Monday, May 13th 2024 And who is still listening to this Masterpiece....

Keith Emerson once said: "I don not write music for the pop charts. I write music for... let's say 50 years from now, musicians would still want to hear" Without any doubt at all Emerson Lake & Palmer are my very best band ever. Simply genius and astonishing performers like no one else.

I bought this masterpiece in 1974 when I was 16 years old... Still listening aged 65 😳

Boy, listening to this takes me back to high school. We didn't realize then we were living through the greatest creative explosion and experimentation of music ever.

2023, 50 years later and still listening. Happy 50th Anniversary Brain Salad Surgery

Emerson, Lake & Palmer for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!!!♠♥♣🏆

THE greatest spectacle Rock ever witnessed. Emerson, Lake and Palmer, with the lyrical genius Peter Sinfield detailing a dystopian carnival, computers and AI taking over and a final war between man and machine. No greater band has come, despite many contenders. These were TITANS of talent. Man do I miss the greatness of this band!

What Keith Emerson does here has never been replicated...And never will...Cheers to the genius.. R.I.P. Keith..and Greg

"Bohemian Rhapsody lasts 6 minutes! It's too long" ELP: Hold my Moog

50 years ago I played the shit out of this song. Here it is 50 years later and I’m listening to it again with headphones and know I know why I played it so much…it simply kicks ass👍👍

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Karn Evil 9" is an extended work by progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer, appearing on the album Brain Salad Surgery. A futuristic fusion of rock and classical themes, it was written by band members Keith Emerson and Greg Lake with former King Crimson lyricist Peter Sinfield. It is the fifth and final track on Brain Salad Surgery and, with a running length of 29 minutes and 37 seconds, is Emerson, Lake & Palmer's longest studio recording. The initial release of the album on vinyl split "Karn Evil 9" between the two sides due to its length, with a fade out/fade in between First Impression Parts 1 and 2. The phrase "Karn Evil" is sound-alike (homophonous) with the word "carnival". The story of "Karn Evil 9" is told in three parts, with the second part being an instrumental interlude. First Impression, Part 1 begins with a tale of a bleak world (although timeframe is not specified): "Cold and misty morning I heard a warning borne on the air ..." and where humanity is either being destroyed or has fallen into decay and helplessness. First Impression, Part 2 tells how the decadence of the old world is preserved through exhibits that are part of a futuristic carnival show, which exhibits depravities like "seven virgins and a mule", along with things that are rare in the future, such as a "real blade of grass". Unlike the rest of "Karn Evil", the Second Impression's instrumentation is primarily piano, bass, and drums with a solo by Emerson on a Minimoog set to imitate a steelpan. (Part of the solo very briefly quotes the main melody from Sonny Rollins's "St. Thomas". This impression changes from an upbeat out-of-control tune to a slow interval and then picks up the pace with a structure similar to that of a sonata. It is allegedly about computers scheming against the humans, and the humans completely not suspecting this.[citation needed] The Third Impression continues the story begun in the first, describing a war between humans and computers, which can be interpreted in three different ways. One interpretation gives the victory to the humans, who reimpose their dominion over the computers. The second interpretation allows victory to the computers, claiming that the computers were successful in dominating the humans and let them live only for the sake of gloating. The third interpretation, consistent with Peter Sinfield's original interpretation that "what [Man had] invented ironically takes him over" has humans winning a war with the help of computers, only to find the computers taking over in the moment of victory.

R.I.P. Emerson and Lake. This album is a masterpiece. I have had this album since it came out. ✌️☮️

Recorded live, onto tape. No sequencers. No computers. No click track. This my friends, is real, organic, living music. I may have listened to this song (and album) 3,000+ times in the 42 years since I first heard it and to this day, it excites my entire being to the core. Now, please excuse me while I put the headphones on and listen to it another 3,000+ times...

Man, the organ needs to come back as a rock instrument in mainstream music.

I had forgotten how good this record was. The level of musicianship is insane.

In Seventies Emerson said that we make music for listening even 50 years laters.I see now he is right !!!!

The 70s were a time genius had no shackles. The greatest time to be alive and see these masters a play. Feel blessed to have heard all that great music but feel sad for today's youth.

in 100 years, Keith Emerson will still be the greatest keyboard player in history

My wife took me to see ELP in 1974 at Wembley Arena where they played this album. It is still the best concert I have ever been to and that was 49 years ago this year.

This song seems to become more relevant with every passing year.

R.I.P Keith Emerson. The mad scientist of Prog Rock!

Still sounds fresh after 45 years. Truly a masterpiece.

