Brain Salad Surgery [Extra tracks]

Emerson, Lake & Palmer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 9, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 1973
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks
• Label: Shout! Factory
• ASIN: B000VBIEXS
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  DVD Audio  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (228 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,531 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Jerusalem

2. Toccata

3. Still...You Turn Me On

4. Benny the Bouncer

5. Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression - Part 1

6. Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression - Part 2

7. 2nd Impression

8. 3rd Impression

9. Bonus Track: Jerusalem

10. Bonus Track: Karn Evil 9

Editorial Reviews

One of the greatest prog albums ever (the performances, production and artwork are all widely worshipped) gets the royal reissue treatment! Karn Evil 9; Still You Turn Me On; Jerusalem , and the rest of the 1973 smash join two alternate mixes and a 24-page booklet.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not cheap, but worth the investment November 23, 2008

By William M. Feagin

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is basically the ultimate version of Brain Salad Surgery, and while I probably wouldn't suggest this as a first-time purchase for any newbie to the works of ELP, it's nice for the dedicated fan. Here, you have the album in 3 forms--the original, remastered, on CD #1, which is the same remaster, as other reviewers have noted, as the one initially made for the now-defunct Victory Music label in 1993, the first time the ELP catalogue was properly remastered away from the first CD run with Atlantic (and I have memories of the CD version of The Best of Emerson, Lake & Palmer--a mix so low you had to crank the volume to 11 just to hear anything, which made "Still...You Turn Me On" sound as if the mics were placed near the back of a medium-large auditorium and the band recorded in that position).

On CD #2, you have the outtakes--the first attempt at "When the Apple Blossoms Bloom in the Windmills of Your Mind, I'll Be Your Valentine" (which didn't see official release until Works, Vol. 2, in late 1977) and the completely unreleased-until-now title cut, "Brain Salad Surgery," which has elements of all the tracks that did appear on the album (save perhaps "Benny the Bouncer"). In addition, first mixes of "Toccata" and "Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression," and new stereo mixes of all the tracks, plus an excerpt from the New Musical Express interview flexidisc of the time. Worthy additions all, for the completist fan.

And CD #3? A hybrid SACD of the album; this is the 5.1 Surround Sound mix used on Rhino's DVD-A release of 1999 (Rhino R9-75980), but it is improved notably. My problem with DVD-As has been that, often, the mix is such that certain tracks seem to have been lowered inexplicably (a problem I noted especially with the DVD-As included in the Genesis remasters and in the DVD-A of Richard Thompson's Rumor and Sigh album--hey, EMI, could we have a hybrid SACD of that one, please?). This problem, thankfully, does not exist with the hybrid SACD, and this remix sounds better.

So if Deluxe Editions of this type are what you're looking for in your favourite classic rock albums, Brain Salad Surgery will be a worthy investment for you. (As of this writing, we're still waiting for a similar version of Black Sabbath's Paranoid, which was initially slated for release at the same time as the Deluxe BSS--Amazon's US site notes the release date as having been pushed back to 6 Jan. 2009, so we'll see what happens.)

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars ELP: Brain Salad Surgery (Sony UK label) Released 2/22/2011 July 27, 2011

By prognosis

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

In my mind (and to my ears) this is the best remaster of the best album in the ELP catalog. There is no clipping during Tocatta and the music sounds rich, full and crystal clear. What a nice change from the dreadful 2007 Shout remaster which is so compressed it may well damage your home speakers. As another reviewer pointed out, "drums don't ever sound like that." This version is a little louder than the 1993 Victory remaster but a smidge less bright, though this point is very subjective. (You may find them equally bright or this one slightly brighter). A little more lush than the 1996 Rhino remaster, though that is a very solid remaster as well with a great booklet.

This edition contains a seven-page booklet with new sleevenotes but it's no big deal, certainly not as substantial as Shout's 24-page booklet. Shout got everything right with the packaging (with the exception of cropping the album cover too tight) but missed terribly on the remastered sound. Sony gets the remastered music right but goes the economy route on the packaging.

Sony recently purchased the band's back catalogue from Universal (footnote: Classic Rock presents Prog, issue 15, page 108) so everything has been remastered and repackaged on the Sony UK/Legacy label (including this release). According to that same article, Sony may release Tarkus & Pictures at an Exhibition on their Legacy label which will come with new 5.1 remixes, extensive sleevenotes and bonus materials. If that materializes, I've got to believe they would go all out as well, even more so, for Brain Salad Surgery. We'll have to wait and see.

The only other remaster of this title I might recommend is the 2004 edition on the Sanctuary UK label which I'm betting is very similar to this in terms of sound quality. (I haven't heard it but they did an incredible job on the Black Sabbath remasters, first six albums, and the Kinks Singles collection). The upside of that remaster is the cover artwork is probably reproduced on the disc itself. The downside is the low price is (currently) $15.00 so you will pay a lot more than necessary for this music.

If you don't own a version of this disc you're happy with, this release is for you. Sony/Legacy does a meticulous job of remastering album classics and this edition of Brain Salad Surgery is no exception. Highly recommended.

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst Masterging I've Heard on a "Re-Mastered" CD (2007 Re-issue) September 13, 2008

By R. Ripberger

Format:Audio CD

I'm not going to talk about whether I like ELP or their music or this album other than I really liked this LP as a kid and was happy to bump into a "Re-Mastered" CD version of it.

However, I have to say that the sound is about the worst re-mastered CD I've heard to date. Most noticable on my system is that the precussion parts have been severely obliterated - the cymbals are mostly missing and when noticable sound unreal - not at all like the LP - and most of the rest of the drum kit is noticably muted. Levels are inconsistent within single tracks and from track to track. Karn-evil 9 part 1 seems to have grossly filtered, muted, and muffled. The other reviewer's comment about low pass filtering seems accurate. This CD seems to have lost much of the realism and clarity of the LP.

What a disappointment.

Update 2013:
So looks like Amazon is rolling all the reviews for all the versions of this CD together. I'll have to qualify my comment that my 1 star rating was against the 2007 reissue from Shout Factory.