BRAIN SALAD SURGERY

This album is indeed difficult beast to tame. But I won't like to listen prejudices and simply refuse this album as incompatible with me. I have tried it. After all, it's masterpiece for many, isn't it ? They can't all be fooled by ELP fame (option I don't like to think about). So I've tried it. And failed. Then I've tried it again and again failed, but with bigger success (in failure). This time, it's better again so it's obvious now, this album is a grower, you have to understand how to play its game to look behind the curtain and move to backstage.

I see this as that there are accessible/simple (Benny the Bounder)/melodic (Jerusalem or all three at once. Tracks are forming one group and then more experimental (what makes ELP unique) and virtuoso-like - which of course means synths (for some it's sad fact, but I say why not).

Tracks like Toccata are this kind of song. My girl said about this album one word: "weird" and it's what it mostly is, trying to find something new, combinations of sounds unseen before and a lot of these strange noises that can bring some people to ecstasy. Not me though.

I said it few times, but either I don't believe in concept of "pretentiousness" at all, or everything in Prog is pretentious. It doesn't matter, being pompous isn't negative for me (being arrogant is, but every one of us has his disadvantages and bad habits, some of us are simply more visible).

Fanfares ? I like them, so because I have to decide, I can both like and appreciate this epic track.

4(+), some things prevents it from being the highest rank.