BRAIN SALAD SURGERY

I loved this album for a while, probably only because it is worshiped by like everybody. But after the excitement of hearing "Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends," I've found Brain Salad Surgeryto be highly overrated. This is probably the ELP release that suffers from the classic "I want to show off my skills, not write good songs." "Jersusalem" and "Toccata" have their moments. "Still...You Turn Me On" is evidence ELP needs to stay away from the ballads. "Benny The Bouncer" is okay- better than the previously mentioned track. "Karn Evil 9" is where most of my complaints are. First, only the single portion of it is good. The rest is just shallow flaunting of their skills- not really "songs" in my book. Also, the whole "concept" behind "Karn Evil 9" is terrible. First they're talking about some carnival or whatever, and then it completely 180s on the listener and starts talking about an evil computer trying to take over the world or something like that. My only conclusion is that the band's stash ran out halfway through the song and their new supplier had something funny laced in the new stuff. Thus, their train of thought was completely thrown off. Anyway, Brain Salad Surgery isn't as bad as I'm probably making it out to be. If you want ELP at their best, get Trilogy. Oh, and the album cover is pretty sweet. H.R. Giger is the man.