Emerson, Lake & Palmer were one of the best progressive rock groups ever! Formed in 1970, they made some of the most memorable music, well, ever! Each musician in this group is a virtuoso, Kieth Emerson is the keyboard wizard, Carl Palmer, the Drum virtuoso, and Greg Lake, vocalist extraordinaire, and guitarist and bassist magnifico! This trio of musicians could really jam as well! The 1973 release, "Brain Salad Surgery", is ELP at their best. They are probably at their height of creativity and musicianship in this recording. It is simply one CD/DVD that belongs on everyone's shelf. It is also one of the most diverse recordings by ELP, with lots of variety in the sound.

A track list/review follows.

1. Jerusalem. This traditional English song is really spiced up by ELP here. With Emersons ever present keyboards and mini moog synthesizer, and Lake's clear and pure voice, this version of "Jeruaslem" has a certain magical quality about it. Palmer has a bit of a bash too during the major themes musically in this piece. An elegant, almost elegaic feel the trio bring to this normally choral piece.

2. Tocatta. This is one of my particular all time favorite ELP tunes. Composed by the Argentinian composer Alberto Yinastera, Kieth Emerson has rearranged this piece and made it into something totally futuristic, fusionistic, and purely fantastic! It is an instrumental piece. This is one of the most interesting pieces of music you will ever hear. It is almost frightening in its intensity, truly. Emerson really gets down on the keys on this one. His synthesizer and moog capabilities leave the average keyboard player in awe. This piece is full of counterpoint, and you can tell Emerson loves counterpoint! Lake cooks along in this one on bass guitar as well. The last third of this instrumental piece is the drum solo piece by Palmer. Starting on a huge orchestral drum, he has a bit of a bash on his Japanese cymbals, and then introduced something new to us. Drum synthesizers! This is the first use of them to my knowledge, and remember, this is 1973!

3. Still, you Turn Me On. An ELP love song? Why not? Greg Lake writes some damn good ones, to be sure! Greg on his acoustic guitar sings like a lark in this one.

4. Benny the Bouncer! Charleston ragtime punk new wave is how I can try to describe this one. Brilliant! Carl plays with brushes on the drums, and Emerson plays some piano solo in the middle reminiscent of Joplin.

5. Karn Evil 9. "Carnival 9" is a 3 part song written by the boys, as well as Peter Sinfield helping compose lyrics.
A concept piece, this one is about 25 minutes long in total.
A carnival of the future, when grass is scarce, sex continues to sell, and Lake sings the immortal words "Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends!". This is one of ELP's most ambitious projects. There are three "impressions" of the song. The first one is a great piece of classic rock. The second impression is a purely instrumental jazz piece and is really also quite excellent. The third impression is a futuristic prophecy that computers will one day rival mankind himself, as computers are "perfect".

All in all, some of the most moving, memorable, complex, ingenious, and fun music you will ever hear is on this recording. If you don't know ELP, give this one a try, and I will bet you will like it.





Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Hanging With Friends