playing a progressive rock bass and guitar and his vocals were considered one of the better prog rock voices of the heyday of the genre. Check out Toccata from the Brain Salad Surgery album as another recommended track.
Thanks for sharing!
I see you are getting good comments from others, here is a few thoughts. I saw ELP five times, 4 in Seattle and the 1974 "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends" concert in Pullman, Washington. You said something about what kind of stuff they would have needed in the studio to create such a track, I saw them reproduce "Tarkus" live and could not believe they played a song for 20 minutes and it had all the stuff you had on the album but with no backing tracks or extra musicians like you see today. The 1974 concert was in quad with two huge speaker towers in the audience. There is a spectacular version of "Tarkus" on that album. The show also did permanent damage to my left ear, they were one of the loudest bands performing. Only The Clash was louder out of bands I have seen. I recommend the first 5 albums and the live "Welcome..." to get the best experience. Also check out The Nice with Keith Emerson, some great tunes and arrangements of some of that "classical s$#t" you don't listen to (I'm never going to let you live that down)! Their version of Leonard Bernstein's "America" from West Side Story is my all time favorite version of that song. here is a link to a great live version, about 6 and a half minutes in the song begins to dissolve into chaos. Sounds like Keith is attacking his organ with a knife (I know that sounds wrong), he actually climbed on top of it, would rock it around, get feedback out of it and stab it with a knife to short out circuits. Was fun to watch live, he did that during the Tarkus tour concert.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks!!
You two dancing to ELP....... priceless : )
Emerson, Lake and Palmer were considered part of the Techno-Rock era . These were bands with huge amps to play there music loud in front of huge crowds. One summer I was lucky enough to see ELP , Pink Floyd and Yes in an open stadium 🏟. There music was all incredible and a musical experience I will never forget
Sounds excellent!
Dig those dog pawing (air keyboardists) and when you went to their show, there would be many ELPhounds dog pawing their fastest to keep up with Emerson...the light show that went with the song and the help of El Cid to guide your way, you too would be in the Armadillo tank
Funny that you should mention Miles Davis. Actually both ELP and Miles Davis were playing at the same festival in 1970, the legendary Isle of Wight festival in England. Both artists were at the forefront of contemporary experimental music I would say 🙂
Top 5 band of all time
TOP ONE BAND IN THE WORLD
Those were the days of progrock and concept albums ❤ Like your reaction as usually!
Thanks so much!
This music is very organsmic. Yes, I noticed the drums too.❤😂
Yes, quite epic, an utterly amazing band, top 5 prog band and they just took flight in the 70s. Try Looking at how they performed when they headlined the California Jam in 1974. They blow the crowd away no matter where they played and one of the top live acts I ever saw. Try the amazing Endless Enigma suite off Trilogy, it is Endless Enigma into Fugue and back into Endless Enigma. You would appreciate the musicianship that is on display. Enjoy! 🎵🎹🎤🎸🎶
I've heard this on 8-track! The teack swap was during the organ chord hold at 12:26-ish. Jarring, but that was how we rolled.
IMAGINE THE YEAR IS ABOUT 1972-73 AND YOU'RE A 15-YEAR-OLD BOY MAYBE 16 AND YOU HEARD THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!
WELL THAT WAS MY EXPERIENCE AND THE FIRST TIME I HEARD EMERSON, LAKE, AND PALMER I WAS A FAN INSTANTLY BECAUSE I WAS DRAWN TO THE UNIQUENESS, THE FACT THAT NOTHING ELSE AT THE TIME SOUNDED LIKE THIS!! YES YOU HAD PINK FLOYD BUT PINK FLOYD WAS DIFFERENT, THIS WAS SOMETHING NEW AND UNIQUE AND THE VERY, VERY, BEGINNINGS OF PROG. ROCK!!
Thanks for sharing Bernard!