One year, my uncle asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told him I didn't want anything big or fancy, and that I would be happy with a gift card. He gave me a google play card. I was really getting into prog rock, and google recommended this album. I had never heard it before, but I had read the reviews, so I decided to get it. When I listened to it, I knew I had made the right choice. But it wasn't until Karn Evil 9 transitioned from 1st to 2nd impression that I realized that this is the album where the "Welcome back my friends" song came from. That is why I can honestly say that that gift card is one of the greatest birthday gifts anyone ever gave me.

Emerson is a genius. There were and are great keyboardists (Wakeman, Lord, Rudess and others) but Emerson is the most complete and creative.

I'm 65yo now when I was seventeen use to listen to this album stoned and going to bed. Still love listening to it now sober and still sounds great. Generation today cannot match the players of the sixties and seventies, that's why those of the greats who are still alive are still playing concerts.

Part 3 is undeniably one of the highest peaks rock music ever reached instrumentally.

Its lovely insane. And never get older. I still listening it from the beginning, and after all those years, it is just like the very first time. It is so alive.

Ho quasi 62 anni, mi vengono ancora i brividi ascoltando questi Giganti. Visionari inarrivabili, artisti rigorosi, musicisti perfetti, avanti 50 anni sui loro tempi. Grazie per avere accompagnato buona parte della mia vita.

This is Progrssive Rock - who cares if you cant dance to it - harmonically brillliant!!!!

Fucking brilliant and Keith was a genius. RIP Keith and you will live on forever in my heart.....

This is beyond good music, it is the future of humanity foretold in an epic soundtrack.

I'm 61 this October (2020). The lonesome years of my life were painful, but I got through...Instrumental in my life and recovery from loneliness. ELP The band gave my mind art to behold. The band made me ambitious. The band inspired many emotions in me. How I do so much miss this band. Carl Palmer, Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, peace be with you. God bless and keep

I forgot how much this band meant to me. With an assertive spine tingle, now I remember...I was once a teenager and dreams mattered...and sound mattered...and these three guys mattered to me.

Keith Emerson, Gregg Lake & Carl Palmer...What more can I say...3 Greatly talented men & writers and showmen...Classic music all...Great stuff...

I think, for a lot of us ELP fans, music didn't really get any better than this. It's not that we're stuck in the past; it's just that we carry on loving the things we loved back then.

Carl Palmer has to be one of the most underrated drummers

A progressive rock masterpiece!!! Amazing!!!

It breaks my heart to see these musical geniuses leave us! Chris Squire, Keith Emerson and now Greg Lake. God Bless you all! Karn Evil 9 plays on.

Thank you Dad for making me listen to your favorite band when I was a child. Now I'm 30 and still listen to this great band. Greatest of all!

I saw elp live in 73. Unbelievable musicians. Lakes voice is beautiful and piercing. Palmer, best drummer EVER

It was 1974. I got a cool stereo for a grammer school graduation from my parents. It had an 8 track. I went to sears with my girlfriend. This song was on a stereo in their music department. I bought the album AND the 8 track. My parents thought I was on drugs. Even my neighbors hated it as I blasted it in my bedroom. One actually called the police. Ah...the 70's!

ELP is a spiritual experience.

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer were three amazing musicians who were perfectly suited for one another. Underrated and light years ahead of everyone else… still are too. And let’s not forget, as good as it sounded in the studio, they did this stuff live and blew everyone away. Amazing band.

I'm 19 and ELP is one of my favorite bands. Don't lose hope for the younger generation just yet.

First song I ever heard when I bought a new stereo. Late '73 I was 15.. was a paperboy, and saved up $140 to buy a REAL stereo. I had listened to AM radio since I was 4... so I knew music. But this stereo had FM !!! I flipped the knob to FM Stereo... and all 29 minutes of this was the first thing I heard ! Changed EVERYTHING. ;-)

To those who lament that today's audience can't appreciate prog rock there is hope! I am a high school teacher and I frequently play my Pandora station while my students work and many of them love classic and prog rock. One student in particular heard a Yes song (I think it was South Side of the Sky) and wanted to know and hear more. I'm giving her an intermittent education in prog rock. We'll see how far down the rabbit hole she wants to go. Next up is A Trick of the Tail followed by Brain Salad Surgery.

Greg Lake's vocal performance here is only surpassed by Keith Emerson's unparalleled mastery of everything keyboard.

If only Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson could have performed together!

Keith Emerson - you were a great musician with phenomenal keyboard/synthesizer playing and truly one of the best in progressive rock. R.I.P. Keith, we will miss you.

if this song doesn't blow your mind then you don't have one.

This is pure unparalleled genius on every level.

ELP at its peak has produced such a magnificent masterpiece in 70’s. In Japan we also noticed it listening to it over and over again. In 21st century now even only one of them left, the fight/show will never stop❗️

I loved you Emerson, Lake and Palmer since I was 13 in 1970. Rest in peace beloved, Keith.

