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Brain Salad Surgery | 
| Artists: Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Label: Sanctuary
Category: Music
New (17) Used (1) from £13.36
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 9387
Format: Deluxe Edition
Media: Audio CD
Running Time: 245
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 5 x 0.7
UPC: 600753081952
EAN: 0600753081952
ASIN: B0017M8XS6
Release Date: October 13, 2008
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Jerusalem | | • | Toccata | | • | Still...You Turn Me On | | • | Benny The Bouncer | | • | Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 1 | | • | Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 2 | | • | Karn Evil 9: 2nd Impression | | • | Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression |
Disc 2
| • | When The Apple Blossoms Bloom In The Windmills Of Your Mind I'll Be Your Valentine | | • | Brain Salad Surgery | | • | Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression | | • | Jerusalem | | • | Still...You Turn Me On | | • | Toccata | | • | Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 1 | | • | Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 2 | | • | Karn Evil 9: 2nd Impression | | • | Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression | | • | Brain Salad Surgery | | • | Excerpts from Brain Salad Surgery |
Disc 3
| • | Jerusalem | | • | Toccata | | • | Still...You Turn Me On | | • | Benny The Bouncer | | • | Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 1 | | • | Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 2 | | • | Karn Evil 9: 2nd Impression | | • | Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression | | • | Jerusalem | | • | Toccata | | • | Still...You Turn Me On | | • | Benny The Bouncer | | • | Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 1 | | • | Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 2 | | • | Karn Evil 9: 2nd Impression | | • | Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression | | • | Jerusalem | | • | Toccata | | • | Still...You Turn Me On | | • | Benny The Bouncer | | • | Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 1 | | • | Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 2 | | • | Karn Evil 9: 2nd Impression | | • | Karn Evil 9: 3rd Impression |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 ELP - BSS (Deluxe Edition) SACD November 20, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
5 Stars for Brain Salad Surgery, of course. 1 Star for this remastering on the Deluxe Edition (SACD).
The midrange on this Deluxe Edition has been jacked up with EQ and it is compressed enough so that Lake's vocals now grate a bit, but most difficult to understand is how this sound was considered appropriate for Palmer's drums. When his first beat kicks in with hi-hat in tow around 1:30 into "Jerusalem," I think some folks will probably say to themselves: "You've got to be kidding." The hi-hat was already a rough listen on the Victory but here it has been turned into a metallic pinch. I don't personally think that these EQ moves were a success. The added compression is also really annoying. The whole signal sort of "pumps" as a result. Surely some will rave about more "detail" and "clarity," but in actual A/B comparisons with the old Victory CD, I found this to be utterly "tinny" with way too much added midrange EQ. And I already found the Victory a bit too bright. I still think that despite what I suspect were less than perfect source tapes, the original Atlantic CD mastered by Barry Diament is the best digital version of this album. Some might find it a bit "dull," but in comparison to what? I don't know, I find my ears tolerate 40 minutes of that sound just fine. Adding treble to recordings during remastering seems common in the digital realm, but sometimes over the course of an entire album this added treble can really become annoying. I wonder if people would find the original Atlantic CD "dull" if they cleaned their ears out with some warm sounding vinyl for a few days?
Let us keep in mind that the Victory remastering in 1993 by Joseph Palmaccio was apparently the first time this entire album had been remastered from master tapes. This same mastering was then used by Rhino (ignore the new mastering credit inside, it's just a mistake). Castle also used this mastering after first accidentally issuing a downmix from the Rhino DVD-A. Hence, you have the Victory CD, the Rhino and "corrected" Castle editions all featuring the same mastering by Mr. Palmaccio. The Japanese releases on JVC are not worth discussion (too compressed) other than the fact that they had snazzy packaging. The album was released on CD in Germany on Ariola/Manticore, but while some of the Manticore CDs are hunted by audiophiles (especially the first album as well as Tarkus, and to a certain extent Trilogy -- all of which I agree sound excellent), I didn't find the Manticore CD of BSS to be all that great. Too much treble. Incidentally, I suspect that all of the Japanese mini lp CDs by JVC originate from the Manticore/Ariola sources anyway, if not just the CDs themselves. If you are curious about different digital versions of the ELP catalog, I recommend trying to find those for comparison. The Japanese minis were (sonically) a complete joke and offer nothing of value to the dynamics or tonality of these albums.