YES I WAS THEIR AND STILL AM
Palmer is 🔥🔥🔥✌🤘
Prog Rock kings. Saw them in the 70's and never looked back. Was also at the 2016 Keith Emerson Tribute Concert - so many great musicians took part in the jam (Rachel Flowers among them) - check out the video / DVD. Thanks, you made my day!
Glad you enjoyed Blue Shoes! Thanks for watching!
For your own enjoyment, listen to this as was performed on their live album, "Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends". If you're allowed by YT, do a reaction to the Karn Evil suite of songs that conclude the aforementioned live album. It's just over 35 minutes long, but you can easily break it into two separate reactions because the two halves aren't directly related to each other.
They killed it live on Welcome Back My Friends!!!
Pictures at an Exhibition is truly there best. It’s actually their first work. It just didn’t get released until 3rd album
Watch the live film and see how closely Carl and Keith are working. Truly inspiring!
You have to watch ELP's Knife Edge. You will have a chance to see Keith Emerson perform his magic. The video is on TH-cam.
Thanks for the info Janet!
I always thought 'Tarkus' was ELP's best. ... I saw them in Toronto a couple of times and this was the best tour. ... This music inspired me to be a musician. ... 50-years later I still play, just not this.
If you actually have the album artwork theres kind of a comic strip that explains the story. Tarkus is the tank, he's born wanders around picking fights until eventually he is defeated.
Saw it live more than once......3 people.
Then there is Rick Wakeman
This is top shelf progressive rock.....ELP were some of the Godfathers.
You know, this is not one of my favorites from them, until watching you two react to it, now l'm going to watch it again, you guys rock🤩👍
☺️thanks Emily!
Fantastic epic song played by 3 people at the top of their game and if you look at the album the inside of the album cover tells a story, unfortunately Tarkus was defeated and killed by the Manticore
Noooooo 😔
I have actually seen a live armadillo once in an orange grove in Florida.
☺️cool
More Classic Prog 1968'-1979'
Yes/ Genesis/ King Crimson/ Jethro Tull/ Gentle Giant/ Pink Floyd/ Nektar/ ELP and more ............ 👍🎶🎼✌
The studio version is overshadowed by Emerson mastering all those keyboards playing live. ELP and S!
😆
Arguably a consideration in anyone's 'All timer Top Shelf' category .
At some point in their inventory , one can easily run out of superlatives to describe what they're doing .
Saw ELP in the 70s at the California Jam right after they came out with Brain Salad Surgery and they were amazing. This though is one of my favorites. Especially side one.
Keith at 4:49 and 9:33 is where get goose bumps. So powerful.
And to think Greg Lake wouldn’t want any of this piece Emerson and Palmer started working on; it became one of ELP’s anthems.
By the way, among other bones, there’s a Manticore skeleton in the background on the album cover, obviously defeated by Tarkus.
Cool! Thanks for the info Andrè!
Ugghh. What a chore listening to this.
On the other hand the live performances of this in the early - mid seventies was amazing. They made it way better than this.
Really dug this one when it came out (I had a thing for side-long cuts)... Picked up the album Pictures at an Exhibition (1971) which followed but my misikal interests were moving towards Jazz by then and that was it for me & EL&P~
lol... & I asked my dad what an 'Iconoclast' is. He looked at me over the top of his glasses and replied: "You are..."
@@DrSardonicussNow that's funny!
Timeless........can,t go better.....
1971, the yer "Tarkus" came out, was probably the greatest year for rock music; so many excellent albums came out this year. This list is just an excerpt; we could easily triple it:
Van der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
Focus - Moving Waves
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Amon Düül II - Tanz der Lemminge (German for "Dance of the Lemmings")
Magma - 1001° Centigrades. Though it is very debatable if Magma are really rock music; they single-handedly created their own musical style called "Zeuhl". Magma claim to be from the future and from the planet Kobaïa, a planet mankind will exile to in the future some time in the future after having ecologically destroyed planet Earth. They even created their own language they sing in which is called "Kobaïan". The French/German TV-channel ARTE that broadcasted a feature about them last year called Zeuhl a mixture of jazz, rock, classical, modern avant-garde, rhythm and blues, metal and world music; we would throw in funk, soul and even disco into that mix to describe their music. Being at a Magma concert truly is a spiritual experience. It is not just us saying this; many who have been at a Magma concert say the same. There is no band that even remotely sounds like Magma. Many of their albums consist of one long track only; their longest called "Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré" is 51 minutes long and very much resembles a black mass; there are some truly dark passages in it.
