BRAIN SALAD SURGERY

Emerson Lake & Palmer

Symphonic Prog

4.17 | 2159 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Another excellent album in the vein of Trilogy and Tarkus, but in my opinion, it contains much more quality material and less filler.

The first song, Jerusalem, is an interesting take on an English hymn, made quite powerful by the bands excellent arangement and Lake's sinuous yet soothing voice.

The second piece, titled Toccata, is an incredible orchestral work, combining Emerson's tearing Hammond and biting Moog with Palmer's symphonic drumwork. The performance of the Ginastera piece is divided by a "percussion movement", which was not present in the original piece. Held together by Lake's fluid basslines, this is a highlight of this album.

Toccata is followed by Lake's "Still... You Turn Me On", a gentle piece that provides a nice contrast to Toccata. Up next is "Benny the Bouncer", a playful honky-tonk song with some entertaining lyrics. One of ELP's signature "playful" songs, it is, in my opinion, of higher quality than similar material on Tarkus.

Following is the progressive masterpiece "Karn Evil 9". Divided into 3 movements, the song stretches out to over half an hour, and describes rather harshly the effect of technology and progress on the human race and human nature. Driven by Emeson's amazing keyboards, this piece continues to amaze after many listens. Classical, hard rock, and jazz are melded together to create quite the sonic experience. The skill of each member is put on display once again and the results are incredible. The Karn Evil suite is worth the price of the album alone, in my opinion.

As a side note, the remastered CD contains some interesting interviews with the band, and an informative essay in the included booklet.

A masterpiece of symphonic prog and prog in general.

YYZed | 5/5 | 2006-4-12

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