Brain Salad Surgery (studio album) by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
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Emerson, Lake & Palmer bestography
Brain Salad Surgery is ranked as the best album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
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Brain Salad Surgery track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
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Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Brain Salad Surgery rankings
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Brain Salad Surgery collection
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Brain Salad Surgery ratings
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 390 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
70/100  | 04/24/2025 20:00 | TroutMaskGreg | | 69/100 |
85/100 | 04/06/2025 15:57 | tim0505 | | 82/100 |
60/100 | 02/25/2025 22:54 | dukeboxkool | | 73/100 |
90/100 | 01/22/2025 16:26 |  RockyRaccoon | | 84/100 |
75/100 | 11/26/2024 23:01 |  slatsheit | | 82/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 4% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.9/100, a mean average of 75.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.6.
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Brain Salad Surgery comments
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Has a very similar sound to a lot of the other prog rock sounds of the 70’s without adding anything special to it. If this is your type of music then you will most likely love it. Personally, I don’t think this sound has aged well. A couple of deviations from this sound can be found. One is in the form of a great vocal performance of Jerusalem from Greg Lake and the other is another song entirely written by Greg Lake (Still. You Turn Me On). While it is an OK listen, there is a lot better prog rock out there from this era that can scratch the itch for this kind of music better.
A lot of enjoyable moments all wrapped up into one neat prog rock package. The album opens fantastically with a short 2 minute track which really gets you into the mood for the music. From there, it is all about the build up on most of the tracks with there being some great payoffs as well. This is achieved through the diverse instrumentation which maintains our interest until they reach the finale of the songs which are always pretty good. I am a big fan of what they did on the second half as well and find it to be one of the most unique things about this album. However, the music does get a little repetitive by the end and there are a few skippable cuts. Overall, a pretty good prog rock album with a lot of quality music on display.
So cool. Love the cover.
Karn Evil is the epitome of bombastic prog greatness! Side two is what this album is all about. Carl Palmer, Greg Lake and Keith Emerson vie for instrumental supremacy and hold it all together unlike some ELP work.
The vinyl with sleeve which opens like a book to reveal the mystical face, the unusual poster like inner booklet, all very prog!
A pivotal prog album up there with the great Yes, Genesis, King Crimson top works.
av1976 06/16/2020 20:07
One of my favorite albums. In addition to the over-the-top prog rock vibe and ambitious nature, I also love the artwork.
Progressive rock classic
Fischman 01/20/2019 14:25
Killer prog with elements from accessible to unsettling. This is an all time classic and it's easy to see why it's ELP's highest rated album.
Wow..You hear the word "bombastic" thrown around a lot with this one (and this band in particular) and the description definitely fits. High energy, high volume and ambitious. Karn Evil 9: First Impression Pt. 2 - now a staple of classic rock radio - is a classic. Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression is utterly bonkers. If you're looking to explore ELP this album should be your starting point.
jdenny2018 05/17/2018 21:25
Balls to the wall prog at its finest
rockinsteve 04/15/2018 03:54
This is progressive rock at its finest! All three musicians are virtuosos. Just a great mix of classical and rock music!
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