Deep Purple - Fireball
Can (one of the most influential bands of all time) - Tago Mago
Hawkwind - In Search of Space
Deep Purple - Fireball
Birth Control - Operation
Guru Guru - Hinten (German for "Behind"; the cover shows a nude male ass that probably belongs to their excellent drummer Mani Neumeier)
Uriah Heep - Birth Control
Atomic Rooster - In Hearing of...
UFO - UFO II
Focus - Moving Waves
Yes - The Yes Album
Genesis - Nursery Cryme
Embryo - Embryos Rache (German for "Embryo's Revenge")
Jade Warrior - Jade Warrior
Jefferson Airplane - Bark
Tangerine Dream - Alpha Centauri
Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
Black Widow - Black Widow
King Crimson - Islands
Karthago - Karthago
Led Zeppelin - IV
Santana - III
Renaissance - Illusion
Shocking Blue - 3rd Album
Soft Machine - Fourth
Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink
Catapilla - Catapilla
The Doors - L.A. Woman
Faust - Faust
Egg - The Polite Force
We could continue this list endlessly.
Also keyboarder Keith Emerson, who was truly excellent, was a huge fan of German organist Barbara Dennerlein, which is really saying something. She is a German jazz and jazz-rock/fusion organist who is especially renowned for her foot pedal work. She plays jazz on Hammond organ as well as pipe organs; about half of her concerts are on pipe organs. She has played on about 400 pipe organs all over the world. Here a clip of her:
th-cam.com/video/tsW3V4rrRsw/w-d-xo.html
The part in which she plays "piano" is actually played on an organ; she integrated MIDI-technology into her Hammond organ with which she can make it sound like piano, vibraphone, trumpet and, for the bass pedals, like acoustic bass.
Thanks for the history!
Magma is rock music. I saw them live. They fit rock well.
Dennerlein is awesome!
@@garygomesvedicastrology I think it would be very misleading to call Magma's music "Rock Music". Their music is Zeuhl and nothing else. Rock Music definitely is an element of Zeuhl, but so is Jazz, modern composers like Carl Orff or Béla Bartók, World Music, Classical Music, Soul, Funk, even Metal. We saw them live many times.
@@BaldJean Folks, I think if I follow your logic, then I would have to take ELP, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Henry Cow, Frank Zappa and a whole bunch of other groups out of the rock column, as many of them developed unique one of a kind sounds from a variety of sources. Zeuhl isn't a very large tradition. You are free to have your read on them. I am a huge Magma fan myself, and blended these components into a marvelous language. That is what progressive/fusion music is all about! Magma is a one of a kind group, but so were all of the bands I mentioned. Subdivisions tend to divide audiences, I think. Just my opinion.
And they sounded this good live, too. Caught their act twice during the Brain Salad Surgery tour. The 3 lp set for yous old enough to remember vinyl. What Emerson would do to his organ...tsk.
Wow!
Carl Palmer is still out there playing this music with a couple of young protegees
ELP Prog pioneers and geniuses. Love your miming. Very impressive especially since you hadn’t heard the songs before.
Thanks Arnie!
