Emerson, Lake and Palmer: Tarkus
Everything has it’s defining moment and Progressive Rock is no exception. Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s Second album Tarkus released in 1971 contains what many consider the epic suite that perhaps gave birth to Progressive Rock, the title track, Tarkus. Sure there was King Crimson, Gentle Giant and Van der Graff Generator a few years before the release of this album, and these great bands set the stage, with fresh innovation and experimentation that we’ve come to expect with great Prog, but it was Tarkus that took all this and solidified them, mixed, smashed, and came crashing through like the Americans at Omaha Beach in 1944. Keith Emerson starts off this epic with Eruption, the explosive birth of Tarkus, half tank, half armadillo a machine of death and destruction and this movement sets the stage well, utilizing a 10 beat, quick paced, well layered pianos and Hammond Organs sewn together by the rock solid rhythm section of Greg Lake and Carl Palmer. Listening to Eruption and the smooth transistion into The Stones of Years movement, it’s extremely hard to believe this was recorded in 1971!! Moving into The Stones of Years we get a taste of Greg Lake’s vocals and smooth bass lines, interupted with improvised solos and fills by Keith Emerson. The abrupt change of mood into Iconoclast gives a sense of urgency with Keith Emerson improvising some Hammond organ soloing that teeters on the edge of collapse at any moment, but held together perfectly as we, again abruptly, are thrown into the bleak outlook on organized religion, Mass. Being a Christian, some of the imagery placed forth in the lyrics Greg Lake chooses are disturbing as this is the common concensus of most non-believers, but even more disturbing is, there are churches and believers who in fact fit the mold the lyrics mock. Musically we are introduced to the increasingly present Moog synthesizer layered over a Piano and intersperced with a smattering of Hammond solos and fills. The song seamlessly moves into it’s next movement, the Manticore, which offers some awesome improvisations from Keith Emerson, soon brings forth probably the most powerful excersize of Prog ever done, Battlefield. This movement offers what I consider Greg Lake’s best work as a lyricist and songwriter. The epic themes and moving lyrics, only add to this masterpiece perfectly, and he doesn’t stop there, he introduces Lead soloing years ahead of it’s time. Today we can say it’s remeniscent of Dave Gilmour, only things is, Dave Gilmour didn’t offer leads such as these til 1972, with Dark Side of the Moon and even closer in 1975 with Wish You Were Here. The passion this power trio puts into the final touches of this movement is indescribable. We finish the track out with Aquatarkus, which brings the Moog to the front of the themes established in Battlefield. Each pass over, each member offers more layering and improvisation, while remaining true to the overall sound as Tarkus disappears from the story, we are revisited with the final chapter of Eruption which takes us to an outro worthy of an epic of this strength and caliber. There have been few songs to come close to the shear innovation that is Tarkus, Dream Theater came close with A Change of Seasons, and Neal Morse makes a darn good attempt with The Door, but my opinion is this still reigns as the true King of Prog, and will likely always be as well.
After the overwhelming power that is Tarkus, it is easy to forget there are other songs on this album, while lambasted as cheesy or childish, the other tracks are fun, catchy and with the exception of The Only Way (Hymn) pleasant lyrically, I enjoy them, though they’re not as much Classic Prog as they are 70s Pop Rock. The final assesment is the showcase, Tarkus broke ground and established itself as the song that set the standard that all Progressive Rock will be measured by, and the 6 other tracks also showcase the diverse talents of three iconic performers.
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Neal Morse: Sola Scriptura
I honestly hadn’t heard of Neal Morse til Spring 2007 when I was at work and was listening to Camel’s Similar Artists on http://last.fm/. I happened to hear the last part of one of his songs, and made a mental note. As it turns out, Mr. Morse was actually pretty well known in the Progressive Rock circles. So I acquired a couple more of his items and this gem was one of them. I listened to the other album first and was pleasantly blown away, but when I put this one on, I was blown into microscopic droplets of mist!! Once every 30-40 years, comes one of those things that redefine the meaning of what it belongs, and the opening track, The Door, is just one of these things, much like Tarkus, that set the standard for what Progressive music should be, The Door delivers the same and updates the standard while remaining respectful to the foundation layed before. Perfectly orchestrated, Neal, Mike Portnoy and Randy George build up the sound with perfectly executed layers of keys, guitar, backed by a indestructable rhythm section, these 3 gentlemen display a virtuosity rarely seen this day and age. The song swings back and forth from intense guitar and keyboard interplay into mellow, passionate verses that open the story, based on the life of 16th century Reformist Martin Luther, yet paralleled with a modern flavor and to top it off, he compares scripture such as Proverbs 9 to both the 16th and 21st century context. The music delivers well, you don’t get bored or disinterested as it moves along, something impressive for a 29 minute song. There are many highlights, one of my more favorite being the electric violin solo about half way through the track, it’s performer makes his classical instrument shread like a 21st century lead guitar, with only the last few licks betraying the sound for the violin that it is. This track features a lead guitar solo from Mr Big/Racer X’s Paul Gilbert and is, in my opinion, one of the top 3 tracks of all time in Progressive music. This track alone gets a 10/10 rating.
Neal Morse and company could have done well with The Door alone as an album, but they topped it with The Conflict, which continues the story stepping into more internal conflict of Martin Luther, but also as well as Neal’s own conflicts with seeing hypocrisy in the institutions of faith today. While well composed and diverse, this track just doesn’t quite grab your attention the same as The Door, but a listener can only take so much awesomeness before it becomes fatal. The Conflict turns extremely mellow with Paul Gilbert offering us some Flamenco acoustic work that fits just right in the whole scheme of the story. As we become fully immersed into the album. The guys take a break so to speak and Neal gives us a heart felt song about the thing all Christ followers want, Heaven in My Heart. This track would be at home just as much on K-Love as it would on a Prog’s Greatest Hits album, by far one of the shorter songs Neal has offered since going solo.
After the relaxing Heaven in my Heart, the guys ramp things back up with The Conclusion. We start this one off with a bass solo and interplay between Neal and Randy George where they show off their music abilities quite well, then jumps seamlessly into the story. This song kinda wraps up and closes alot of the themes and interludes in The Door and does begin to feel like it carries on a little much. For me when this song comes on by random, I really do enjoy it, there is nothing lacking musically, but when listening to the entire album, it becomes easy to lost track of the feel. Overall, it’s a great track, and leaves no holes unfilled.
Overall, this album is a masterpiece in every way. And I can understand why this is the best selling album yet, offered by Neal Morse. I recommend this as a must have for anyone interested in Prog music, whether a casual listener to the seasoned proghead. My only real critisism of this album is the end of each song. It seems like they really get the power on to start with, but each of the songs, just kinda peeters out at the end, which works well for The Door, but may not fit as well in the other tracks.
My Rating:
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