Tarkus
by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
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Emerson, Lake & Palmer bestography
Tarkus is ranked 3rd best out of 15 albums by Emerson, Lake & Palmer on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer is Brain Salad Surgery which is ranked number 1356 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,270.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Tarkus on YouTube
Tarkus track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Tarkus rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 6 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | stevengnz | Top 88 Music Albums of 1971 | 64/88 | 1 |
| 2026 | Mrump | Top 38 Music Albums of 1971 | 21/38 | 2 |
| 2026 | Pavloss | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 60/100 | 8 |
| 2026 | Skerns | Top 95 Music Albums of 1971 | 60/95 | 2 |
| 2026 | Steppenwolf666 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 83/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | juanr1096 | Top 52 Music Albums of 1971 | 47/52 | 1 |
| 2026 |  slatsheit | Top 72 Music Albums of 1971 | 62/72 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Helios | Top 50 Music Albums of 1971 | 7/50 | 4 |
| 2026 |  videoheadcleaner | videoheadcleaner's 401-500 | 49/100 | - |
| 2026 | Moondance | Top 100 Music Albums of 1971 | 50/100 | 3 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 243 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 790 | |||
Tarkus collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 183 members
Tarkus ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 321 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/07/2026 00:48 | morphee | 1,218 | 83/100 |
| ! | 05/26/2026 02:43 | progfan | 32 | 95/100 |
| ! | 05/10/2026 11:57 | Adhura | 1,732 | 77/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 5% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.1/100, a mean average of 75.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.6.
Tarkus favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 41 members
Tarkus forum mentions
rockbluesfolkjaz 11/04/2021 16:40 in What album are you listening to right now?Tarkus comments
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I much prefer this album to 'Pictures at an Exibition'. It is a more melodic and cohesive affair. I particularly like 'Battlefield' which give 'Yes' and 'Genesis' a run for their money. I am not so keen on the way Keith Emerson chose to play his Moog, for example 'Aquatarkus' is a very 'plinky plonky' affair, great on a honky tonk piano but not on a Moog.Great honky took piano on 'Bitches Crystal' by the way. ELP albums don't really flow given that tracks move from Church organ led to honky tonk piano led to plinky plonk Moog led. Fantastic musicians, but I often get a sense they all wanted to showcase their singular abilities rather than gel as a unit.
Jbalbinolr 11/22/2017 20:46 | #201873 | TOP COMMENT
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Great, but if wasn´t for the title track tha album would be nothing. (Edited)
sszwalbenest 08/24/2013 12:24 | #84426 | TOP COMMENT
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Great album. As far as musical performance goes this band may be the best there ever was. Aside from the amazing track that Tarkus is there were also great musical and lyrical contributions in "Bitches Crystal" and "The Only Way".
When I first heard the title track/medley on this album it totally blew my mind, and I am still in awe at it's magnificence now - 30 years later.
All very competent but slightly overrated. Still, it is one of their best records, although could you honestly get away with this today?
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