Emerson Lake & Palmer - BRAIN SALAD SURGERY [DVD-A]

[JonUrban]

Please post your comments, thoughts and observations....... :thumbsdow

[ferret-e]

One of a few...

[Ed Bishop]

Have to say, though no key tickler in rock history was more full of himself and as unsubtle as Keith Emerson, this is a very fun, creative, and at times wild mix....it's as if, understanding that too often the trio just went absurdly overboard, the 5.1 here wallows in the excesses and things are just going on everywhere....some may not like that, but this one has never failed to impress friends and gotta admit, I enjoy it a lot in spite of myself.....

ED

[MIDIQ]

I love this surround mix, one of my favorites, a definate 10 !!!!

[Cai Campbell]

This music was meant for surround-sound! Awesome performance, music, and surround mix. Not quite the top-of-the-heap, but pretty darn close. I gave it 9 points.

[timbre4]

This DVD-A release is the reason I rushed to buy an expensive yet feeble player to play it as soon as possible! I have several better players now thankfully.

I was going to give it the 10 for that reason and how much I've always thought they peaked with this one and I did see them play it live. In retrospect, their other albums may be better but this one really pushed it to the limit and there wasn't too much left to do after it was done.

Lucky Man is a stellar tease to what their other material could sound like , but the '9' stands because of the other weak extras.

John Kellog understands how to make bass sound awesome, almost as if some new tracks had been recorded alongside the existing.

Brain Salad Surgery is an over the top recording that has always deserved full surround treatment as it could not be contained or conveyed fully in 2 channels.

[quadgdiaz]

This DVD-A release is the reason I rushed to buy an expensive yet feeble player to play it as soon as possible! I have several better players now thankfully.

I was going to give it the 10 for that reason and how much I've always thought they peaked with this one and I did see them play it live. In retrospect, their other albums may be better but this one really pushed it to the limit and there wasn't too much left to after it was done.

Lucky Man is a stellar tease to what their other material could sound like , but the '9' stands because of the other weak extras.

John Kellog understands how to make bass sound awesome, almost as if some new tracks had been recorded alongside the existing.

Brain Salad Surgery is an over the top recording that has always deserved full surround treatment as it could not be contained or conveyed fully in 2 channels.

this is one is a 10 for me. they were here in San Diego a year or two before the release (B.S.S.), and i had a chance to talk to them after the show, and i ask Keith Emerson if they were going to release something on DVD-A and he said yes "Brain Salad Surgery" i said cool. then i have all 3 of them autograph my Q8's. i can't forget the faces they made of my Q8's & Keith Emerson ask me what the heck is this ??????? i told him a Quad 8 track, then he said what do i do with it???? i said sign it you dummy,he just crack up, i have seen them before quiet a few times, but this was my first time ever to talk to them, and all i can say they were real polite and down to earth guys. thanks Gerardo

[Uncle Al]

Every negative comment I ever made about over the top surround mixes is apparent in this disc.

And I love it. Somehow, this is how this music should have always sounded.

This is enveloping, and very well mixed (every swirl around the room, every successive shout of "roll up!" coming from an individual speaker, is so perfectly mixed that volume remains constant even if you are not in the sweet spot). This is not a disc for casual listening, the dynamics will overtake any conversation you attempt to have while listening.

I think this holds up as the quadraphonic vision that this music originally was intended to convey. 30 years later, we have a "delivery system" capable of proper distribution to the masses.

A bit of bitch for the high-rez stereo-philes, as there is no proper stereo mix onthe disc, but a dream come true for all that have waited for 3 decades to properly hear it in quad (...er surround. ALMOST the same thing, innit?).

[bizmopeen]

Completely over-the-top and absolutely classic because of it. ELP was built for surround sound...

[MC Maniac]

30 years enjoying this one...

This disc is coming with me to heaven or hell or where ever I end when I go ...

[daved64]

This would have been better as an ambient mix..........

I LOVE this disc. It poots in the face of every non surround person. Frantic ping ponging and 360 spins......ya gotta love it. A great showcase for surround. 9

[timw]

For me also.....the reason I had to get into DVD-A! One of my favorite albums! A perfect example of where the MUSIC is meant for the FORMAT! It's a shame there hasn't been more ELP released in surround...
Tim

[Bidkat]

Wasn't this the very first release?

I certainly broke cherry on it.