If you think he’s number two on your list, then you need to listen to him more. I don’t think you’ve heard a song that really shows off his piano skills. As a keyboardist I don’t think anybody comes close. Take a pebble his piano is gorgeous. On Carnival nine second impression is piano work and keyboard work are astounding. Give him more lessons before you decide who’s number one
There is a difference between best and favorite. The Doors have a special place in Dan’s heart so it’ll be hard to overtake him as the favorite, regardless of how much better he may or may not be on the instrument
It is such a trip watching this generation getting into this music. Bought it when it first was released, got toasted and on a high powered stereo system, Bose speakers, cranked it up and let the music take me away. As the TV commercial used to say take me away Calgon lol
Sounds awesome ☺️! Thanks for being here Carl!
I do think Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery are both better albums overall than Tarkus, but the title piece is just spectacular and might be their very best. On the live album, Lake brought in vocals from the King Crimson song, Epitaph, as part of Tarkus, as well.
As a teen, this is one of the record sides I would put on the player with the arm up so it would repeat over and over... LOL!
The weaver in the web that he made.
Lyrically, it's about the mindset that reanimates the war machine and its continued evolution, or as Lake put it, "He's a mean bastard." According to Emerson, there were ideas in the original Tarkus that weren't fully developed, so the band continued to improve upon it live with the 1974 versions being the most realized renditions.
Thanks for the info Bookhouse Boy!
The Owls Are Not What They Seem...
True Prog giants. At this point, there was nobody better as musicians, and for the Zappa zealots, it includes anyone he may have had. Keith Emerson, along with Wakeman were way ahead of all else. Carl Palmer's drumming was top of the tree too. For contrast, you had Greg Lake's beautiful voice along with brilliant bass/rhythm, accoustic and lead guitar.
This isn't my favourite piece by them but even so, most bases of excellence are covered. Saw them do P.A.A.E. and a year or so later, tour Trilogy. Exceptional group and musicians.
👍
Such great music, thanks for sharing Paul!
Carl Palmer's drum rhythm if you noticed on Aqua Tarkus there's the Purple Haze beat by Mitch Mitchell.
Greg Lake R.I.P. had some standout guitar playing as well as outstanding vocals and bass playing throughout.. Keith Emerson R.I.P. and Carl Palmer were not so shabby either…
Truly the geekiest reactions to Tarkus ever. I can't tell if you are into it or not. I give you credit for choosing Tarkus, and good commentary at the end.
We appreciate you watching Charles!
Now that's a power trio. There's none better, except maybe Govt Mule.
You mention the tech catching up with the talents. This is also a case of the talents pushing new tech to its limits. Emerson took the Moog synth and showed what it could do. It's hard to understand what it took to churn out his music, but this wasn't just sitting at a keyboard and throwing switches. You practically had to build synthesizer by hand, plugging in wires and throwing dials. It's more like a switchboard operator than a computer programmer. But I think this song really goes out to Carl Palmer, a virtual machine gun. Sorry I won't get to see his tribute tour this year.
What better stoner album is there? And, is there some Zappa vibe in there? Or am I a little crazy?
Not crazy.
For stoner album try Dinosaur Swamps by The Flock - Jerry Goodman started with this group. He went to Dixie Dreggs, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and others.
@@tixximmi1 "Uranian Circus" what a song. One of my favourites from that era.
8:10 definitely zappavybes!
Yeah, we hear it! Thanks David!
My favorite ELP tune. And again valued by some people who have lived under a rock for 50 years. 😂. Only now you find out. LMAO 😂
Ok, you guys obviously know this piece. I like the way Dan was doing Keith Emerson and Sifa was doing both Greg Lake and Carl Palmer. Tarkus and the intro to Karnevil 9 are my favorites.
Hahaha we are honored that you would think we’ve heard this before!
In reality we were just letting the music take over ☺️ looks like we did pretty well!
@@SightAfterDark Yeah, you were responding to the lyrics, it looked choreographed.
We listened to the lyrics and moved AFTER the lyrics landed. We’re musicians, we know music nothing more to it than that☺️
I can't give this enough thumbs up.
It gets all the thumbs.
Thanks so much Richie!
