Brain Salad Surgery - Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Brain Salad Surgery is the fourth studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released on 19 November 1973 by their record label, Manticore Records, and distributed by Atlantic Records.
Following the tour in support of their previous album, Trilogy (1972), the group acquired rehearsal facilities to work on new material, which would blend classical and rock themes. To control things, they launched their own record company, Manticore, in March 1973. The album was recorded from June to September at Olympic and Advision Studios and mixed in October 1973 at AIR Studios in London. As were all the group's previous works, it was produced by Greg Lake. The album includes a cover designed by H. R. Giger.
Released to a mixed critical response, it has begun to receive more favourable reviews with time. Brain Salad Surgery continued the group's commercial success, reaching number 2 in the United Kingdom and number 11 in the United States, and eventually gaining Gold certifications in both countries. In its support, the trio embarked on their largest world tour to date, including a headlining spot at the California Jam festival.
The album has been remastered/remixed and reissued numerous times, including stereo and 5.1 surround sound remixes by Jakko Jakszyk.Show more

1. Jerusalem 0:00
2. Toccata 2:42
3. Still... You Turn Me On 10:01
4. Benny the Bouncer 12:53
5. Karn Evil 9 15:12

Since cover art for the impending album was required, Manticore manager Peter Zumsteg introduced Emerson to a popular artist, Hans Ruedi Giger, who was living in Zurich. In April 1973, as a part of their European tour, the group played a two-day concert there. After the concert, Emerson with Zumsteg visited the artist at his home. At that time, the working title for the album was Medious' expression Whip Some Skull on Ya, which is translated as fellatio. Coincidentally, under the impact of the music, including Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Giger had just created a human skull-based triptych entitled Work 216: Landscape XIX. When he revealed the triptych to his guests, Emerson immediately felt that it was completely appropriate for the album cover art.
'It was dark and very foreboding, and for me it represented ELP's music.'
—Keith Emerson on H. R. Giger's art
Subsequently, the album title was changed to Brain Salad Surgery, which has the same meaning as Whip Some Skull on Ya. The phrase was probably taken from the song "Right Place, Wrong Time" by Dr. John, which had been a hit single in summer 1973 and contains the line "I been running trying to get hung up in my mind, got to give myself a little talking to this time, just need a little brain salad surgery, got to cure this insecurity".
Giger painted two new pieces approximately the actual size of the vinyl record entitled Work 217: ELP I and Work 218: ELP II. The first painting was chosen by the group as the front cover. It contains the artist's distinctive monochromatic biomechanical artwork, integrating an industrial mechanism with a human skull and the new 'ELP' logotype, which was also designed by Giger and has been standard for Emerson, Lake & Palmer ever since. The lower part of the skull is covered by a circular screen, which displays the mouth and chin in its flesh-covered state, as well as what appears to be the top of a phallus below the chin, arising from the 'ELP' tube. Art director Fabio Nicoli insisted on a non-standard construction of the vinyl sleeve rather than being a normal gatefold. The front cover of the novelty triptych sleeve was split in half down the centre, except for the circular screen, which was attached to the right flap, and was opened up like a gate. Opening the flaps revealed the second painting, featuring the full face of a human female (modelled after Giger's partner Li Tobler) with ringlets of wire hair framing the closed eyes and multiple scars, including the infinity symbol and a scar from a frontal lobotomy. The illustration originally had the complete phallus, but when the artwork was presented to the record company, it was rejected and dismissed as pornographic. As Giger refused to take the penis off the painting, the group had another artist airbrush it into a shaft of glowing light. The back cover was entirely black with the large white lettering 'Brain Salad Surgery'. Work 217: ELP I was also used as a custom label, with the spindle of the turntable penetrating through the lips. The vinyl packaging included a 12-panel fold-out poster with photographs of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, which were taken by Rosemary Adams.
When Manticore Records went defunct in 1977, Atlantic Records reissued the album with the initial design as well as with an ordinary vinyl packaging, which consisted of simple non fold-out outer and inner sleeves. The 'face' painting was used as the back cover of the outer sleeve.
After the exhibition Giger in Prague was closed on 31 August 2005, the two original 34×34 cm acrylic-on-paper paintings Work 217: ELP I and Work 218: ELP II were lost or stolen and have not yet been found.