BRAIN SALAD SURGERY

Brain Sald Surgery is the creative zenith of early ELP. By this time, the group had found its formula of a long classically inspired piece, (Tarkus or Endless Enigma) A Lake Ballad, and a barrlehouse blues tune. So in that sense, if you were going to own one ELP album, this would be the one.

The song Brain Sald Surgery appears on Works Vol. 2. It is about oral sex from the slang, "whip some skull on me." Instead of opening with this tune, they chose the anthem Jerusalem. (Blake, Parry) This is a standard Anglican anthem that speaks of British majesty and imperialism. It grants the album the aristocratic majesty that the band was after.

I guess there is no argument that Karnevil #9 is the bands most popular piece. The band brought in King Crimson veteran Peter Sinfield because they finally realized that Lake could not write a good lyric. The piece defined the prog rock aesthetic and narrative of an Orwellian world controled by computers, in which any semblance of humanity is suppressed. Computer buffs will like the closing computer line, "I let you live" and "I'm perfect are you." The neo-baroque texture of the opening Part 1, is some of Emerson's best writing. It transforms the concept of popular song writing. WPLJ-FM in NYC used to use the transition section to advertise on television. This was at a time when this music ruled the world. My favorite part of the Kanrevil #9 is the second impression. Its a nice jazzy piece with some intricate interplay between the members of the band and a contrasting Caribbean steel drum section in the center. the third impresssion is the weak point of the album but has a nice improvisational section. Its lyric may seem trite and out dated but the fear that computers would lead to a mechanized world in which control was easily enforced through bureaucracy still resonates today.

The highlight of this album is Tocatta, the Ginastera piece. It creates some interesting moods from the sparce opening and contrasting rhythmic section, quoted from the concerto, to the ensuing drum solo with electronic drums and tympani . The piece says in six minutes what the rest of the album is getting at in thirty minutes.

I think that this is an essential prog rock album because it defines the classical rock movement of the period. This movement was no accident. Record companies supported and precured classical rock as a means to market their classical performers. ELP ran the risk of alienating both worlds, the popular and classical, with their explorations, which they ultimately did. But I think that they are deserving of more credit than what they are credited for. In today's world where regional and community orchestras are of excellent caliber, it would be nice to see more exploration in the intersection of popular and classical culture. This was after all, what the suites of Bach, the operas of Mozart and the later symphonies of Dvorak were about.