Bach'n'Roll
To tell you the truth, I once upon a time held a (largely petty) bias against this group, even before I'd ever heard a single tune of theirs (even the uber-famous "A Whiter Shade of Pale"). You see, back when the Moody Blues were the center of my musical universe, I happened across the (incredibly negative) Rolling Stone music reviews for the Moodies, and I wanted both to cry my eyes out and to punch a hole in my computer screen. One of the things that stood out in their slamming of my (then favorite) band was that, while presenting the Moody Blues as an example of a "bad" fusion of rock and symphonic ideas, they held up Procol Harum as, at least, a "decent" fusion of rock and symphonic ideas. Well, this would simply not do, and I decided in advance never to listen to a single Procol Harum album as long as I lived. Fortunately, I grew up sufficiently so as to not be so moronically close-minded, and I soon discovered that Procol Harum was, indeed, a most worthy band to add to my listening experience.
Still, even though my musical tastes adapted in such a way that my total adoration for the Moodies was tempered at least a bit (though I still insist that they are fully worthy of being a 4-star band on my site) while my adoration for Procol Harum grew, I found that I continued to regard Procol Harum a bit lower than the Moodies (if you're a hardcore fan angry with me for continually bringing up the Moodies, I apologize - I really do like this band, as you'll see later. It just so happens that comparisons with the Moody Blues are justified, as they're more than a bit alike). Mostly, I think this is due to one thing - Gary Brooker, as hard as he tried, could never ever measure up to any of the Moody quartet in terms of vocal resonance and power. I honestly cannot think of a single instance in the Procol Harum catalogue where I can say that Brooker's singing is a "deciding factor" in turning a track from (in my perception) a decent song to a good one or a good one to a great one - in contrast, the Moodies' "group harmonies" still run chills down my back, and it goes without saying that Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder have, at some time or another, significantly impacted my mood solely by the sound of their individual voices.
As a corollary, the oft-lauded poetry of lyricist Keith Reid is, to an extent, wasted on a plebe like me. Now don't get me wrong - this guy is good at what he does, and the times where I've looked for Procol Harum lyrics on the net (off-topic rant: it really bugs me that, for all the importance placed on Reid's lyrics, the only Procol CD's I have that contain a lyrics sheet are Something Magic and The Prodigal Stranger, incidentally the two worst offerings in their catalogue) have often left me marvelling at what an elegant poet he can be. Unfortunately, as resonant his lyrics may be as poetry, they lose much of their impact on me when filtered through Gary's voice - unless I'm really paying attention to the lyrics, they end up consigned to part of the background for me, merely an extra layer in the overall sound. I'm terribly sorry, but that's the sad truth for me - if the lyrics substantially move you when you listen to Procol, then more power to you, and I envy you. I ask only that you not hate me for my "failing" as it were.
THAT SAID, the fact that I don't find resonance in the vocals and lyrics does not mean I find no resonance in Procol Harum as a whole. He could be better at some times, a smidge worse at others, but Gary's weakness in singing was often MORE than made up for in his strength as a composer. Simply put, Gary Brooker had a rare gift, an ability to (often seamlessly) interweave heavy classical elements with "normal" rock and pop, all the while remembering to include solid pop hooks so as to keep the listener entertained. Furthermore, he was not afraid to lighten the mood with some silliness, nor he was he averse to occasionally penning hard rock tunes that could compete with most anybody. He simply knew how to write good songs, ones with untrivial chord changes and riffs, and he knew how to write melodies (both vocal and instrumental) that were plenty resonant on their own, even without Keith's poetry.
What truly sets Procol Harum apart, though, is the sound. Whatever may be, NOBODY else ever had a sound like this, one so deeply rich and heartfelt and all good things like that. In addition to Brooker, an excellent keyboardist in addition to his position as vocalist, the two main "pillars" of the band are keyboardist Matthew Fisher (who also occasionally contributed some brilliant compositions before he left in '69) and guitarist Robin Trower (who left after Broken Barricades). A common trick with the band was for Brooker to stick to piano while Fisher stuck to organ, and the combination of them provided a THICK keyboard sound unmatched in the rock world. The icing on the cake, though, was Trower, often derided as a mere "Hendrix imitator" but an excellent guitarist in his own right. A master of all sorts of cool, heavy guitar tones, and a very skilled and intelligent soloist and riffer, he really provided the ROCK in Harum's brand of art-rock, before going off to pursue his own solo career. As for the other members (Dave Knights on bass, at least for a while; BJ Wilson on drums), well, they're decent enough - nothing spectacular, but nothing bad either
Anyway, when all is said and done, I gladly award the band a rating of 3 stars out of five - they aren't really essential unless you're a big art-rock fan, but this was still a very good, very solid band throughout its life (until their, um, less-than-great comeback in '91). They only made one "truly" great album (ie one that I'd put in my overall top 100) in their career (in my opinion), but they had the good fortune to make quite a few very very good albums, all of which are quite recommendable.
(addendum: 06/04): After hearing so much praise for him from hardcore PH fans, I went back through the PH catalogue to pay closer attention to the drumming, and I want to issue a mea culpa for stating that Wilson wasn't much spectacular as a drummer. The man had some serious chops; he wasn't the kind who'd display them in a flashy way, but there's a ton of subtle, tasteful power to be found in his work with the band, and I can easily understand those who would rate him as highly as they did. Besides, it says something that I can so strongly feel Wilson's absence on Prodigal Stranger, an album that could have REALLY used some of Wilson's usual level of percussive bliss (assuming that he wouldn't have succumbed to the usual 80's/90's drumming curse had he lived to make it - I really hope he wouldn't have).
Meldrain.aol.com (3/05/03)
Nice to see another member of the WRC giving Procol their dues. I simply
adore this group (personally I'd give them a 4/5) and am oft perturbed by
their relatively obscure one hit wonder status. One of the most
qualitatively consistent groups a one hit wonder? Preposterous. Their
debut is simply incredible; I probably would opt for Salty Dog or maybe
even Grand Hotel as their best, but I have no problem with your selection
for their zenith. Those who regard it as a throwaway definitely have
issues; a modicum... wait, make that NO filler and a plethora of strong,
classic Procol melodies. A true fan of the group needs to be able to
enjoy the silly interludes like Mabel as much as the more traditional
epic material. You need diversity; it isn't healthy to always take
oneself quite so seriously. Anyway, keep up the good work and don't dare
give any of the seven classic studio albums lower than an 11.
Charles Allison (charlie.cwallison.fsnet.co.uk) (8/26/03)
Hi
I am reading your Procol Harum page for the first time and am struck by the
accuracy and musical knowledge of your criticism - except for one thing -
how could you possibly rate this raw blues-soul-baroque melange of some
unique brilliance behind the Moody Blues, who made a limited range of sounds
spin out over some 8 albums (I have them all!)
The Moody Blues were quite good, but IMHO quickly became somewhat dated.
They also benefitted enormously from the gracious investment of sleeve
imagery - something Procol Harum were denied by poor management.
And for good measure, how could you possibly reckon Gary Brooker is an
inferior singer to any of those Moody Blues - crikey if its moody and blues
you want, send for Mr. Brooker!! (ask Bill Wyman or better listen to the
Rhythm Kings if you doubt me.)
NOW TO 2003.
1) Have you listened to the excellent PH album The Wells on Fire? It is
truly excellent. I particularly like the "new" guitarist Geoff Whitehorn -
especially on the instrumental The Signature, which is a gift for air
guitarists everywhere.
2) Whatever happened to the Moody Blues? OK I am going to google and find
out!!
Best wishes from Scotland
(are you a Brummie?)
Charlie
bsitting.mail.math.ucsb.edu (9/02/03)
It's a bit of a shame this group is forgotten outside of "A Whiter Shade of
Pale", and perhaps (the live) "Conquistador". They were a very good group!!
Many of the musicians were quite good with their instruments, with special note
to Robin Trower, followed by (in no order) Matthew Fisher, B.J. Wilson, and
Gary Brooker. As 'monotonous' as their sound might be (I claim this primarily
holds on their first two albums), they sure explored many moods with it. And,
their sound did evolve whenever there was a turnover in the ranks. This lead,
for me, to some freshness in approach. Heck, (don't take this the wrong way,
John) there's more variety here than with the much more well-remembered 'art-
rock' group The Moody Blues. Due to their quite consistently strong string of
seven (or eight, counting the live album) albums, and the fact I really enjoy
their debut and "A Salty Dog" quite immensely, even without having heard their
"Ninth" album or beyond (at this point), they are a **** group to me.
Charles Allison (charlie.cwallison.fsnet.co.uk) (6/12/04)
There were the Beatles, the Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin and Procol Harum -
the big 5 as far as I'm concerned, and I have continued to hold this view
for some 30 years.
tim.earthlink.net (03/03/06)
I've been a big fan of Procol Harum for years. I allways knew that BJ
Wilson was one of the premier rock drummers of all time, even if he
didn't get the awards that were given to more "well-known" drummers.
My feeling was even more solidified when I picked up a copy of a dvd
that was recorded in 1971. It's no wonder that Jimmy Page's first
choice for Zeppelin's drummer was Wilson, and not Bonham.
"Greg Bugay" (greg.bugay.imsbarter.com) (01/13/10)
You have excellent taste in music. I basically don't like anything in the last 30
years.Procol Harum are a GREAT band, even after Trower left. The meat of this band
is Reid's' Barrett-esque lyrics & Fischer & Brooker on organ & piano, respectively.
Trower was great & the music changed after he left but the foundation was those 3.
"Devil came from Kansas" is a classic & as far as vocals go, I've never heard such
despair as when Brooker sings "Salty Dog". His sustain on vocals is eerie. There's
also a song off their 1st album that's titled in Latin & I think it closes the album
as well. "Homberg"is great too; the album & the song & "Shine on Brightly" is
......wonderful. On a personal note: I read a lot of people's reviews that are
severely depth-challenged....yours isn't. Keep up the great work!!.
timharrington12.gmail.com (10/13/13)
I have never understood the knock on Brooker as a vocalist. To me his voice fits perfectly with the presentation of the songs.
