BRAIN SALAD SURGERY

Some classic albums are so important to rock history it really makes you accept the fact they are masterpieces even if some parts of it clashes with your personal taste. To me, Brain Salad Surgery is one of them. See, I was never a truly ELP fanatic. Sure I liked them a lot, but I never bothered much to the case of actually have to have all of their albums. In fact, I bought only one (Trilogy) at the time. To me bands like Yes, Genesis, Renaissance, Gentle Giant and others were on the top of my list. ELP was never a priority. However, I was not foolish enough not to reckon their importance. And important they were!

This is clearly the case of this CD: Brain Salad Surgery is definitly one fo the top ten albums of the 70's if you want to know about prog music. It was the trio's peak of creativity. It won high praisng and sales and deservely so. Again I should point out that it is not perfect for my taste, since some of the piano solo parts seem a little boring and Benny The Bouncer was never a song that captivated me in any way. Still it amazes me that such elaborated, dense and outright non commercial stuff reached the top of the charts by the time it was released. Good timeing? Maybe. The band would never release such a work in their career, but after this one, how could they? Most bands would die to have only one timeless CD, and ELP did more than one for sure. Hats off to them.

Brain Salad Surgery is the kind of album that takes some time to really sink in as a whole. It is not for your easy listening time. It is a bit like classical music: you have to be in the mood. But then, there is nothing more rewarding. Highlights for me are the most popular tracks: Jerusalem is one fo the most gorgeous songs ELP have ever recorded, while Still...You Turn Me On is maybe Lake's best composition. Karn Evil 9 (ist Movement) is also great.

I rate this album somewhere between 4 to 4,5 stars, for personal reasons (it does have some faults according to my taste). But it is one of prog's finest hours in prog's heyday. A must have to any music lover.