For those unaware, this is a most amazing show: Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s now infamous Brain Salad Surgery established Prog-Rock standards and features the Epic Karn Evil 9 Suite and a visionary rendition of a Ginastera Piano Concerto.

“Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends.”

Famously uttered by bassist-guitarist Greg Lake, those words encapsulate the theatricality, thrills, breadth, and fascination surrounding Brain Salad Surgery — Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s fourth studio album. Originally released in late 1973, it finds the trio taking front-to-back control of its situation and incorporating several studio firsts. The platinum-certified effort also stands as one of the greatest prog-rock feats in history. Its cohesive blend of musicianship, songwriting, and production set a standard that, decades later, remains revered amid fans and critics alike.

Mastered at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab’s California studio, housed in a deluxe double gatefold Stoughton jacket complete with a fold-out die-cut insert, and pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, the reissue label’s numbered-edition 180g 33RPM LP of Brain Salad Surgery presents the record Emerson, Lake & Palmer member Carl Palmer deemed his favorite in audiophile sound. Clear, dynamic, and balanced, this collectible version honors the meticulous approaches that informed the playing and recording of the record.

Featuring black backgrounds and quiet surfaces, Mobile Fidelity’s reissue brings to light the epic scope, tonal depth, and high degree of virtuosity on display. Key characteristics — textures, nuances, effects, melodies, tempo changes — that go hand-in-hand with the trio’s compositions and interplay are rendered amid broad soundstages and delivered with pinpoint detail.

Whether you’ve owned multiple copies of this touchstone or seeking out your first copy, you’ll relish the presence, separation, imaging, and solidity that help make every passage come across as the group intended.

Side One:
1. Jerusalem
2. Toccata
3. Still...You Turn Me On
4. Benny the Bouncer
5. Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression - Part 1

Side Two:
6. Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression - Part 2
7. Karn Evil 9: 2nd Impression
8. Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression

In all honesty, this album is a bit different from other ELP classic stuff, and has darker flavor, also maybe musically it is more accessible than others, but I absolutely love it. It has a lot of pleasant surprises, like the brilliant bass riff in Still...You Turn Me On, and the guitar solos in both Karn Evil 9 and Jerusalem.

The first track Jerusalem is an adaptation of a traditional English hymn Written by Hubert Parry. Although the hymn is apparently very popular in England, almost being an unofficial anthem, I’ve never heard of it before. Is ELP’s adaptation of it good? Not knowing the original, all I can say is that I really like the concept of the track and the grandiose atmosphere it brings.

I less like Benny the Bouncer (if I compare it to The Sheriff, for example, from the immense Trilogy), also the third part of Karn Evil 9 is not my favorite either, although I love the first two parts. It took me a while to enter the Toccata fanfare, even though there are few brilliant and innovative parts there, but still, it’s not my favorite, with some pretty solid piece running throughout.

Karn Evil 9 2nd Impression is brilliantly crazy in its own right, almost being like an attraction at the circus. Some great piano and keyboard performances from Keith Emerson, combined with Carl Palmer’s percussion creates an almost tango feel, then later devolves into a more traditional piano piece, really showing how much ELP has evolved since Take A Pebble.

In conclusion, it’s hard to tell if it’s better than Trilogy or Tarkus, but it’s definitely, and absolutely a must for any prog-music lover in general; and ELP fan in particular.

Experience the 1973 album in Audiophile Sound and enjoy the immersive feel of the original double gatefold packaging: Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition 180g 33RPM LP reveals the copious details, textures, and depth of the exceptional production.

1/4” / 15 IPS analog tape to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe.

Official Purchase Link

www.emersonlakeandpalmer.com