The songs sound pompous as does his voice. He sounds like what I would imagine Richard Burton sounding like if he were a rock
singer.
I think the reason for the hate is that he doesn't sound like a rock singer. To me Brooker is a character in the songs. And he is
the perfect performer of Reid's lyrics. I can't think of anyone better suited to sing these songs.
Jon Schliemann (rick.guitarzero.schliesman.gmail.com)
What a wonderful surprise your site is! I was driving around yesterday when A Salty Dog played on my car's 1400+ songs set-for-
random hard drive, and when I got home I (finally) remembered to Google the piano & guitar chords for the song.
Then I started free-associating, looking up other Proc faves: Pilgrim's Progress, Too Much Between Us, In Held 'Twas In I.
Your site's discussion of the latter were compelling, even eye-opening. Not easy to do with something I've listened to over a 45
year period.
"Held" is one of those songs that, for whatever reason, VIVIDLY puts me back into a specific time and place. It's a place I
very much enjoyed, and a time beginning the part of life you could call "the perfect blend of maximum health & fitness, maximum
freedom, and minimum responsibilities", age 18-19. The part of life that stocks your "internal jukebox" full of songs that evoke
the strongest emotions for the rest of your life. So my affinity for this song isn't entirely rational, it's definitely part
visceral.
I found Ross Dwyer's slant very interesting, to the point where I'm now open to the notion that the whole thing was a "double
edged sword"- both a jab at the audience, AND a pretty good (overall) musical composition. One problem with Ross's overall
"argument", though; Keith Reid would've had to have been clairvoyant to be poking fun at the "Paul is dead" craze. That bit of mass
hysteria didn't get going until about a year after Shine On Brightly's release.
Other than that, I'm just delighted to find a group of folks discussing Procol Harum. I get the impression that you, and most
of your contributors, have a leaning toward guitar-driven rock (mostly from what seems an over-fondness for Broken Barricades,
which to me actually signaled the "death" of the group). I'm partial to guitar-driven groups too, but for some reason I always
preferred Proc when they were piano/organ driven- they were "different", and they did it REALLY well. I very much liked Robin
Trower, still do, but it was almost like he was too outstanding a guitarist to be a good fit. Whisky Train is probably the song
where he really was given the most space to "let it rip", and "rip" he did, but when you think of the "Procol Harum sound", it's
never gonna be Whisky Train. For me, it's Whiter Shade, or Shine On, or Salty Dog- intelligent, meaningful lyrics, mostly dual-
keyboard driven, with short accents of poor, overlooked B.J. Wilson's drumming brilliance. For me, the exit of Matthew Fisher was
the beginning of the end, but that's just me. I loved the way he seamlessly wove Baroque counterpoints into the fabric of so many
songs, the elegance and purity of his sound. Again, just me I suppose. As an aside, I also stumbled onto a couple of "prog rock"
(gack) sites that feverishly discussed whether "Held" was the 1st prog rock/art rock mega-suite, and they seemed obsessed with
track length. I'm reluctant to say it, but what about "In a Gadda Da Vida"?
Anywhoooo, I can't tell you how much I appreciate this site and this group of people, and I wish you all the best in the
future
Best song: A Whiter Shade Of Pale
Indeed, even the "lesser" tracks only seem that way because they're sillier than others - even then, though, they provide a nice sense of diversity to the album, one that helps diffuse the general "monotony" of the band's sound. "She Wandered Through the Garden Fence" could seem out of place thanks to the moodier (and more serious) pieces that bookend it, but it has one of the best "silly" melodies ever penned by somebody not named Paul McCartney, and even Brooker's voice helps here, only because it's humorous to hear him sing the lines "she threw me down upon my back and strapped me to a torture rack" with a seemingly straight face. "Mabel" could also be dismissed as a relative throwaway, but it's so over-the-top drunkenly goofy, with all sorts of random slide whistles and drunken revelry taking place in the background while Brooker sings for Mabel to "please get off the kitchen table" that it's simply irresistable (in the context of the album, anyway).
"Lesser" track number three is an attempt at a vaguely "psychedelic" rocker (with standard PH instrumentation, of course), "Kaleidoscope." It's essentially a groove piece, based around a few measures of somewhat less-than-stellar melody line led by the keyboards, so it doesn't quite measure up to everything else... on the other hand, though, it has a cool instrumental break in the middle, first led by a really energetic keyboard solo and then a nice, brief, slightly frantic Trower guitar solo, so I'm not gonna dismiss it completely. And finally, the penultimate track of the original album, "Good Captain Clack," probably could have stayed in the outtakes box without hurting the album, were it not for the goofy group harmonies in the middle without which I can't imagine this album.
So that's it for the lesser stuff, and seeing as that's all good, that should give you an idea about the rest. "Conquistador" is simply brilliant, with a terrific juxtaposition of Robin's riffage with Brooker's amazing vocal melody (especially in the "chorus"), all with a MASSIVE keyboard part before the ending verse. (Incidentally, I'd like to say that my weirdest music experience back when I had my part-time job working for Meijer was when, over the loudspeaker, I could a hear a muzak version of this very tune. The funny thing is, everything was mellowed and cheesed over ... except for the keyboard solo which was done exactly like on this album). And man, there are some incredible lyrics in this song.
Later, "Something Following Me" is an eerily mellow ballad (apparently about seeing your own tombstone, among other things, not that I noticed before reading the lyrics online), with yet another excellent piano melody, and another great (though unfortunately short) Trower solo, making this moody as hell. And finally, there's the side-one closer, the INCREDIBLE "Cerdes (Outside the Gates of)," with one of the cleverest riffs Brooker ever came up with (with the bass seamlessly sharing its duty with Fisher's organ) and another amazing vocal melody and more great Trower work ... all this on only one side!!! Throwaway filler, I DON'T THINK SO.
Side two is a little weaker (three of the "lesser" tracks are here), but it's also bookended by two more *insert positive adjective here* tracks that leave no doubt in my mind of this album's greatness. "A Christmas Camel" is an exceptionally well-done Ray Charles ripoff - great vocal melody, great keyboard interplay, great Trower solo, etc etc etc. The instrumental "Repent Walpurgis," though, basically annihilates it in quality - the lone Fisher composition on the album, it functioned as the band's stage closer for many years, and it's not hard to see why. Aside from having one of the best melodies of any classical/rock fusion ever, it gives every member a chance to shine (without delving into self-indulgence); Trower stands out when given opportunity, giving out his best solo of the album, but there's also a brief interlude where Brooker's piano is given a moment by itself, and the rest has the band working as an absolute musical monster, before ending with one of the most (justifiably so) bombastic, crashing finales ever to grace a rock album.
In short, this album ranges from good to absolutely stunning (I forgot to mention another song with an absolutely lovely melody, "Salad Days (Are Here Again)," which also helps buoy up side two), and I can't see how any self-respecting art-rock lover could dislike this. I almost considered giving it an E, but ehn, there is a slightly high percentage of "lesser" tracks to make it to that (quite exclusive) plateau. Still, this is a VERY high D, and if you rate it higher, I won't argue. And besides, the recent re-release has some cool bonus tracks - "Lime Street Blues" is a generic (but good) mid-60's r&b piece, and "Monsieur Armand" is a lesser track (that would be reworked for the '74 album Exotic Birds and Fruit), but "Homburg" is a quite lovely piece in the same vein as "Whiter Shade," while "Seem to Have the Blues All the Time" is a quite interesting "heavy" blues piece that sounds like little else on the album but that is quite good nonetheless. How's THAT for a run-on sentence??
bsitting.mail.math.ucsb.edu (9/02/03)
I obtained this album as a double CD pack, packaged with "Shine On Brightly."
Apparently, these came from ther UK, as this debut album is merely called
"Procol Harum".
To the music itself, if you enjoy the "traditional" Procol Harum sound, there
is really nothing on which to fault any of the songs. Every song on here is at
least good. What makes perhaps PH's best album, besides its freshness, is that
Matthew Fisher and Robin Trower balance out the playing on this album just
right (even though Trower's playing does improve by "Broken Barricades"). One
note about Trower's playing: even at this stage, he has a very distinctive
guitar tone and plays very soulfully. Doesn't sound "Hendrixy" yet!
Rather than go from song to song, I''be content to list my favorites from this
album: "Conquistador" (still sounds good, with Trower adding some 'coloring'
for lack of a better term. And, this track woud even get better live!), "She
Wandered Through the Garden Fence" (a fun and catchy number), "Cerdes" (more
serious, with more Trower), "Good Captain Clack" (even more fun), and "Repent
Walpurgis" (the best track of the album, thanks to Fisher and Trower. A very
moving and dramatic finish to the album). Oh, for bonus tracks "A Whiter Shade
of Pale" and "Homburg" can easily be listed, too.
Rating: I can see your dilemma here, but I'll still rate this as a 14. The
sound may get a bit samey, but they sure do get many moods out of it. Plus,
there is no weak track in sight.
Best song: Shine On Brightly
As for the suite, well, I've heard better. I won't begin to deny its importance or influence - it is of course the forefather of "Supper's Ready," and "Close to the Edge," and "Gates of Delirium," and "Thick as a Brick," and all sorts of other great epic tracks that I have enjoyed many a time in my life. It also has some great passages all its own - "'Twas Teatime at the Circus" brings out the silliness that the band did so well on the debut, "In the Autumn of My Madness" (sung, I believe, by Fisher) is quite pretty, the guitar line that introduces "Look to Your Soul" is GREAT, and I'm more than a bit pleased with the moving guitar soloing during "Grand Finale." However, many seeds of bad prog rock are also sown here, from the not-so-great poetry recitation during "Glimpses of Nirvana" to a bunch of other bits that just aren't interesting on their own. Basically, it has a lot of nice musical passages, but on the whole, it is a VERY rough beginning to the world of overblown epics, and not one I exactly see myself turning back to again and again.
