Bracket: Trilogy vs Brain Salad Surgery

[Sputnik]

I'm surprised Trilogy is faring so well. For me, it's BSS all the way, one of my favorite albums ever. Not that I don't like Trilogy, in fact I love it. But for me it doesn't hold a candle to BSS, which is just on a different plane.

The last two songs on Trilogy I've always found a little weak, and the song Trilogy seems to lose focus a bit near the end. No weak moments for me on BSS for me, including Benny, which I know a lot of people don't like. I think Karn Evil First and Second Impressions and Toccata are masterpieces of the style. BSS really is one of those albums that if I could only listen to one for the rest of my life, that would likely be my choice.

But at the moment it looks like Trilogy will win this bracket. So it goes.

Bill

[Trane]

none of those two...

ELP was clearly in a descending phase by the time of these two albums, IMHO...

I always thought of Trilogy as particularly weak, but BSS, I did love it once upon a long time ago

[SteveSly]

Probably go with Trilogy, although a big fan of both of them.

[A. Scherze]

Yeah, I never was much for Tarkus...

Blasphemer!

[A. Scherze]

ELP was clearly in a descending phase by the time of these two albums, IMHO...

Blasphemer!

[flowerking]

BSS.

[Progbear]

BSS

[Score2112]

BSS


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[Jefferson James]

Shit just got real.





*sneaks in another BSS

[Trane]

Blasphemer!

sdiable.gif

[yesstiles]

Trilogy

BSS is good, but everything apart from KE9 pretty much sucks imo.

[Kcrimso]

Trilogy

BSS is good, but everything apart from KE9 pretty much sucks imo.

Jerusalem sucks? Toccata sucks? Blasphemer!

[Zeuhlmate]

Trilogy

BSS is good, but everything apart from KE9 pretty much sucks imo.

Wouldn't go that far as 'sucks' , but KE9 is what I enjoy on BSS, I skip the rest.

[yodathedog]

BSS. Hands down.

[Rufus]

I'm surprised Trilogy is faring so well. For me, it's BSS all the way, one of my favorite albums ever. Not that I don't like Trilogy, in fact I love it. But for me it doesn't hold a candle to BSS, which is just on a different plane.

The last two songs on Trilogy I've always found a little weak, and the song Trilogy seems to lose focus a bit near the end. No weak moments for me on BSS for me, including Benny, which I know a lot of people don't like. I think Karn Evil First and Second Impressions and Toccata are masterpieces of the style. BSS really is one of those albums that if I could only listen to one for the rest of my life, that would likely be my choice.

But at the moment it looks like Trilogy will win this bracket. So it goes.

Bill

^^^THIS!

BSS is a perfect example of a band at the height of their creativity. Apart from one or two YES albums this is the only other album I buy anything & everything connected with it. I must own at least 20 releases of this album in various formats, re-issues, remasters, vinyl's , cassettes, DVD-A etc. It is clearly each individual band members most favourite album from all the interviews I've read.
I actually rate Works higher than Trilogy.

[Yellow Jester]

Brain Salad Surgery by a hair. Trilogy was a very good album but BSS is ELP's high point thanks to the "Karn Evil 9" suite.

[Levgan]

Can I choose Tarkus or, better yet, their first LP? IMO, they never reached the heights of those two records again.

Between Trilogy and BSS I'd go with the latter, but only by a hair. "Toccata" is brilliant.

[notallwhowander]

I don't often listen to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but when I do, I prefer Trilogy.

[arabicadabra]

Oh man, me too. It's the only band I ever flew 6,000 miles each way to see and it was to experience THAT album played live. It changed my life.

I just realized it's impossible for me to be objective about BSS; it's too deep inside of me. It's the musical molecular chain that keeps me vertical. I'm like a narcissist in the sense that I use BSS to mirror myself. Fuck, I love that album. It's "the one", you know? Everything revolves around this album, anything else sounds negative, primitive, limited.

[yamishogun]

But it wasn't until the 1986 release that they finally captured the 80s sound that they had sought from 1970.

[regenerativemusic]

I think BSS represents a peak in composition, synthesis and production values, but Pirates also was very good compositionally, as were Trilogy and much of the rest.

[dpt3]

"From the Beginning" beats "Still You Turn Me On", but "Toccata" blows away "Hoedown". "The Sheriff" and "Benny the Bouncer" are pretty much a wash, but KE9 dominates over anything on Trilogy, plus there's Jerusalem which is pretty cool.

Overall, I've got to give it to BSS.

Though most days I'd rather listen to the debut over either one.

[mogrooves]

Though most days I'd rather listen to the debut over either one.

T'was ever thus.

[olias]

Brain! Salad!! Surgery!!!

For me, it's not even close. Trilogy is very good, but BSS is the kind of transcendent pinnacle that few artists ever reach. There is nothing misplaced on this one, even Carl's drumming is indispensable. "Jerusalem" and "Toccata" are such amazing arrangements/interpretations that calling them "cover songs" hardly does them justice. "Still...you turn me on" is Greg Lake's greatest ballad, which is saying quite a lot. I agree with Ed Macan's assessment that KE9 1st Impression is the purest example of heroic striving in all of rock music. The 2nd Impression is Keith's most inspired jazz piano piece, which is also saying a lot. The 3rd Impression, aside from it's wonderful Elgar-ish melodies, contains maybe the greatest programmatic instrumental section in all of rock music, an apocalyptic battle between man and computer that evolves with the inexorable logic of a great symphony.

BSS all the way, one of my top 5 of all time for sure...

[hFx]

Both very good for different reasons, but of the two - Trilogy foe sure!