The problem with
Brain Salad Surgery isn't what most critics would have you to believe. It isn't their supposed pretensions or their wankery. ELP couldn't work together to create an album that was truly
great. They were three very talented musicians who each had very different ideas about how music should be played, and while they could come together on "compositions" like "The Endless Enigma", "Tarkus", and "Karn Evil 9", they had trouble writing actual songs. The result being that most of their records are riddled with filler, and this album is no different.
Beginning with "Jerusalem", we have a song that starts off with some enjoyable organ-playing, reminiscent of a church. However, despite the "poetic" lyrics (they got the idea of the song from a poem) and skillful playing courtesy of Keith Emerson, the song quickly becomes boring and is undoubtedly filler. Luckily, the band comes together on the next song, "Toccata", an instrumental adapted from Albert Ginastera. Filled with moog synths and spacey keyboards, as well as the frantic drumming and great bass-playing the band was known for, this is a very enjoyable song. It's weird, over-the-top and quite silly, but that's when ELP were at their best.
"Still...You Turn Me On" is a sappy ballad with some fittingly-sappy lyrics (the entire chorus). The song was written by Greg Lake, and it's kinda hard to believe that this is the same man who was the lead vocalist on the first King Crimson album. The song is cute in a cheesy, "hey-it-was-the-70's" way, but it sounds weak and forced, and it's really hard to picture a bunch of hot girls melting and getting wet for Greg at an ELP concert in 1973...because no girl has ever listened to an Emerson, Lake and Palmer album.
Another filler track comes next, "Benny The Bouncer." While I wholely enjoy when a band shows its sense of humor, sometimes *** just gets retarded. This is a perfect example of *** getting retarded. Greg sings in this rag-time cogney accent that just really doesn't fit in on a prog record. While a band like Rush could pull of humor songs ("The Trees", being one of the group's best songs, is a great example) but ELP really couldn't make great music unless they were working on a long composition.
After sitting through some silly ***, we get to the real meat of the album: "Karn Evil 9." Clocking in at just over 29 minutes, this song, if you can even call it that, is a ***ing monster of progressive music. The lyrics describe some type of sci-fi carnival type setting, which fits the music and makes for some of prog's most memorable moments. This is silly, but not in the goddamn retarded way songs like "Benny" are. This is the band using their ambition and musical chops to create an over-the-top masterpiece only matched by the likes of "Thick As A Brick" or "Cygnus X-1 Book II" in terms of sheer bombasticity. All the while dominated by Greg's great voice, Keith's mindblowing keyboards, and Carl's amazing drumming prowess, this is a prog rollercoaster that no one should miss - it's got tempo changes and pointless solos and downright stupid lyrics (PERFORMING ON A STOOL WE'VE A SIGHT TO MAKE YOU DROOL SEVEN VIRGINS AND A MULE KEEP IT COOL KEEP IT COOL) that make for an awesome prog listening experience.
Brain Salad Surgery has its share of flaws, but it is worth owning for "Karn Evil 9" alone. Pick it up.