The first side, then, is where the good stuff (i.e. the A-quality material) lies. The side-closing (at least, I thought it was until I was told otherwise, oops) "Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone)" is totally blatant filler, but the first five tracks have more than a bit to offer (and besides, even when the melodies are a little worse than usual, I can't really resist the band's great overall sound). "Wish Me Well" is the one few times here where Trower gets to use his Hendrix-y bluesman skills, with the keyboards mostly staying out of the way and the whole band singing while Robin gets his ya-ya's out. "Rambling On" is a cute story (set to a mellow piano theme) about wanting to be like Batman after watching a Batman movie at the local theatre, followed by all sorts of morbidly funny things (indeed, this may be the funniest poem Reid ever allowed to be put to tape by the band).
The best of the side, though, is the three tracks that start off the album. "Skip Softly (My Moonbeams)" was a bit too "sissyish" for me when I first heard it, but that's only because of the bouncy melody - the song, with the loud bass, eerie organ, moody guitar and totally unexpected quote from ... WHAT IS THE NAME OF THAT BLASTED CLASSICAL PIECE ... anyway, the thing that comes at the end, all make this anything but sissyish. Even better, though, are the first two tracks, where the vocal melodies match most anything from the first album, and where Gary almost tries to match it with some emotion in his voice. "Quite Rightly So" has some great climaxes throughout, with Trower's guitar subtly coming in at just the right times to up the tension and drama when building up to Brooker's best wailings (oh, and there's more great keyboard work, but that goes without saying). The best of the lot, though, is the title track, with a vocal melody that once more demonstrates Brooker's genius and is accentuated by a well-placed monotonous guitar line in the chorus. And hey, I could never ever get tired of the organ part creeping behind Brooker's voice as he builds to the climaxes before each chorus.
Overall, then, this is a good album - I originally wanted to give it a lower grade, but it grew on me more than a bit, so I went higher than my gut said. Regardless, though, it's way too flawed in some places (in my opinion) to have any chance of matching, let alone exceeding, the brilliance of the debut.
As for the bonus tracks, my edition of Shine on Brightly... Plus contains a whopping EIGHT bonus tracks. And all of them suck! Nah, just kidding, it's just that two of them were also bonus tracks on Whiter Shade ("Seem to Have the Blues," "Monsieur Armand"), two of them are versions of an ok political piece called "In the Wee Small Hours of Sixpence," two of them are early takes of "Quite Rightly So," and one of them is the title track sung in Italian. There is also an ok jazzy piece called "Alpha," which the band never did live until its various reunion tours in the 90's. Anyway, though, if you have the choice between this version and the original Shine On, feel free to grab this one, but only if it doesn't cost too much more than would the version without these bonuses.
Jason Phair (phairphunk.yahoo.com) (3/05/03)
Just read your two new Procul Harum reviews. Good
comments, just wanted to bring up one point I think
you may have missed. I always considered the poetry
recitation at the beginnin of "In Held 'Twas In I" to
be rather satirical, or perhaps even self-mocking.
Maybe other, later prog bands didn't quite get the
humour part either? Good work as always though.
bsitting.mail.math.ucsb.edu (9/02/03)
For me, it's a bit disappointing listening to this after their magnificent
debut. Why? The songs (esp., after "Shine on Brightly", the song) seem to go a
bit too much on the arty side. Normally this is fine for me (as I do immensely
enjoy Yes) but the artsiness overall seems to be more of a detraction rather
than an asset. Plus, "Wish Me Well" and "Magdalene" bore me to death. Finally,
Trower seems a bit subdued. Not so much in quantity, but his playing on the
shorter songs seems a bit less inspired than that on the previous album. He
also has some gadgit that strains out a note (in a slightly grating fashion).
That would be fine, only that he seems to use it on almost every track!!
That said, I do enjoy the first two songs on here, "Skip Softly" (before the
crazy ending), and most of "In Held Twas In I". For the last track, it may not
be the most effective 17-min. track around, but most of the sections are quite
engaging. The first section can be a bit questionable, but I realized that the
lyrics were clearly poking fun at the "pretentiousness" involved!
Overall, I agree with the 8(11). (And, and unfortunately, I don't have any
bonus tracks on this. Crikey! I will say that I have heard "In the Wee Small
Hours of Sixpence", and it's okay). Of their 'classic' seven albums, this would
be their 'weakest' effort. I can't say anything past "Exotic Birds and Fruit"
at this point, though.
Ross Dryer (dryerross.yahoo.com) (09/13/12)
Hi! This is my first time commenting on your page, and you're going to get a lot more from me pretty soon.
Regarding your thoughts on "In Held 'Twas In I", I must vehemently disagree. I think it's magnificent- but not for the reasons you
think! I have a very rational explanation for this; I am not one of those "prog nuts" who judges music solely on its level of
complexity.
Reviewers like you often want to put down the suite and say that, although it has some really good moments, much of it is "boring"
and, verbatim from your review, "a VERY rough beginning to the world of overblown epics". You and George Starostin (on his old
site, at least) are pretty much in agreement here, I think. But you're entirely missing the point!
This suite confused me so much for a really long time. The "'Twas Teatime at the Circus" part and the interlude between "In the
Autumn of My Madness" and "Look to Your Soul" kept, like, LAUGHING at me, like I was missing something HUGE. So I went to read your
review, then John McFerrin's, and I noticed that one of the comments on John's page suggested that "Glimpses of Nirvana" was
"poking fun" at the "pretentiousness" involved. So I went to SongMeanings.net and searched it up, and in the comments was yet
another clue, and when I read the lyrics, I got it. The whole suite is a gigantic joke.
First, they wanted to make the whole thing seem as pretentious as possible by extending it to 17 minutes, giving it a "narrative"
opening, and naming sections of it "Glimpses of Nirvana", "Look to Your Soul", and "Grand Finale". They wanted to make it seem as
puffed up as possible- they wanted to make fun of "serious" music as a whole!
Second, look at those lyrics! Right in "Glimpses of Nirvana" (which I've noticed has another weird thing about it, too- Part II
rhymes and Part I does not), you get the line, "...Even though the words which I use are pretentious and make you cringe with
embarrassment...". This makes the other lines, which look pretentious and stupid as all get-out, look hilarious and parodic.
"Wallowing in a morass of self-despair made only more painful by the knowledge that all I am is of my own making"? "Well, my son,
life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"! Now we're making fun of ourselves and our (in some opinions) lack of ability to write lyrics!
These lyrics, plus some other stupidly pretentious ones, make the deadly pretentious music hilarious too. And in "'Twas Teatime at
the Circus", the most obvious thing is, "And though the crowd clapped furiously/desperately, they could not see the joke". That is
a DEAD GIVEAWAY. They're making fun of us, too! That must have been DANGEROUS back in 1968. Also, "Look to Your Soul" is just WAY
too preachy to be serious. And the "Grand Finale"? Simply CALLING it that (I'm looking at you, Kansas, with your joke, the "Magnum
Opus") acknowledges the hilarity of the whole thing, even though it SEEMS super-serious.
There's one more thing, too. Before the EVIL guitar line before "Look to Your Soul", you have "In the Autumn of My Madness", and
after that you have a car crash, a siren, and people crying out, "Paul! Paul! Paul!". This is HILARIOUS. This is a "Paul is Dead"
joke, because if you remember correctly, Paul McCartney allegedly died in November (AN AUTUMNAL MONTH) from a car crash. Now we're
making fun of the gullibility of the general public!
But NONE of this would be even worth talking about if the music weren't so DANG awesome. Whatever you say about "Nirvana", I think
the musical aspects of it are excellent, "trying" to be "scary" and "mystical" and ending up as absolutely hilarious, with the
sitar (!) and the brilliant little melody between the two bits sung by the sitar, then the band. Then, "'Twas Teatime at the
Circus" is just so much fun, and makes use of that famous little "circus melody". How can you like "Mabel", but not this?
"In the Autumn of My Madness" is REALLY nice, with an excellent vocal melody sung by Fisher, and some lines like, "Bring all my
friends unto me and I'll strangle them with words [sic!]", along with awesome tension-raising organ-dominated interludes. "Look to
Your Soul", though, is positively excellent, even though most people like to call it "boring". It starts with that DEMONIC guitar
line, then goes with this tritonal "scary" bit, complete with the guitar playing the "Nirvana" melody, but then, a harpsichord
comes in, and we get a real song. More hilariously stupid lyrics, of course, but the main chord sequence and melody are AWESOME,
and the harpsichord only helps with the autumnal mood and such, and a wonderful climax with, "It's all so simple really if you just
look to your SOOOOOOUUUL! YEEEEAAAAHHHHH!". Wow.
Then, of course, there's the "Grand Finale", which is EXTREMELY grand, and sounds very much like "Repent Walpurgis" but doesn't rip
it off completely, and the guitar solo is flat-out amazing.
So you see, I REALLY respect this- for one who doesn't speak English, the music might make it enough to SEEM "revelatory", but for
one who DOES, you get a nagging feeling about it, and then after you discover that it's a BIG GIANT JOKE parodying themselves,
their audience, "serious" music in general, and the stupid "sheep" that just go around believing everything (i.e. the general
public), it IS a revelation. Just like it seems it is.
Oh, and by the way, only a few bands with big giant epics really "got it". For example, ELP ("Tarkus", no matter how moving it is,
is STILL a giant joke), Genesis ("Supper's Ready"- go listen to "Willow Farm" again), and Jethro Tull ("Thick as a Brick" for real.
Still not sure about "A Passion Play", though) all "got it". However, bands like Yes (deadly serious and puffed up, but GOOD, and
my favorite band ever) and, I think, King Crimson ("Lizard" wasn't a joke...was it?) did NOT "get it". See if this doesn’t
completely turn your opinions of music in general on their heads.
Best song: A Salty Dog
Conveniently enough, it's the two tracks with all-out orchestrations attached that grab my attention the most (and are almost certainly a primary reason for this album's popularity amongst fans of the group). The title track is an absolute, stone-cold PH classic, with absolutely jaw-dropping imagery in Reid's lyrics (and graced with a very nice Brooker vocal, both in tone and in the amazing vocal melody) set to completely orchestral backing that only seems appropriate given the utter majesty of the whole piece. I'm not going to be quoting Reid lyrics much in these reviews, but I just have to say - there is just something absolutely devestating that happens within me when I hear this final stanza.