Keith Emerson the best keyboard player (not to mention that he invented the synthesizer) ever, Carl Palmer best drummer of all times, Greg Lake best voice of all voices, excellence in bass, and guitar, Keith and Greg magnificent composers, the three together best band superior to anybody else, in inventiveness, innovation, technic, originality, uniqueness, and energy, nobody compares and their level is still unsurpassed.

Undoubtedly one of the most compelling pieces of the prog/rock genre. Three masters at the heights of their extraordinary musical powers. ELP deserve their rightful place on the Mt. Rushmore of rock bands, critics be damned!

The absolute top of rock/jazz/classics, perfect in every way

Quite simply THEE MOST OVERLOOKED BAND EVER!!! Remember Theres only 3 of them putting out this incredible and insanely difficult full of life music!!! RIP ELP

Emerson's real forte was his ability to create extended musical themes with a unique blend of blues, jazz, and classical styles. Lots of rock keyboardists can riff, and maybe extend a meaningful solo for a couple of min. Emerson was at the next level.

I've listened to this over a 100 times I guess. In 2020 it sounds more futuristic to me than it did in the 70s. It is because nowadays there is nothing comparable.

My God..this brings me back! The intricacies and nuances in Keith Emerson's composing knows no depths! These 3 brought progressive rock to a level never matched!

Rejoice, glory is ours. Our young men have not died in vain.

ELP is the typical example of artists unclassifiable and inspired, far beyond the categorizations so typical of our modernity... It can easily be included in the very closed circle of the great enlightened architects of contemporary music. His music is hypnotically beautiful, immediately accessible and transparent ; a treat for the mind. Each listening reveals a little more of its mystery and its magic !!

This musical creation is one of the most brilliant ever

I had the honour and privilege to see them live 3 times. The concert to support this album was incredible. Quadrophonic sound in a huge arena. It still sends chills up my spine to recall that evening. RIP Greg and Keith. Legends

"Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends." Godspeed, Keith.

ELP and Yes: Two best rock bands of all time. Their talents have never been matched by anyone.

This album was prophetic. In 2022, we're now living in the world of Karn Evil 9. God help us.

Progressive Rock: these were the masters who defined what prog rock was.

Does anyone ever listen to the WHOLE thing and realize that this is pure genius? I hope so. I do. Wow. This is epic music-making.

R.I.P., Keith Emerson. You're now a part of the show that never ends. Godspeed. :'(

i was 13 and i play at home all over the day in loop and mum goes crazy.... and it's already a part of my life.

I'm a drummer but Emerson, Lord, Wakeman, pure bliss. Hammond rules

RIP Keith Emerson. The daddy of all prog keyboard players. I'm having a bad year for losing heroes.

An absolute muscial masterpiece!! RIP Keith & Greg

I bought this record when I was 14 years old! A true wonder!

I can still see Keith Emerson rocking the organ back and forth at the end of the piece and that was about fifty years ago. I love watching videos of kids in their twenties listening to this for the first time and realizing all of it was performed by three people who were basically their age and no auto tune or any other studio tricks were involved. Just talent.

Very sad to hear of Keith's death. He was an incredible musician. RIP Keith.

Brought me to tears...... This music has meant so much to me for decades... I am heartbroken.

67 and just so amazed that this was OUR music! Singing in the stairwell, dancing in the dorm, rocking all night long...

This song needs to be carved on stone walls and buried for future generations to dig up and Enjoy!

This is beautiful, but very complex ... one has to be a careful listener ... best to use headphones and be alone ...

Keith Emerson, probably the greatest rock keyboard player. Inventor of the Moog synthesizer with Robert Moog. A master!

Sleepless last night, stumbled on ELP, thought I would just give Karn Evil 9 a quick minute for old time's sake, and could not turn it off for the full 29:35! Could not believe I could practically play it in my head by heart after 45 years of not hearing it.

I bought this wonderful lp in1973,I was a teenager,16 y.o.,now I'm 66,in 2024,still listening it,E.L.P. continues wonderful!R.I.P. Keith Emerson,may be he's the master keyboard player in heaven!God bless you, all rockers of all over the world,our dreams will never ends!Greetings from Brazil

I haven't listened to this in almost 40 years until today. I remembered every note like I had just heard it yesterday.

RIP Keith Emerson. Thank for this majestic music!!!

I remember seeing these guys in concert, and looking down and seeing my shirt hitting my chest at 5 cycles per second.

I've had a love affair with this piece for 40 years - still makes the hair on my neck rise. Long live rock!

So sad today to lose Greg.. and Keith in the same year. These guys were my heroes as a young musician...

I bought this (E)LP for my brother when released. He had custom built speakers. Couldn't wait to get home from school, creep into his bedroom and play this. Extraordinary, brilliant, an OMG musical zeitgeist. Three brilliant musicians.

[Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 1] Cold and misty morning, I heard a warning borne in the air About an age of power where no one had an hour to spare, Where the seeds have withered, silent children shivered, in the cold Now their faces captured in the lenses of the jackals for gold. I'll be there I'll be there I will be there. Suffering in silence, they've all been betrayed. They hurt them and they beat them, in a terrible way. Praying for survival at the end of the day. There is no compassion for those who stay. I'll be there I'll be there I will be there There must be someone who can set them free: To take their sorrow from this odyssey To help the helpless and the refugee To protect what's left of humanity. Can't you see Can't you see Can't you see I'll be there I'll be there I will be there; To heal their sorrow To beg and borrow Fight tomorrow. --- Step inside! Hello! We've a most amazing show You'll enjoy it all we know Step inside! Step inside! We've got thrills and shocks, supersonic fighting cocks. Leave your hammers at the box Come inside! Come inside! Roll up! Roll up! Roll up! See the show! Left behind the bars, rows of Bishops' heads in jars And a bomb inside a car Spectacular! Spectacular! If you follow me there's a speciality Some tears for you to see Misery, misery, Roll up! Roll up! Roll up! See the show! Next upon the bill in our House of Vaudeville We've a stripper in a till What a thrill! What a thrill! And not content with that, With our hands behind our backs, We pull Jesus from a hat, Get into that! Get into that! Roll up! Roll up! Roll up! See the show! [Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 2] Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends We're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside There behind a glass stands a real blade of grass Be careful as you pass, move along, move along Come inside, the show's about to start Guaranteed to blow your head apart Rest assured you'll get your money's worth Greatest show in Heaven, Hell or Earth You've got to see the show, it's a dynamo You've got to see the show, it's rock and roll, oh Right before your eyes we pull laughter from the skies And he laughs until he cries, then he dies, then he dies Come inside, the show's about to start Guaranteed to blow your head apart You've got to see the show, it's a dynamo You've got to see the show, it's rock and roll, oh Soon the Gypsy Queen in a glaze of vaseline Will perform on guillotine, what a scene, what a scene Next upon the stand will you please extend a hand To Alexander's Ragtime Band, Dixieland, Dixieland Roll up, roll up, roll up See the show Performing on a stool we've a sight to make you drool Seven virgins and a mule, keep it cool, keep it cool We would like it to be known the exhibits that were shown Were exclusively our own, all our own, all our own Come and see the show, come and see the show Come and see the show See the show [Karn Evil 9 2nd Impression] [instrumental] [Karn Evil 9 3rd Impression] Man alone, born of stone, Will stamp the dust of time His hands strike the flame of his soul; Ties a rope to a tree and hangs the Universe Until the winds of laughter blows cold. Fear that rattles in men's ears And rears its hideous head Dread... Death... in the wind... Man of steel pray and kneel With fever's blazing torch Thrust in the face of the night; Draws a blade of compassion Kissed by countless Kings Whose jewelled trumpet words blind his sight. Walls that no man thought would fall The altars of the just Crushed... Dust... in the wind... No man yields who flies in my ship Danger! Let the bridge computer speak Stranger! Load your program. I am yourself. No computer stands in my way Only blood can cancel my pain Guardians of a nuclear dawn Let the maps of war be drawn. Rejoice! Glory is ours! Our young men have not died in vain, Their graves need no flowers The tapes have recorded their names. I am all there is Negative! Primitive! Limited! I let you live! But I gave you life What else could you do? To do what was right I'm perfect! Are you?

This band managed to craft a track that can keep the listeners attention for nearly 30 minutes, while a lot of bands/acts out there can barely manage to keep one's attention for 3 minutes!

I love progressive rock.

How tf did i end up here? I usualy listen to blackend thrash metal but hell. This is epic

What a way to escape in 2021. Wonderful master piece. The blast of the past.

In my opinion, there will never in my lifetime ever be music of this caliper of greatness and creativity. The 60's and 70's decades have so much to offer. In my lifetime I will never hear any music this good. I have tried the new generations music with an open mind and it is like comparing a paper bag with a square cut out with clear plastic as a window to the Empire State building in New York city.

Rest in Peace, Greg Lake. Thanks for the influence. It is all because of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer that I am a musician (drummer). I decided on a whim to wear my Tarkus T-shirt today and found out later that Mr. Lake had died. Weird connection. May the unknown God bless him.

Mister Emerson was and will always be the greatest keyboard player of all time.Tell me I'm wrong.Go ahead I dare you.

Magnificent piece of work by one of the greatest progressive rock bands of the Era! They were able to make drums bass and keyboards rock like hell with not much electric guitar in their sound!

Every time I listen to this I'm brought back to high school. Listening on my buddy's monster stereo system - speakers as big as steamer trunks. God I loved the 70's - you could move a house with a stereo. This album was massive and sounds great even at rocket engine volume.