But back to this new SACD: The no-noise is thankfully subtle, and will likely not be evident to any but the most obsessive audiophile, but some was surely applied. Consider that the hiss level between this and the Victory are very similar and yet this is compressed and had some added midrange (things that would increase hiss), so you figure it out. I can't stand the stuff and wish there was more reverence for the breath inherent in analog tape amongst many modern mastering engineers, because the sound that occurs when perfectly natural tape hiss is removed via computer is not an improvement to my ears, in fact, it is a major downgrade ... but that's another story.
The much bigger issue at hand will simply be if one thinks the Victory mastering needed to be even brighter and have compression added. If so, you'll like this sound. I found the new release vastly inferior to the Victory, and I still prefer Barry Diament's Atlantic CD mastering for the smoothest sound (particularly on Palmer's cymbals) of them all.
 Bad artwork is not a deterrent November 10, 2008
It is indeed unfortunate that the quality control department was closed when this one came in as the music itself, the information and the sound quality are all superb. Sadly, enthusiasts who buy these deluxe editions are very critical so when mistakes of this magnitude occur it does somewhat tarnish the product. Probably the most serious mistake regards the SACD. The information on the sleeve refers to the DVD formats DTS 5.1 (incorrectly stated as STS) and LPCM. Anyone purchasing the disc with the intention of playing the high resolution mix on a DVD player will be sadly disappointed as the hi-res mixes are, in fact, SACD which is an entirely different format to DVD. The SACD does contain both stereo and 5.1 hi-res mixes which are, as expected, amazingly accurate and incredibly musical. What this hybrid disc also contains is a standard CD layer which duplicates Disc 1 rendering this disc redundant. Previous deluxe editions utilising SACD (such as The Moody Blues) have been 2 disc packages where Disc 1 has been a hybrid SACD/CD. In this package the SACD is packed with the booklet in the card sleeve. This is not good as it is not protected and is virtually impossible to re-insert.
Other mistakes have been noted by a previous reviewer. They are minor but should not be there.
The music is still as wonderfully pompous and overblown as usual and will still be scoffed at by those who are too scared to indulge themselves in the remarkable abilities of three of the finest musicians around (still the case). Mark Powell and Paschal Byrne save this package with their renowned skills making this the best presentation yet. Worth abandoning any previous issues.
 THIS IS THE ONE! October 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Forget all the other versions of this classic album. This 35th Anniversary edition is the one to get. It's the correct mix at the correct speed, and the SACD will blow your head off! Bonus tracks are cool, though I'm not so sure why the 35th Anniversary versions on Disc 2 are different from what's on Disc 1. Could be a misprint.
 Music - 5 Stars; Packaging - 0 Stars October 20, 2008
As other reviewers have pointed out, the music on Brain Salad Surgery makes the album a "must own" for any serious classic rock lover. However, Sanctuary Records should be ashamed of itself for the hatchet job it has foisted upon this "Deluxe Edition". In addition to the numerous spelling errors and inconsistencies, the SACD disc - perhaps the only reason any ELP fan will be buying this re-issue - was jammed tightly into the cardboard pocket that also housed the booklet. It was with great difficulty that I was able to remove it without damaging it. Embarrassing. Listeners who are new to Brain Salad Surgery would be better off with one of the (numerous) previous editions.
Close but not touching October 19, 2008
I am glad to see ELP getting the Special Edition treatment but buyers need to be aware of the typographical errors and factual mistakes noted elsewhere on this page by other reviewers.
The re-mastering means there is much to enjoy in the clarity it gives to the band's performance. It is interesting to compare the three versions of KE9 included. The package could have amounted to more though. If this seems like damning it with faint praise, the three stars are for the package not the music which is a must have for fans of 'progressive' Rock.
ELP Completists will want it but it is not for casual buyers who will be better off with a single disc re-mastered version. People keen to hear what Emerson is up to nowadays should have a go at his Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla CD when it becomes available in the UK. One track even has a quote from Toccata on it ... ...
Brain Salad Surgery
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