"We fired the gun, and burnt the mast, and rowed from ship to shore
Anyway, I'm also very very fond of the Fisher-sung "Wreck of the Hesperus," this time with the orchestra accompanying the rest of the band. Fisher once more proves himself as every bit Brooker's equal as a songwriter (at least, in the smaller quantities that he was allowed to contribute), as he combines a simple (but very effective) rolling Fisher (I once thought it was Brooker, but a comment below corrected me) piano line with a vocal melody filled to the brim with climaxes, and (best of all) allows Trower's guitar to interact with the orchestra in one of the greatest sonic moments I've ever heard. Seriously, I have no idea how to adequately describe those parts in the instrumental breaks where Trower's guitar soars upward through the midst of the orchestra, like, I dunno, like the great god Poseidon rising up from the sea, with giant waves walling up and announcing his arrival. It's almost a shame this track has the misfortune to share space with the title track - on almost any other PH album (barring the debut), this would be the highlight.
Unfortunately, the rest of the album falters somewhat in comparison. Don't misunderstand me, there's not a single track on here I really dislike - it's just that, when it's all said and done, I have to exert a bit more effort than I'd like to keep my head from drooping over and my will from faltering. The biggest problems are (a) no "light" tracks to lessen the load a bit (in other words I miss "Mabel" and "Good Captain Clack" *sniff*) and (b) almost no tracks with any "bounce" in their step. Well, sort of - there's actually one bonus track that's mislabeled as an album original, an old B-side called "Long Gone Geek" that's a terrific guitar-heavy up-tempo "old-timey" (though only sort of - it's actually quite hard) rocker that also has bits of the expected great piano work we've come to expect from the band. Truth be told, I GREATLY wish they'd have ended the original album with this one - it may not provide the same hymn-like, conclusion of an epic feel given by the Fisher-sung "Pilgrim's Progress" (quite pretty in its own right), but as an unexpected blast of energy, one to rouse up the faculties of the mind and cause it to better process all the lushness it just sat through previously (because, after all, contrast between two groups of objects is the best way to bring out the strengths of each), it's just great.
Ok, ok, there's also one other really good up-tempo piece on here, the wonderful "The Milk of Human Kindness," with the piano playing off Robin's brilliant riffage with great aplomb. Plus, it has one of the best melodies of the album, and one that, I swear, Genesis "adapted" for the song "That's All" on Genesis (listen to the melody of "She left me for a wasp without a sting," here and the melody of "I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes" there, and then tell me if I'm really crazy). Other than that, though, basically everything is somewhere between slow and vaguely-above-mid-tempo, and that hurts things a bit. "Too Much Between Us" is a lovely ballad, yes, and "Boredom" is a novel effort that does a good job of conveying boredom without actually being boring, but while the band is nice enough to place a "rockier" piece between them ("The Devil Came from Kansas," with all sorts of GREAT guitar soloing), that piece in itself is totally mid-tempo, so there's not enough distinction to help the brain crisply remember all the good characteristics of each. As for "All This and More," the melody is once more quite good, but it fails to do much (except for Trower's guitar, that is) that could make it stand out from the other pieces on the album with good melodies.
On the plus side, Trower gets to throw in two of his own compositions, which give a heavier blues rock feel to the album ... but on the minus side, these are ALSO mid-tempo, so even when they break the monotony, they really don't. They're still enjoyable, though - after all, you could hardly expect Trower to restrain himself in his own pieces, and he definitely busts out well in both.
When it's all said and done, then, I'm less sold on the album than a lot of fans are. The songs are all good, yet as an album, it manages to simultaneously succeed marvelously (due to the incredible richness) and, well, not succeed so marvelously (as they fail to, if I may bring in terminology from my chosen field, hedge against "tempo risk"). Still, I don't want to give the wrong impression - I don't dislike this album, and after all, I rate it pretty highly. So please don't kill me.
As for the bonus tracks, they're ok, but once more not that much special (except, of course, for "Long Gone Geek"). Only one of the tracks is of a previously unreleased piece, but even that (an early version of a song called "McGreggor") is nowhere near finished. Otherwise, it's initial takes of "All This and More," "The Milk of Human Kindness" and "Pilgrim's Progress," as well as an 8th take of a piece on the next album ("Still There'll Be More"), Home, about to be reviewed in one second.
bsitting.mail.math.ucsb.edu (9/02/03)
This is probably my second favorite PH album. Why? The 'midtempo-ness' doen't
bother me here, and the songs are quite diverse, even ranging to the basic
blues! (I know that the blues track "Juicy John Pink" may feel out of place on
this album and is quite primitive, but it's nice to see that PH hasn't
forgotten its roots (more specifically Trower's).)
The title track is gorgeous and really could not be improved live. The
orchestra and Brooker's singing are what really make this piece. "The Milk of
Human Kindness" has a really nice arangement. I can see speculation about
"That's All" ripping off this song's chorus. Trower also adds really nice lines
here, along with a tone that stikes me as something Hackett-like. Perhaps,
that's just me. As simple as the tune may be, Trower saves "The Devil Came From
Kansas." His end soloing on headphones can disorient a listener as it switches
from channel to channel. Brooker gets another touching (esp. with the piano in
the center) ballad with "All This and More" with bellowing lines from Trower
between stanzas. Finally, Matthew Fisher adds a few songs, most notably "Wreck
of the Hesperus" (with more understated but wonderful Trower lines) and
"Pilgrim's Progress" (I enjoy its hymn-like structure and organ lines). His
other song "Boredom" does the opposite for me, I find it quite happy and a bit
whimsical.
The bonus tracks I have are mainly demos or alternate takes. But, I do like the
version of "Still There'll Be More" more than its studio counterpart, due to
the slightly more present guitar and Brooker's ad-libs at the end. For the
album itself, I see it as a 9(13).
Jem33.aol.com (6/16/04)
Hello
I'm enjoying your Procol Harum reviews being reprinted at
procolharum.com, which led me to your great site.
One correction: in your review of "A Salty Dog" and one of its
highlights "The Wreck of the Hesperus," you write:
"...as he combines a simple (but very effective) rolling Brooker piano
line"
Actually that's Matthew Fisher on piano. The musician credits on those
albums are very poor, neglecting to acknowledge Fisher's piano playing on
this song and on "Grand Finale" from the "Shine On Brightly" album.
Thanks again for your very thoughtful and articulate reviews!
Best,
C. Wm. Bradley Jr. (karoshi.bellsouth.net) (04/13/13)
I live for “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Ever since I first heard it in 1969.
(tsknelson.comcast.net) (06/13/15)
Great review, dude!
My relationship with this album is complicated. I used to hear so many great things about it, yet the relative rarity of Procol Harum’s catalogue on CD kept me from hearing it. Then, through a stroke of dumb luck, I managed to obtain the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab version. I noticed right away that the sound quality was amazing, but the record left me underwhelmed…guess I was expecting more organ doodling a la Keith Emerson or whomever, and Robin Trower’s guitar seemed to be too minimally distributed amongst the tracks.
Well…I don’t know what happened, but I listened to this album last night, and my opinion has changed completely. I’d now give it a C or D easily, maybe even an E. These songs are amazing! Crucifiction Lane, Devil Came From Kansas, Too Much Between Us, Milk of Human Kindness...all far better than I had originally thought! I disagree with you on the best song choice, though. “Wreck Of The Hesperus” is the clear choice, for me…one of the most “epic” progressive rock songs I’ve ever heard, and at less than five minutes in length, too! This is the kind of thing that ELP’s “Pirates” tried and failed to be.
Also, while not a concept album, I’ve noticed that almost all of these songs have some sort of naval allusion in them, which is interesting and unique from every other rock album I’ve ever heard. Even “The Devil Came From Kansas” has a rhythm that makes it sound kinda like a Seaman’s work song.
Best song: Whisky Train
Alas, while the rest of the album is good, it's just that - good. Not great, or particularly engaging, just a nice collection of ok songs with only a few highlights (well, and also with a whole bunch of good guitar work, but that goes without saying). "The Dead Man's Dream" is an interesting way to follow up "Whisky Train," almost as if the band wanted to follow the tale of an old drunkard with a tale that could come to him if he didn't stop and thus died. The melody is very standard for morbid funeral music, but the organ in the background helps add a terrific feel of gloom, and the lyrics are so incredibly disturbing that they actually manage to become engaging. I also have good feelings for "Still There'll Be More," with a bunch of nice melody twists and some great piano-bass interplay not previously seen in Procol (with more great guitar work), and for the hilariously disturbing (in a good way) "Piggy Pig Pig," that culminates in the whole band chanting the title in rhythm with the nagging piano line that drives most of the song forward (while there's more REALLY great guitar work. Trower rules).
Now, this leaves five other songs on the album, none of which (I insist) are Procol Harum classics. "Your Own Choice" is a nice, soothing way to end the album, but the main melody, while decent enough, doesn't strike me as anything special given Brooker's composing talents. Then again, maybe it's just that I'm tired near the end. You see, right before it is "Whaling Stories," which is ... ok. I mean, I can only imagine the cascade of flames that could come my way from angry Procol fans, but the fact that it's of an epic form is not enough to automatically make it a classic. I mean, just as there's good and less-good short songs, there's good and less-good "long" songs, and while this is by no means bad, I have trouble finding much to hang onto in order to provide me my desired level of entertainment. I mean, the mid-section is alright from an "instrumental firestorm" point of view, but heck, why should I listen to this when I can turn to "Repent Walpurgis," which I insist is easily the better of this in most every way? The end works well enough as a rousing coda, but I'd sure prefer to have this (well done) section cap off a better piece. It would improve a lot live, though.
