"The Barbarian" is the opening track on the eponymous debut album of British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1970.
Although the composition of "The Barbarian" was attributed to the three band members, it is an arrangement for rock band of Béla Bartók’s 1911 piano piece Allegro barbaro.
[4] The music of the song is aggressive with a heavy metal style.
Greg Lake used a fuzz box to give his bass a fuller, guitar-like sound.
The band members did not give credit to Bartók, thinking that the label would arrange the matter.