Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Tarkus
The prog epic Rolling Stone called a failure of imagination
Released in the UK on 4 June 1971, Tarkus became Emerson, Lake & Palmer's only UK number-one album and reached the US Top 10. A contemporary hostile review, alongside chart results with their dates.
The verdict at the time
Lebin wrote that Tarkus 'records the failure of three performers to become creators. Regardless of how fast and how many styles they can play. Emerson, Lake and Palmer will continue turning out mediocrity like Tarkus until they discover what, if anything, it is that they must say on their own and for themselves.'
Chart peaks
European positions are listed by country. Later chart entries are labelled separately.
Sources & context
One critic's opinion, summarised from David Lebin's Rolling Stone review of 19 August 1971. The album is now recognised as a quintessential progressive rock landmark, cited by PopMatters, AllMusic and 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die as a classic of the genre, with its side-long title suite ranked among progressive rock's greatest compositions.