The rest is the rest - "Nothing That I Didn't Know" is most notable for the presence of an accordion near the end, "About to Die" has an interesting heavy distorted riff that matches the subject matter well (alas, though, the vocal melody isn't particularly interesting, though not bad), and "Barnyard Story" is ... just kinda there. Mind you, though, that I don't mind any of these songs when I'm listening to the album - in retrospect, they get massively overshadowed by the highlights, but they're quite enjoyable when on.
So yeah, by Procol standards it's a slightly weak album, but then again, Procol Harum's standards were such that putting out anything less than a "very good" album was beyond them for quite a long time. Visible flaws exist, but there's enough new wrinkles (a la the increased importance of Trower) in the sound to keep things somewhat fresh, and there's enough in the way of highlights to help things out significantly. Don't make this your first PH album if you're more of an "art" than a "rock" person, but don't think about permanently avoiding it either.
Oh, as seems customary by now, my version of the album contains quite a few bonus tracks - NINE to be precise. Of course, as usual, they're mostly just early takes, and while they have historical value, I'm not gonna go gaga over them. There is, however, an impressive bit of improvised band jamming from the very very beginning of the album sessions, as well as a take of the whole band completely cracking up for half a minute, so at least there's some novelty value this time around.
bsitting.mail.math.ucsb.edu (9/02/03)
This is the album where Trower starts to take over the sound of the group. We
get of a glimpse of his future solo sound with "Whiskey Train". What a riff (or
variations thereof. It seems Trower is never content on staying on the same
exact riff over and over. He loves to tweak it here and there. This sounds a
bit like Steve Howe, or I suppose Jimi Hendrix himself...)! His brief, elegant
solos throughout don't even feel tacked on. Easily the best song of the album.
The rest of the album has a darker feel to it. Some of the ballads here do
start to sound a bit alike, but I do enjoy "The Dead Man's Dream". It converys
that atmosphere perfectly. Other notable songs are "About to Die" (B.J. Wilson
adds quite a bit on this one), "Still There'll Be More", and "Piggy Pig Pig"
(probably my second favorite. A very agressive song, with (of course) some nice
guitarwork and the pig chants!). Trower (again) saves the first two-thirds of
"Whaling Stories" for me. (Otherwise, this song seems to tread similar
territory with some other mariner song, from, say, the last album...) The last
part of this song just doesn't seem to fit at all.
Overall, this is an 8(11 or 12), depending on my mood.
Bert Saraco (bertsaraco.hotmail.com) (6/27/04)
John, have you listened to Home enough times to really lock in those
opinions? I've always found that Procol Harum albums required repeated
listenings before they 'clicked.' Naturally, we all have different
opinions (makes the world go 'round) ....and you make some good
observations. Whaling Stories and Barnyard Story happen to be a couple
of my favorites songs. To me, 'Barnyard' has a quiet majesty about it
that I've seldom, if ever, come across on any other album anywhere!
Whaling Story absolutely pulls me into a vortex of sound and fury that
amazes me every time I hear it. I understand that all of this is quite
subjective, but Procol's music really requires more total immersion (any
Baptists out there?) than the music of lesser bands.
'good thing you're a nice guy.
Your dear friend - Bert (of Bert & Dear Carina)
Best song: Simple Sister
The album does have some tracks that don't quite cut the mustard for me, but not any more than on a typical PH album, so I'm not particularly bothered. Of these, the title track is a low point - it's uncharacteristically built around an unimpressive synth loop, with nothing great in the vocal melody or lyrics to redeem it (not to mention NO GUITAR WORK), and at 3:11 it's easily a good minute-and-a-half overlong. I'm also not that fond of "Luskus Delph" - it wants so much to get by just on "oh, isn't that pretty," but aside from the ok vocal melody, there's simply too little substance (strings and all) to make it so. And again, what is it with this sudden need on Brooker's part to use a synth to try and create "beauty" when he'd already shown his great skill at using "traditional" keyboard instruments to do so perfectly well?
The other six tracks, however, are all aces - they won't fit one's traditional conception of PH, but they're great nonetheless. "Simple Sister" gets the album off to a terrific start, with a great guitar riff serving as the foundation while Brooker yells his head off (he isn't the most convincing rocker in the world, but he tries), and a great instrumental chunk in the middle based around a different bass/piano riff while Trower first builds the tension with his riffage and then does a bunch of totally effective and efficient solos, with strings and horns gradually popping up to remind that this is, in fact, still Procol Harum you're listening to. It's a weird combination of materials, definitely, but then I'm all for weirdness when it's a synonym for originality, and I'd definitely be more than a bit surprised if there were any other rock songs that quite resembled this little ditty.
Other high quality hard rock tunes on this album include "Memorial Drive," a great riff-driven groove (with semi-bombastic lyrics that sound oddly out-of-place but don't hurt anything), "Power Failure," with a neat rolling piano riff augmented by power chords (and some random "live" cheering in the middle, for whatever reason), and the closing Trower-sung "Poor Mohammed," which rocks so well that I find myself desperately wishing that the band could have included more tracks along these lines and made the album longer. The main riff is just killer, especially that little slide thing at the end of each iteration, and I haven't even mentioned the crunchy soloing at the end. Go Robin go!
The other two tracks aren't hard rock, but they manage to rule nonetheless, and are an interesting diversion in the PH catalogue. Well, ok, "Playmate of the Mouth" is slightly "hard," but that's mostly because it's quite bass-heavy - otherwise, it's a lumbering mid-tempo beast of a piano-driven song, with all sorts of unusual brass parts and what-not. As for "Song for a Dreamer," this is where Robin really lives up to his Hendrix legacy (for me, anyway), in that the atmosphere and kinds of guitar tones he creates remind me heavily of Hendrix's Rainy Day suite on Electric Ladyland (without being any kind of rote copy), and that's a BIG compliment - I've always been very fond of that suite, after all. Everything's so danged dreamy and echoey and mellow that I simply can't help myself enjoying this, even if it has, again, NOTHING to do with the classic PH sound.
So there's your great great album. Unfortunately, this is the last album (until the short-lived '91 reunion) to have Trower on guitar, as he decided to leave (or was pushed out? Who knows) and pursue a critically acclaimed solo career. I should also note that this album was once EXTREMELY difficult to find on CD - in the late 1990's, most of the Procol Harum catalogue was reissued world-wide, but for whatever reason this album seemed to escape the attention of the reissuing company. I had to get my copy through gemm.com (that site RULES for finding rare stuff, by the way) from Russia, and it cost me a good deal (well, $18, whatever) to get it. Still, if for whatever reason you can find a copy of this with relative ease, you should swipe it up immediately.
Oh, and one more thing. What the hell is with the bonus tracks on this album? There are but two of them, and they are ... "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and "Homburg." As in, the ORIGINAL recordings of these tracks. Weird.
Meldrain.aol.com (3/25/03)
I, for a while, shared your inability to find BB (actually, I spent years
trying to get ahold of it), but several months before your acquisition of
it (I remember you announcing it on MB) I was actually able to easily
locate a relatively cheap import copy on Amazon, who for years had not
had it. I think it did achieve mainstream reissue abroad.
Oh, and fantastic as the album is, putting it above aSD and GH is grounds
for commital.
Trower's solo career IS quite good, BTW. Nothing like the Harum sound,
though.
bsitting.mail.math.ucsb.edu (9/02/03)
An interesting diversion from the usual PH sound. Robin Trower dominates the
sound of this album even more (yeh!). But, a bit of the melododicness of the
previous albums is sacrificed in compinsation. And, this is the album where the
comparisons of Trower to Hendrix FINALLY are justified.
"Simple Sister" is the highlight from this album. From his earth-shattering
tone/solo from this song, as well as his work on "Song for a Dreamer", one can
see blueprints for his future solo career (from which I have heard "Bridge of
Sighs"). The instrumental buildup is well-done (the piano and more great
drumming propell it along) leading into repeated, but very effective lines from
Trower. "Song for a Dreamer" is a nice guitar-atmospheric song in memory of
Hendrix. (This is vaguely similar to the "Rainy Day suite" of Hendrix, mostly
in the USE of the guitar.) I also get a kick out of "Poor Mohammed" due to the
great slide guitar work. "Playmate of the Mouth" is a nice bluesy piece with
some well-placed horns(!). It also shows how Trower's playing has evolved since
the debut.
The ballads are a bit more lacking this time, mainly to each being a bit
overlong. The synths in the title track are okay, nothing else. This album gets
a solid 9(12) from me.
P.S.: Though this was a around 4 months ago, I was able to buy this album off
of Amazon/CDnow. Apparently, Repetoire made fewer copies of this than of PH's
other albums (save "Live at Edmonton", which seems to be nearly impossible to
find, though I found a copy (surprise!) in an indep. record shop in downtown
Santa Barbara).My copy of this album seems to have a (limited) copy number on
the back cover, unlike the others released!
Bert Saraco (bertsaraco.hotmail.com) (6/27/04)
My opinion always has been that BB sounds like it was recorded too soon -
in other words, before the band really had the time to live with the
songs. To me, the live performance versions of the songs on this album
were always much better, more fully realized, than the studio versions
-- and they continued to evolve into concert favorites! I think it's
the most ...antiseptic Procol Harum album. Good material -- adequate,
but not inspired, playing. I might be alone here, but I think that Song
For a Dreamer stops the album in it's tracks (hmmmm).
Did I forget to say that I love this album? Well, I do. I simply think
that it lacks the passion of most of the rest of the group's work. It
lacks the fury of Home, the mysticism of Shine On Brightly, the majesty
of A Salty Dog, the freshness of the first album......... still - don't
try to take my copy away if you value your life! - Bert
Best song: Conquistador
The problem is that this album, in retrospect, is waaaaay too cautious for such a supposedly groundbreaking experience. See, while so much of the band's catalogue to this point was suited well to an orchestra, this live album only contains five tracks, one of which is a totally rote copy of "In Held Twas In I," which I never really loved in retrospect. It sounds ok, but then again, to me the original just sounded ok; in other words, the "revelatory" nature of this performance is virtually nil. Similarly, "A Salty Dog" is done on side one, and it sounds perfectly beautiful ... but the original was ALREADY completely orchestrated. So while it was probably cathartic to the max for those who were actually there, here it's just like, "well, ok, now I just have to remember if I just listened to the live or studio version, oh, wait, there's applause, I guess it's the live version."