Grew up in L.A. I saw them in 73' I guess. Easily a top 10 concert for me.
Awesome
tarkus is not for everyone.
She 100% correct. This is some of the most progressive music to ever be born of rock. It incorporates a wide range of musical styles which is a big part of being progressive.
Hey girl I loved it that you were working on keeping up with the drums that was totally awesome all right my loves from Brooklyn look there is so much to unpack here sorry for being so f****** wordy you know I always wondered the start of the song had that voice type synthesizer I think it might have been a melaton using voice tapes you know it's funny it took me so long to figure that out on the keyboard that first riff you know course I can't remember it now but it was like either all black keys are all white keys I don't remember you know it's really strange but there's so many outside courts it's like man he got away with so much it's like what can I get away with without it's sounding you know really a total or messed up or whatever he just broke so many rules that Keith guy man when I saw the little warning that you guys were doing this I just couldn't believe it I had to scramble to get over and check it out yeah if this was final that would have been the first side of course you'll have to do songs on the second side as well it's a solid album Eddie offered did the mixing board when they recorded it he also did close to the edge by yes of course when they do a song dedicated to him at the end it's like a 50s rockabilly song it's hilarious but yeah I love that gong in there and how you stop it real quick and then go back into the scene you know and you're playing two totally different lines counterpointing each other it's just nuts you know I don't know if you guys ever heard of Oscar Peterson but he actually had a program where he brought Keith Emerson on to the show and they played some stuff together it was really awesome course Oscar Peterson is like one of the two best jazz piano players in the world the other one I think is Paul Smith but there you go I think Paul Smith actually played on lumpy gravy along with Ray Brown on base pretty awesome stuff when you think about it I love it that they had backwards guitars you know overdove guitars I mean you don't have a guitarist in the band it was just Greg Lake you know throwing in some guitar work which just really made it you know it's a nice bonus you know that one part where it sounds really oh gosh really abrupt when they play the organ what's so cool about that is that effect is the dirt on the contacts as it goes across that that spinning rod that's how the frequencies are are created these metal rods that spin at a really fast rate and they have these ridges ground into these rods anyhow the contacts that switch on the Note as you're playing the organ if they're dirty they make that really cool sound it adds like a little bit of distortion right at the start of the note but only for that brief millisecond yeah you know it's so cool if there was some girl who I mean you could say unfortunately she is blind but I guess that might not be the case here her name is Rachel flowers and she learned how to play this and other stuff by Keith Emerson and it's so cool she'll play one of these amazing things like this tarkus right here and when she's done you know everybody's so happy and she she moves her hands in a circular motion you know you know showing her happiness or exuberance you know it's so touching to watch anyhow Keith Emerson found out about this scale this young girl and he gifted all his old synthesizers to her so that she could get the right sounds for everything and here's another cool thing Rachel actually showed up at a diesel you know concert where he does all his dad's songs and she played Evelyn the modified dog I don't know if you've done that one yet but that's a great song but yeah she did it live and it was pretty awesome I saw that video anyway so she did this performance where she played some of Keith Emerson's compositions and it was right after Keith that just passed away recently an old man talk about tugging on your Heartstrings cuz well she was playing this music and she started to cry another really cool thing is when she was really young you know I don't know 9 10 11 yeah so anyhow Ray Charles showed up to Mentor her you know Giver some tips and encourage her you know I thought that was absolutely cool so yeah what a epic thing you know one of the things you got to realize is Keith Emerson was really heavily influenced by ragtime and Boogie Woogie that sort of stuff and to take that and mutate it into this absolutely stupendous crazy music is insanely awesome all right you nutty kids oh by the way I'm on patreon now so I have to go over there and check it out chickity check it out take care of you Grupo sportivo
Cool that you learned to play and saw it played! Thanks for sharing Bryan!
The only ELP album ever really got into....I mean REALLY GOT INTO! - p.s. After two or more listens all the "discordancy" falls into place perfectly.