Sonically, an absolute jaw-dropper. I could not believe what I was hearing.
Magnificent surround sound, yes, but also an introduction to a whole new level of cleanup for old tracks. Obvious effort went into insuring this first release made the grade.

Was so excited I immediately sent off an email to friends to rant about the great new format, and new age of surround.

Though not my favorite material by any means, I have to give this a 10.

[timbre4]

Yes, a "proper" stereo mix is an afterthought for Brain Salad Surgery on DVD-Audio.

But when you've bought the stereo CD at least 3 times and still own 2 of them (3D cover and interview 1996 Rhino + import by Castle 2001 slightly different mixes/takes), it really isn't important is it?

[Frantic]

A very, very high 9.

Once again, a great comparison demo. We need the whole collection on an Elliot Schiner mix

[eelkiller]

Excellent disc - I wish Trilogy had followed

[Bobn]

A bit of bitch for the high-rez stereo-philes, as there is no proper stereo mix onthe disc, but a dream come true for all that have waited for 3 decades to properly hear it in quad (...er surround. ALMOST the same thing, innit?).

What do you mean by this??

I was under the impression there was a high rez 2 channel mix. I am one of those high-rez stereophiles.

I would appreciate your comments as this was on my 'to buy' list

[Ed Bishop]

I think Al is saying this is one of a handful of DVD-A's that has a 5.1 hi-rez mix only. There were a few of those, alas!

ED

[analogdemon]

I have to agree that this music was just made for surround. The mix is discrete as hell. And at the end of the album when they have the weird sound effects going around the room, while yes it's gimmicky, it's a great way to close out the album. All throughout the record there's stuff going on everywhere. This isn't background music. If you want to appreciate this disc, you need to sit in the sweet spot, close your eyes and concentrate on it. I like that they threw in "Lucky Man" as a bonus even though it was on a completely different album. They probably did this so that there was at least a "hit" (if you can call it that) that people might recognize which would help sell copies.

If you don't like pretentious super progessive keyboard-driven rock and roll, you might not like this disc. In the 70s, I'm told that the running joke about Emerson, Lake and Palmer was:

Q: How do you spell pretentious?
A: ELP

As a fan of Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Jethro Tull and countless other progressive rock bands of that time, this album just works for me. I give it a 9.5, rounded up, a 10.

[BananaSlug]

I gave it a '9'. As everyone else says this is a fun disc, the music was made for surround. Thankfully it was giving a very appropriate mix. Unless you really don't like the band, this should be in your collection. Hell, even if you don't like ELP buy it and play it for your friends, maybe they'll "convert" to the whole world of 5.1

[Ed Bishop]

It's a great disc, provided that, as a listener, you don't mind a lot of activity in all channels and some stuff moving around, which bugs some folks about this one and L.A. WOMAN in particular. I enjoy them a lot, and to be honest, likely wouldn't listen to BSS again if it weren't for its aggressive 5.1 mix.

ED

[ssully]

After living with this one for however many years its been since it was released, I realized lately I 'missed' the old mix. The new mix does some things differently with reverb especially (the vocal are drier than the old mix, and some synth parts just don't have the prominence they used to) that i wish they hadn't ; so for now I've reverted to listening to the original, with 'surround' added by DPL IIx. It's nice to have both though -- the bass on the DVD-A is much better mixed.

[Dylan Berichon]

This was the first DVD-A I purchased, and the one I listen to the most often.

An amazing mix.

A 10 all the way for me. Nothing more needs to be said really.

I should add that the bonus tracks/features (aside from the inclusion of "Lucky Man") are a nice afterthought, but hardly worth much.

[ClarkNovak]

One of the best 5.1 mixes ever, period. A very active presentation, which matches the period in which it was recorded. Sonically near perfect! A great demo disc. And the inclusion of "Lucky Man" is icing on the cake!

[Chris Gerhard]

This music had become very tired for me about three decades ago but raves about this surround sound mix made me bite and I expected to hate it. I would never have purchased this if enough music I knew I would like was available in high resolution but there isn't and I love this one. I don't care about no stereo mix, I wouldn't listen to it anyway. The only ELP song I still liked to listen to before this purchase was "From the Beginning", but this album is such an experience in surround that the weaknesses are forgiven and almost forgotten. A 9 and only the music is still less than a 10 for me. Congratulations to all that made this one happen, it sure wouldn't have been an album I would have suggested as perfect for surround, especially early in the format's development.

Chris