The other three choices are less obvious, fortunately, but even these vary in quality. "All This and More" has always been decent, but just that - I mean, it'd be a hell of a lot neater if they could have included, say, "Whisky Train" or whatever, and I don't see what this version adds to the previous one at all. However, the first two tracks of the album are easily worth the cost, and the main reason I give this as high of a grade as I do. "Conquistador" totally blows away the already great original, with the orchestra providing a bunch of counterpart riffs to the main melody, and the way they sound during the "And though I hoped for something to find ..." part is total symphonic-rock majesty. Likewise, "Whaling Stories" is much better, though in this case the change is from "ehn" to "wow" as opposed to the "wow" to "WOW" change of "Conquistador." Put another way, I actually notice the various atmospheric nooks and crannies I couldn't be enticed to notice before, and this is the one place on the album where I feel like my music exposure has been widened significantly.
So yeah, it's an alright album. I doubt anybody but a diehard would want or need it, though.
bsitting.mail.math.ucsb.edu (9/02/03)
As said above, an EXTREMELY hard album to find today! The best thing about this
album is the rendition of "Conquistador". The orchesrtation adds much drama to
this song, and there is a good guitar solo in the center. Too bad Ball's guitar
sounds thinner on other tracks. The other tracks are well-done, though a bit
similar to the studio. But, the other song that's much more effective with the
orchestra is "Whaling Stories". As for the minimal 'new' orchestration in some
of the songs, Gary Brooker had little time to prepare for this concert (this
was to be a one time experiment from what I know). He wasn't even sure how the
band would gel with the orchestra with the minimal preparation. But, it went
off quite well. [Maybe, I should have copied the liner notes for you, too. :)]
Well, as 'unnecessary' as this album may be (assuming it's relatively easy to
get the version of "Conquistador" presented here on compilations), I still give
this concert an 8(11).
Best song: Fires Which Burnt Brightly (not overwhelmingly the best, though)
If you haven't yet heard the album, allow me to describe it as such: imagine what rock music would be like if, instead of having Chuck Berry as one of its main forefathers, it had Niles Crane of Frasier fame at its roots. This is rock music filtered through endless layers of prissiness, filled to the brim with classical-based melodies, operatic themes and female choirs; music for people whose idea of "roughing it" is to stay in a hotel room that costs $1500 a night instead of $2000 a night. Truth be told, I'd be quite surprised if this wasn't one of the first albums trashed into the ground when the punk movement started to gain full momentum. Yup, if ever you wanted a violation of the "true spirit" of rock music, you got it right here. How much does it rule? LOTS.
Indeed, as frighteningly grotesque as this album could be in theory, the band actually manages to successfully pull the sound off well, and not to make total morons of themselves in the process. Brooker's songwriting is mostly solid throughout, and the band likewise does an incredible job of arranging ideas that, in the hands of a lesser group, would have come across as absolutely ridiculous at best. One of the tracks, "TV Caesar," is pretty awful, as it tries to create a bombastic epic piece around a melody that barely deserves two minutes of the listener's time, but the rest is danged terrific. The overall sound is a bit more monotonous than usual (even for PH), but that's just a minor quibble - taken on their own, each of the other eight tracks is (at worst) a minor gem.
The two biggies of the album (and I mean BIG, as in lushed up to the max) are, of course, the opening title track and the penultimate "Fires Which Burnt Brightly." The first, in particular, should be a disaster, but instead manages to be almost endlessly entertaining, as a nice vocal melody is developed very well and quickly becomes surrounded by choirs and strings and epic-sounding guitar in parts and bits of classical quotes here and there to top it off. The lyrics, of course, are the epitome of the "Niles Crane" vibe given throughout the album, but they only add to the effect - this is over-over-over-the-top lushness, yet where ANYBODY else would have allowed this piece to collapse under its own weight, Procol find the optimal balance of all the arrangements and ideas, largely because no idea is overdone. As such, it's like a whole night's worth of snooty panoramic scenes shot through my stereo in the mere span of six minutes, and oh what a great six minutes it is.
Even better, though, is "Fires," strange as it may seem. The main keyboard theme is simply PERFECT, with yet another brilliant vocal melody attached, while nice touches of female vocals give a slight tinge of depression to the already melancholy lyrics. One should also take note of the lengthy instrumental passages, in the middle and at the end, which show they managed to adjust to Trower's absence after all - I almost expected to get the feeling from listening that Brooker would still want to instinctively write these passages in a way that would call for Trower to step in and do his stuff, if only by instinct, but instead he manages to set it up so that the void is more than adequately filled by keyboards and the lovely female vocals.
None of the other tracks jump out as emphatically as those two, but they're still quite good nonetheless. There's a couple of pieces that can almost count as "rockers," even though they're piano-based and don't have any cool Hendrix-esque guitar lines that would immediately distinguish them as such. Still, a good riff is a good riff, whether played on piano or guitar, and the main one played by piano and bass on "Toujours L'Amour" definitely qualifies. And let's give Grabham a little credit - he may not be as distorted or as fancy as Trower was, but he still gives out quite a nice solo near the end of the piece. Even better for guitar lovers like me, though, is "Bringing Home the Bacon," which has great piano/drums interplay (yes, you read right) as its main theme, but also has a nice ominous distorted guitar riff that pops up from time to time, not to mention quite a few nice chunks of soloing, so I'm happy.
Elsewhere, there's a couple of slow moody pieces about various topics, both of which are quite enjoyable in their own way. "For Liquorice John" is a minor favorite of mine, with a piano theme that doesn't "develop" much but is all the better for it, as it creates an atmosphere that suitably mirrors the "fall from grace" mentioned repeatedly in the lyrics. "A Rum Tale" is moody as well, but it's much more upbeat, even if it is about becoming an alcoholic - it deals with escapist fantasies that can be fueled quite easily by the effects of alcohol on the brain, and in that regard it works quite well.
There's also a couple of nice "lesser" (lesser = lightweight, thank goodness) pieces that provide some much needed relief, as the others can wear me down quite a bit if I'm not amply prepared (even as good as they are). "A Souvenier of London" is hilarious, a hickish-sounding ditty about ending up with VD after sowing your oats in London, and the closing "Robert's Box" has an almost Caribbean atmosphere to it in the verses, which I'm sure is meant as some sort of irony (though I'm not really sure how) given that the lyrics are about smuggling drugs. Ah well, I like 'em just the same, and the bombastic ending to the latter is somehow fitting for the album.
In short, except for one misstep and possibly (read: probably) overdoing the lushness on a general level, the album shows that the primary greatness of PH's music lay not with Fisher or Trower, brilliant as they were, but rather with Brooker's brilliancy as a songwriter and the ability of others to accomodate his vision well. If you like early PH a lot but are afraid of what would happen when Trower left, please get this to assuage your fears, you won't regret it.
bsitting.mail.math.ucsb.edu (9/02/03)
Even without Trower, PH keeps going. And, true to the spirit of the live album,
they even bring in an orchestra for a few tracks. And, it's good!
The only 'bad' moment is "TV Caesar", but most of the accompanying music almost
saves the day. Otherwise, consistently good work. "Grand Hotel" is my favorite
off of here followed closely be "Fires (Which Burn Brightly)". You adequately
descibed them both. I'd also like to mention "Toujours L'amour" and "Bringing
Home the Bacon". These songs, with the title track, show that PH have found a
good guitar replacement, though not with Trower's bag of tricks. "For Liquorice
John" has a haunting piano melody to somehow complement an uplifting message
(though I don't really see that). Still a good song, nontheless.
Overall, a low 9(12). Gee, this group is darned consistently good!
"matt faris" (7headedchicken.gmail.com) (02/13/11)
I always thought the song "TV Ceasar", while having not as interesting music
as the rest of the songs on the album, has at least good lyrics that could
still be applied to the current situation we have of mind control being
seemingly everywhere, affecting seemingly everyone. I wouldn't argue with
you on your best song pick on this one, though, as that is some darn
stirring music
Best song: As Strong As Samson
This experience kicks off with the opening "Nothing but the Truth," which is built around a MARVELOUS set of piano riffs and has, thanks to healthy amounts of both strings and guitar, quite a nice texture, one that definitely reminds you you're listening to Procol Harum and yet doesn't sound at all like a retread of previous ideas. It also helps that there are a few VERY unpredictable melody twists in the middle, and the end result is a three-minute pop song with more ideas than most bands could hope to come with for thirty. Similarly, the following "Beyond the Pale" has its own fascinating keyboard theme, with another great melody acting as counterpoint and vaguely adding to the tension near the end, until it too crashes down at about the three-minute mark and leaves me feeling much more satiated than the mere running time might suggest it could.
After the "lightweight" opening duo, the album takes a slight turn for the more serious, but that's definitely not a complaint. "As Strong as Samson" ultimately turns out as the big highlight of the album, as it manages to take a perfectly lovely, somewhat anthemic verse melody and then outdo itself by throwing in one of the best melody twists I've EVER heard. No, really, I'm serious here - the melody in the "ain't no use in preachers preaching when they don't know what they're teaching" part is one of the most perfect, shattering, totally cathartic hooks I've heard in my life, and that it gets repeated in different variations during the coda only makes me that much happier. As for its followup, "The Idol," it might not be able to quite live up to "Samson," but it's still an absolutely wonderful, gorgeous anthem about false Gods being exposed for the frauds they are (at least, that's what I'm guessing its about), not to mention that the guitar solo in the extended ending is absolutely superb.
