Brain Salad Surgery
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.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Brain Salad Surgery on YouTube
Brain Salad Surgery track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Brain Salad Surgery rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 2 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  slatsheit | Top 71 Music Albums of 1973 | 63/71 | 1 |
| 2026 | amirmishali | Top 100 Music Albums of 1973 | 20/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | MrOlan | Top 21 Music Albums of 1973 | 14/21 | 2 |
| 2026 | Pavloss | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 54/100 | 45 |
| 2026 | juanr1096 | Top 56 Music Albums of 1973 | 38/56 | 2 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | All Time Pt 5 | 35/100 | - |
| 2026 | tim0505 | Top 48 Music Albums of 1973 | 10/48 | 4 |
| 2026 | stangetzaway | Top 57 Music Albums of 1973 | 38/57 | 2 |
| 2026 |  Robert Anton Wilson | Top 44 Music Albums of 1973 | 4/44 | 5 |
| 2026 |  Tamthebam | Top 100 Music Albums of 1973 | 57/100 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 259 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,264 | |||
Brain Salad Surgery collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 236 members
Brain Salad Surgery ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 402 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/30/2026 06:28 | Juneof44 | 2,632 | 69/100 |
| ! | 09/23/2026 09:25 |  jeremy9 | 3,822 | 70/100 |
| ! | 08/28/2026 15:20 | sgenrikh | 161 | 94/100 |
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 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.9/100, a mean average of 75.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.9.
Brain Salad Surgery favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 59 members
Brain Salad Surgery forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 10/02/2026 08:18 in Monthly overall chart movements - September 2026View latest topic →
BestEverAlbums 08/31/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5421): By Simon_bramhallView latest topic →
View all forum mentions
Brain Salad Surgery comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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rockinsteve 04/15/2018 03:54 | #212891 | TOP COMMENT
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This is progressive rock at its finest! All three musicians are virtuosos. Just a great mix of classical and rock music!
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.
Robert Anton Wilson TOP 100 COMMENTER 11/07/2011 17:33 | #30029 | TOP COMMENT
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ELP gave prog its "shameful" label with their over-the-top extravaganza and bigger than life bravado. This is the album that will explain you why. But man! Forget the labeling and play loud, very loud. If this does not get you into your bones down to the marrow, well I am sorry for you but it does me.
LAF2 05/05/2015 22:49 | #140929 | TOP COMMENT
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As a longtime fan of prog, my Physics teacher introduced me to Karn Evil 9. Fantastic suite. Though I haven't heard the whole album, the last song rivals the best works of Yes and King Crimson.
jdenny2018 05/17/2018 21:25 | #215044 | TOP COMMENT
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Balls to the wall prog at its finest
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