Genre Progressive rock Producer(s) Greg Lake | Length 20:35 | |
Released June 14, 1971 (UK)
August, 1971 (US) Recorded January 1971, Advision Studios Writer(s) Keith Emerson, Greg Lake |
"Tarkus" is the title track of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's second album. The progressive-rock epic lasts 20:35. It was the longest studio song by the band until the three impressions of "Karn Evil 9". The name "Tarkus" refers to the armadillo-tank from the William Neal paintings on the album cover. The artist has explained that the name is an amalgamation between 'Tartarus' (a place of punishment mentioned in 2 Peter 2:4) and 'carcass' (hence the name being written in bones on the album cover). Consequently, the name refers to the "futility of war, a man made mess with symbols of mutated destruction." The song "Tarkus" itself supposedly follows the adventures of Tarkus from his birth, through a fight with a manticore, which he loses and concludes with an aquatic version of Tarkus named "Aquatarkus". Keith Emerson, when asked what work he is proudest of, named his Piano Concerto (from the Works release) and Tarkus.
Contents
Movements
"Tarkus" itself is broken down into seven parts (timings reflect the beginning cues for each section):
- "Eruption" (instrumental) — 0:00
- "Stones of Years" — 2:43
- "Iconoclast" (instrumental) — 6:27
- "Mass" — 7:43
- "Manticore" (instrumental) — 10:55
- "Battlefield" — 12:47
- "Aquatarkus" (instrumental) — 16:39
Personnel
Tarkus Story
The parts supposedly follow Tarkus' birth in a volcanic eruption centuries before known history. The exact nature of Tarkus' origin and actions are unknown, and left ambiguous by its creator, Keith Emerson. "Eruption" itself presents a musical impression of cascading eruption on the keyboards in a 10/8 time signature, backed by Carl Palmer on drums. This segues into the "Stones of Years", the first of three vocal sections.
The second, third, fourth and fifth are supposedly the movements that represent the enemies he meets:
The Making of Tarkus
According to Emerson, while Palmer was excited by some of the technical opportunities the song would present, Lake was not quite so enamoured, telling Emerson "If you want to play that sort of stuff, I suggest you play it on your solo album." The band almost broke up over the issue, Emerson telling Lake "Take it or leave it." The managers convinced Lake to stay and record the piece. Lake evidently did have the album grow on him, stating in an interview after the release: "It's about the futility of conflict expressed in [the] context [...] of soldiers and war. But it's broader than that. The words are about revolution that's gone, that has happened. Where has it got anybody? Nowhere." He has also complimented "Stones of Years" as one of his favourite parts of "Tarkus", though he admits is not entirely sure about what it means, but says it is about, "listening, understanding, hearing".
When asked how Tarkus could be written so quickly (six days), Emerson said:
Our sort of creativity comes in varying periods. We get long periods when there isn't any creativity, we go into a studio and nothing sounds right, you know. Tarkus was written in six days because there was an awful lot of inspiration and one idea triggered another idea, and it was a long series of ideas being triggered off of what we had already done.
Reception
The song, described by one journalist to be "about a post-apocalyptic, metal-plated, bionic armadillo outfitted with enough weaponry to wage perpetual solo warfare," remains a fan favourite and was, and still is, consistently played at ELP, Keith Emerson Band and Carl Palmer band concerts.
"Stones of Years" was used as a single from "Tarkus". The album as a whole reached number 1 on UK charts and number 9 in the US.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer played a 27-minute version of Tarkus on Welcome Back, My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends... Ladies and Gentlemen, Emerson, Lake & Palmer. A brief sample of King Crimson's "Epitaph" ("Confusion will be my epitaph, as I crawl a cracked and broken path, if we make it we can all sit back and laugh...") appears as a coda to Battlefield, followed by Aquatarkus and an extended solo by Emerson.
Performances by others
In 2004, the Japanese classical pianist Aki Kuroda released an album with a classical adaptation of "Tarkus".
In 2007, Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess included a cover of this song in his solo album The Road Home, which consists mostly of covers of classic progressive rock songs.
Emerson recorded a new instrumental version with Marc Bonilla, Terje Mikkelsen and the Munich Radio Orchestra, which appears on their 2012 album Three Fates under the title Tarkus - Concertante.
In 2012, on her album "Undine", Japanese saxophonist Ryoko Ono performed a jazz-themed cover of Tarkus.