None of the other compositions are quite as unbeliveably brilliant as the opening quartet, but most of them have their good sides nonetheless. I could live without "The Thin End of the Wedge," which tries to hard to be "menacing" without remembering to be "entertaining," but everything else is quite satisfactory. My favorites are the two straightup rock songs, both of which amply show that much of Procol's greatness in fusing rock and classical stems from the fact that they really knew how to do "normal" rock. "Monsieur R. Monde" actually comes from the debut album sessions (it was a bonus track on Whiter Shade, remember?), and while I wasn't particularly wowed there, this version gives Grabham plenty of opportunities to get his ya-ya's out, while Brooker reminds us that piano can rock just as much as guitar if it really wants to. Better still, though, is the ending "Drunk Again" (not on the original album, but a B-side tacked onto the CD reissue), with a simple-but-GREAT crunchy riff that provides an ample foundation on which, just as on "Monde," both keyboards and guitars are given the opportunity to rock and roll and boogie along like nobody's business.
The other three tracks aren't particularly noteworthy, but definitely not bad either. "Fresh Fruit" is the sort of piece you'll like if you liked "Mabel" on the debut, "Butterfly Boys" is another piano-driven pop-rocker along the lines of "Nothing but the Truth" (not as hook-filled, but with a nice enough chorus), and "New Lamps for Old" is a bit anthemic along the lines of "Samson" and "Idol" but not quite as stunning (yet with its own charms, such as the way Brooker sings the chorus, or the little rising line he sings at the ending of some verses). Regardless, though, despite the fact that the album ends weaker than it began, I don't want to hold it against the album so much as to reduce it below a C. It may not sound quite like the unique Procol Harum we've grown to know and love, what with all these pop and r&r pieces, but it does show that Brooker, even as he might have slightly begun to slip as a creative genius, still had enough gas left in him to produce a great album that stands up to most anything in their catalogue. And hey, I'd like to give kudos to the AMG on this one - I may not agree with giving this album the highest ranking of any PH album, as they did, but I can definitely see where they're coming from, and it's not very often that I find myself in any sort of philosophical agreement with the All-Music Guide.
bsitting.mail.math.ucsb.edu (9/02/03)
Another great album from Procol Harum. This time, they head more towards a pop
direction. At least, it's really high quality pop! It's really hard to name the
best song off this album, as any of the first four songs, for me, can
definitely qualify as such. I enjoy the straight-awayness of "Nothing but the
Truth", the swing to "Beyond the Pale", the feeling to "As Strong As Samson",
and the story and the cathartic solo to "The Idol". I also really enjoy
"Monsieur R. Monde" and the bonus track "Drunk Again". On the other hand, the
'creepiness' in "The Thin End of the Wedge" sometimes puts me off, and "Fresh
Fruit" is just a bit too silly.
Still, this is (at least) a solid 9(12).
"Jim Federico" (jimf0602.comcast.net) (01/13/11)
I personally love the song "As Strong as Samson !" Nevertheless, I just
wanted to let you know that if */we must/* have a 'best song' from the
EB&F album, "Nothing But The Truth" it /*must*/(however reluctantly)be!
Best song: Conquistador or something else, maybe, I dunno
This album is a portion (at least, I assume it's only a portion) of a show from right before the release of Exotic Birds, and the setlist reflects this. The four tracks I love so much from that album indeed make it here, and while there's not a ton of departure from the studio versions, there's enough roughness (and hard work from the band to overcome this roughness) in the sound to make them worthy companions. They also do "Butterfly Boys" and "New Lamps for Old," and while part of me would have preferred some more straight-up rock'n'roll with "Monsieur R. Monde," these do just fine. Previous albums are represented as well as they can be given the time constraints: Grand Hotel gets the title track (with some amusing organ substitutions for the missing orchestrations) and a rousing "Bringing Home the Bacon," Broken Barricades gets "Simple Sister" (featuring an extension of the mid-song instrumental part, with the piano/bass riff getting played quietly into a crescendo over a long period of time while the guitars do their thing), and of course we get "Conquistador" and "Whaling Stories." Not surprisingly, "Conquistador" is a killer live track even without the orchestra, but I'm kinda surprised that "Whaling Stories" still sounds better live even without the orchestra. I really can't explain why the studio version sounds so labored and stiff compared to both live versions I've heard, but it does, and this live version is every bit the blast that the Edmonton version was.
And that's it! I would have definitely preferred a lot more material, but what's here shows that this lineup of Procol Harum was a perfectly servicable live unit, and I get plenty of kicks out of it.
Best song: Pandora's Box
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm hardly the kind of person who would say anything like, "Oh no! They changed their style, and I fear change! Therefore I shun this record! *shun*." But there's a difference between changing from one unique style to another unique style and changing from a unique style into something which any one of a zillion bands could pull off just as well. For the most part, there's no interesting instrumentation, as neither Brooker's pianos nor Grabham's guitar even approach the excitement level of Exotic, and as for the songs themselves ... well, let's just say that it's a BAD THING if, after listening to an ostensibly pop album four times, I have to wrack my brain like mad to remember how most of the songs go. There are bits and pieces of real potential (parts of "Fools Gold," or the unexpected use of a Clavinet on "The Unquiet Zone"), but for the most part, the songs just are kind of there, not really doing anything exceptional to warrant my attention.
I mean, it should say something that the two best tracks on the whole thing are a Beatles cover and a song that was written before the recording of Whiter Shade. The former (which closes the album) is a decent enough runthrough of "Eight Days a Week" (with some nice passion in Gary's voice), and the latter, "Pandora's Box," manages to remind me why I got into the band in the first place. What can I say, it has an interesting, somber keyboard theme, an interesting slowing of tempo at the end of each "chorus" (if it can really be called that), a couple of moments where the guitars actually get to do something interesting ... yup, if any PH album was going to have a strong outtake at ready to save a weaker album, it was gonna be the debut, and it pulls through just fine and dandy here.
Otherwise, though ... ehn. I mean, few of these songs are offensive when they're on (though "The Final Thrust" sounds a little bit too dippy for my tastes), and most of them have one or two moments that make me go "hmm, that's neat, I guess," but overall this album can hardly be held anywhere near the standard of quality the band had established for itself for the last 7-odd years. The end was clearly near for Brooker and Co., and unless you're a diehard for the sound of his voice, don't use a lot of energy looking for this one. If there's a cheap copy sitting in a nearby used bin, though, think about grabbing it for "Pandora's Box."
Bert Saraco (bertsaraco.hotmail.com) (8/24/04)
I have to admit, that when I first heard the album I thought that it
sounded very different from what I expected from Procol Harum - I was
somewhat disapointed. Obviously, the production was coming from a
totally different musical place than we were used to hearing. After the
initial shock wore off, though, I was able to listen to the songs with
'fresh' ears and began to appreciate them for what they were - yet
another very unique facet to the diamond that is Procol Harum.
Years later, being able to place the songs in the broader context of
hindsight, I realize that there's some great material here. I think, as
with Procol Harum in general, you have to throw out pre-conceived notions
about genre and category or you'll get tripped-up. You can't define this
group of songs because, when you try to, the definition begins to fall
apart. For instance, what kind of song is Pandora's Box? It's not
really rock. Jazz? nope. R&B? ....'nah! It's Procol music, I guess.
Without a Doubt ....The Piper's Tune. What kind of songs are these?!
Well, they don't fit inside the box, so forget trying to measure them
against anything else. These songs are unique entertainment. boom.
that's it. As usual, Procol Harum gives us an album that we have to live
with before we can really get inside it (or allow it to get inside us).
We've agreed to disagree before, John, and I have to say that one of your
favorite moments on the album is my least favorite -- Eight Days a Week
sounds like a toss-off, and we all know that the band could've done a lot
better. On the other hand, there is the wonderful, unique Pandora's
Box. Fool's Gold is a tight, punchy little classic, with a great
arrangement, incredible vocal, crisp horns and wonderful interplay
between the guitar & vocal. An incredibly economic track! It's all
there, in a neat little bundle. The Unquiet Zone has got great energy
and excellent performances from the whole band, giving one the impression
that they were 'born' with that horn section. BJ is in excellent form
through the whole album and is very well recorded and mixed -- just
listening to the drum tracks on this CD is a pleasure.
Hey ....I'm not going to go through all the songs, but I could
legitimately say great things about most all of them. I'm just
responding to a review, not writing one.
In my original notes (I used to do a mini-review on an index card and
tuck it into the LP sleeve) I wrote: '...by the way, I've forgiven them
[Leiber & Stoller] for not being Chris Thomas.' I think that that's a
key to listening ....forget what you're expecting to hear and listen to
what's there
Best song: The Mark Of The Claw
Yet while this move may not have a direct impact on the album, it is definitely symptomatic of the overall problem here: there is no surer sign of an art-rock band losing touch both with themselves and with the overall music scene than when they decide that the best way to become "artsy" again is to make the keyboards sound cheezier. After Ninth predictably failed to bring Procol Harum any newfound pop success or acclaim, one gets the impression that the members kinda flopped around looking for some new direction, and eventually compromised on getting artsy once more. Unfortunately, while there are certainly a few glimpses of solid inspiration, it is clear that, in this direction at least, Brooker's genius was gone (or going, at least).
It's quite telling, indeed, that the best song on here is Grabham's "The Mark of the Claw," based around a terrific heavy riff and with a neat repeated start-stop coda. There are some cheezy synth solos within, but there's also a terrific guitar solo near the end, so I'm willing to forgive it. The Brooker compositions, though, are, um, uneven at best. One of them, "Wizard Man," doesn't fit in whatsoever, as it's just a verrrrry average happy pop song amidst a sea of slow melancholy. The opening title track makes a vague attempt to revisit the glory of "classic" Procol, but it falls flat on its face; there's none of the usual genius to be found here, only a hope that the listener will fall for it because it resembles something classical, even though it just presents the band as a lame, mannerist parody of itself.
The other two songs on side one aren't brilliant either, but they do manage to stand out quite well, if only because there's a good chunk of really sad, really powerful resonance within each. "Skating on Thin Ice" is quite nostalgic in tone, but it's not an annoying kind of nostalgia - on the contrary, it shows the band as very very sad that whatever bit of respect and love they might have been able to command at one time with their brand of music had long since dissipated, and without a real understanding of why that had to be so. "Strangers in Space" is similarly sad, but also has the added effect of conveying a real feeling of floating in the middle of space, knowing you're not going to find anybody ever again, all the while feeling somewhat numb emotionwise and yet also quite depressed about where circumstances had led them. In terms of pure musical worth, these songs may not amount to much in the PH catalogue, yet within their context, they're quite powerful - they're like reading the diary entries of somebody who knows he/she is going to die within a very short time, and spends time lamenting over time lost and opportunities wasted.
