BRAIN SALAD SURGERY

By the time this record came out the music press was starting to turn on ELP and as a result it was mostly slated and given a bad time in the press. However what ever way you listen to this record it remains a classic of its type. Nobody before or since has produced so much sound with just three (yes just three) people and to say this music is powerful is to understate the scale of sonic damage this group inflicts on the listener. The opening number is a jolly take on Jerusalem and in Lake's hands the lyric by William Blake really does sound bombastic. Toccata features some of the very first synth drums ever recoded and is a real treat it remains by far my favorite track on this excellent recording. Still you turn me on is one for the teeny bopper girls but is still a very decent song. Benny the bouncer is the turd on the satin pillow of this record but w.t.f. its still amusing, sadly it hints at the kind of bar room rag that Emerson likes to inflict on us, a wasted track ,ay be. The rest of the Album is the excellent Karn evil Nine which is divided into three sections. All three have their moments and sadly their faults but mostly they rock along at such a pace its hard to become bored. There is on tragic moment in the 2nd movement when some steel drum noises threaten to ruining the mood, I think this is probably a moog sound but is slightly out of tune because it hurts the ears a bit, the final parts is a killer with its si-fi war theme and its computer voices Brilliant and sadly the last great ELP record after this everything seemed to go to pot, with long waits for truly disappointing records but this record certainly doesn't disappoint and demonstrates why ELP were the worlds biggest draw at the time. The end of a great era...welcome back my freinds to the show that never ends...exactlym becuse its rock and roll a dynamo...