Unfortunately, much of the currency this album gains with me with the good tracks on side one is lost on side two. Yes, Procol Harum decided it was time for one more stab at epic bombast, and while I've never been that much of a fan of "In Held Twas in I," it's a friggin' masterpiece compared to "The Worm and the Tree." Parts of the music are ok, sure, but as a whole, this eighteen minute monster is just AWFUL. The lyrics are done in fable form, and remind me of something Neil Peart might have written on an average day in the mid-to-late-70's. To make things worse, the lyrics aren't sung, but rather spoken at various parts, and I just can't help but cringe the whole time. By the time the very end comes, with the expected big bombastic ending, my eyes have rolled so far into the back of my head that I can see my brain stem.
In short, the first side is mildly entertaining overall (a high 7 or low 8) to me, but the second side is terrible (a 4 that it should be happy to get). Average it out, and you have maddening mediocrity (a low 6 in my eyes), as well as my regret that the band that could not put out a bad album for so very long stuck around long enough to put out something as mediocre as this. The band broke up soon after touring this album, perhaps not wishing to sully their name anymore, yet left their fans a solid legacy to enjoy for as long as they so wished.
Best song: The Truth Won't Fade Away
The whole thing basically came about when drummer BJ Wilson died in 1989. Nostalgia, or at least the recognition of the power of nostalgia to generate revenue, prompted the original forces of the band to come together for a reunion album. Hence, aside from Brooker and Reid, both Fisher and Trower are back for PS. Unfortunately, they do nothing to help the album - if I listen REALLY hard, I can hear a bit of Hammond, but not much, so Fisher's contribution is marginal at best. As for Trower, well, there's absolutely no real indication that the guitars on this album are handled by one of the former guitar geniuses of the art-rock world - there is NOTHING on this album that measures up to the brilliance that made me love the guy so much in the first place.
And the songs, ugh ... I knew I was in for major problems when I first heard the initial ten seconds of this album, with a generic electronically enhanced drum beat underlying an overproduced, underinspired "ambient" guitar pattern. I knew I was REALLY in trouble when I realized after listening to the album for a while that this chunk was part of the best track on the album by FAR. "The Truth Won't Fade Away" is strangely enjoyable, despite my initial reaction to it - Brooker's voice has a slight roughness to it here that it lacked in the 70's, and combined with a nice vocal melody, I can feel a bit of the emotional power of old coming through. Besides, there's snippets of generic, but quite lovely piano breaks, so I'm not too unhappy with the track as a whole.
After that, though, oy vey. Try as I may, I CANNOT distinguish between these songs in my head, even a few seconds after each track stops. Arrgh, why did so many art-rock bands feel the need to go so blandly Adult Contemporary around this time??!! The cliches abound here, both lyrically and musically - Reid doesn't say anything interesting with his texts whatsoever, and the actual music does not for one second show any of the beautiful idiosyncracy that made me like this band so much.
In short, save your money. Get ANYTHING by the band before this. ANYTHING.
Best song: Shadow Boxed
Sorry, that's been going through my head since I bought this album, I had to type it to get it out. Why Procol Harum decided to rise from the dead twelve years after their "comeback" is beyond me, but I'm rather glad they did - at least now they have a chance to end on a decent note, rather than on that Prodigal Stranger garbage. This time around, the original members are represented only by Brooker, Fisher and Reid, with a cast of assorteds filling the other roles, but this is fine by me - there's no excessive sterilization of the sound, and as such the guitars, bass and drums, however 'standard' they may sound, at least sound like guitars, bass and drums should. Add in that Fisher's organ is MUCH more prominent here than on Prodigal, and you have a return to the standard Procol sound, which is good news in itself.
Yup, despite the fact that Reid's lyrics suck something fierce this time around, and that Gary is sounding more and more like the voice from Schoolhouse Rock, this is a perfectly nice listen for anybody who liked the band's 'classic' albums (ie, me). It's nowhere near as strong songwriting-wise as the albums through Exotic Birds, but Brooker hasn't lost his talent completely, as I thought he had before. Some of them manage to actually kinda rule - the opening "An Old English Dream" does a great job of reminding me why I liked this band in the first place, as it moves from a piano ballad to a piano/guitar anthem in grand fashion, with Gary singing just as well as ever. I'm also very partial to "Shadow Boxed," which largely bases itself around what I somehow originally thought was a synth loop but is probably just a great guitar effect, over which Gary sings a catchy-as-hell melody while the band accentuates the song with, er, the standard instrumentation.
Other highlights include:" A Robe of Silk," where the band jumps out of its skin to make the sound as close to Whiter Shade as possible; "The VIP Room," which has a low-key, sorta jazzy bitterness in its classy piano riffs and vocal delivery, augmented by good guitars; "The Question," which kinda sounds like Procol Harum doing Dire Straits; "Wall Street Blues," where the band actually manages to really rock for the first time in forever, both in the riff and in Brooker's awesome piano work; "Every Dog will Have His Day," another instance of the band managing to rock and that even has Gary howling like a dog. Hey, the album even closes with a Fisher-penned instrumental! Sure, it can't hold a candle to "Repent Walpurgis," but few things in this world can, and as such it's still extremely enjoyable. Lots of organ, both soft and LOUD, lots of cathartic guitar lines to accentuate the power of the keys, you know the drill.
There's a bunch of other songs on here too, and while few of them particularly excite me, none are nasty, bar perhaps one or two of the slower ballads. Who knows, if it were done in the 70's, or with Reid's level of lyrical genius from that time, it might even get an A from me (and be thought of as one of the string of nice, solid albums). If you're a diehard Procol fan, this album is for you - even if you're not, it's still a nice enough listen from time to time.
Charles Allison (charlie.cwallison.fsnet.co.uk) (6/12/04)
The only better album than Wells on Fire in 2003 was the Concert for George.
Best song: Neighbour or Businessman
This album has no bad songs, though a couple of them sound a little bit too much like the adult contemporary one could have reasonably feared from the band making an album at this age ("Last Chance Motel," "Soldier"). What strikes me most about the album in general is that, rather than sounding like a bunch of old people making an awkward attempt to recapture what made Procol Harum special, it instead sounds like classic Procol Harum subjected to natural aging processes, and if this doesn't quite bring the album to the level of its classic era, it still comes close enough for me to take note. Some of these songs manage to rock in a way that evokes Broken Barricades in the best way; the dad-rock stomping of "I Told on You" (after its deceptively lovely piano introduction), "Image of the Beast" (which eventually becomes a jazzy stomping big band number), "Businessman," and "Can't Say That" show Procol Harum taking their place with Deep Purple as the aging 70's classic-rockers best equipped to make new convincing rock that doesn't leave everyone involved feeling a little embarrassed after the fact. Maybe some of the instrumental passages are a little labored and extended too far (as much as I enjoy it, I'm not totally sure that "Can't Say That" should last more than 7 minutes), but overall these songs rock in a way that I didn't really think this band had in it. Ostensibly, the music is primarily from Brooker and from Josh Phillips (who took over organ duties after Fisher left and subsequently sued Brooker over royalties related to "A Whiter Shade of Pale"), though I don't know to what extent everybody else contributed beyond arrangement details, but regardless, these rockers are super impressive.
The gentler material is rather nice as well, apart from the songs that I don't mind but that sound just a little too chill for my preference. My favorite of these is "Neighbour," a jolly number which almost sounds like late-period Bob Dylan attempting a Queen song (the accordion in particular makes me think of Dylan's cover of "Must Be Santa"), but all of them are lovely in their own way. "Don't Get Caught" almost threatens to be another song that turns into overly mellow A/C (even with the noisy organ doing its best to keep that from happening), but the bouncy "Don't get caught! Don't get caught!" backing vocals that later get mirrored by plucked strings are so cute that they make me like the song almost by themselves. "Sunday Morning," "The Only One," and especially the closing "Somewhen" (with Brooker doing everything himself, including the words, and which makes a very satisfying career closer) are all very lovely piano-based ballads, with "Sunday Morning" featuring a nice weary string arrangement and "The Only One" becoming a rousing anthem (with very Floydian guitar leads, which doesn't bother me) with a melodic resolution that I find deeply satisfying on every level.
While I can't get myself to rate this even higher (even if this album is nice I still don't find it special the way I find the main PH albums), I must nonetheless say that I'm rather impressed with this album. Brooker's voice sounds worn, but in a way that benefits the material rather than detracting from it, and if the other members sound like shadows of the band's past, at least they're convincing shadows. Only serious fans would be interested in this, of course, but I'm quite sure those fans wouldn't be disappointed.
*A Whiter Shade Of Pale - 1967 Deram*
D
(Great / Very Good)
Shine On Brightly - 1968 Repertoire
A
(Very Good / Good)
A Salty Dog - 1969 A&M
B
(Very Good)
The captain cried, we sailors wept: our tears were tears of joy
Now many moons and many Junes have passed since we made land
A salty dog, this seaman's log: your witness my own hand"
Joan May
Home - 1970 Repertoire
A
(Very Good / Good)
Broken Barricades - 1971 A&M
C
(Very Good / Great)
Live In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra - 1972 Repertoire
8
(Good / Mediocre)
Grand Hotel - 1973 Chrysalis
B
(Very Good)
Exotic Birds And Fruit - 1974 Chrysalis
C
(Very Good / Great)
BBC Live In Concert - 2000 Varese
A
(Very Good / Good)
Procol's Ninth - 1975 Repertoire
7
(Mediocre / Good)
Something Magic - 1977 Chrysalis
6
(Mediocre)
The Prodigal Stranger - 1991 Zoo
4
(Bad / Mediocre)
Well's On Fire - 2003 Eagle
8
(Good / Mediocre)
Novum - 2017 Eagle
9
(Good)