| A Whiter Shade Of Pale | review #2 | 1967 |
| Shine On Brightly | review #2 | 1968 |
| A Salty Dog | review #2 | 1969 |
| Home | review #2 | 1970 |
| Broken Barricades | 1971 |
| Live In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra | 1972 |
| Grand Hotel | 1973 |
| Exotic Birds And Fruit | 1974 |
| Procol's Ninth | 1975 |
| Something Magic | 1977 |
| The Prodigal Stranger | 1991 |
| The Long Goodbye | 1995 |
| Greatest Hits (compilation) | 1996 |
| Pandora's Box | 1999 |
| BBC Live In Concert | 2000 |
| The Well's On Fire | 2003 |
Post your comments about Procol Harum
(Nick Karn's review)
HIGH POINTS: A Whiter Shade Of Pale, Repent Walpurgis, Conquistador, She Wandered Through The Garden Fence, Something Following Me. LOW POINTS: None.
I can safely say that it's easy to place this record in a category of albums that might not seem that remarkable on first listen, but only becomes more beautiful, powerful and revealing on subsequent ones. Procol Harum's initiation into the music world also happens to be among the first ventures into an artsier type of rock music that eventually led to prog in the late 60's and early 70's. Not that it's technically awesome - as skilled as the individual musicians are (organ player Matthew Fisher, guitarist Robin Trower and drummer B.J. Wilson certainly stand out), they don't blow the listener's mind with their chops the way that future prog rockers did, but here, the mix of classical elements, blues, pop and occasional ventures into hard rock definitely creates a sound that's still very ambitious on its' own, but it doesn't seem overly pretentious, since there's a lot of emphasis on pop melody and not so much of an emphasis on stuff like string arrangements.
But anyway, back to the album itself. Like I said, it may be hard to see exactly what makes this effort special at first, but the songs on here really get under your skin to the point where they absolutely rule. And of course, most listeners know the song that arguably rules the most, as the title track still gets a good amount of airplay on classic rock radio today, and deservedly so, as it's quite possibly one of the most beautiful songs out there. The organ part that runs throughout is so majestic and beautiful, the vocal melody has an extremely special timeless quality to it that seems as if it's existed forever, the lyrics have a gorgeous, mystical quality, and I love that bombastic fadeout. And it's all done with no guitar whatsoever! Awesome song it is, and a shining example of the songwriting talents of frontman Gary Brooker and Keith Reid (whose interesting imagery in the lyrics from a more mature, educated perspective without sounding preachy or overblown really works on here).
Although the title track is definitely the best on here, though, the rest of the album lives up to it, with not a single weak song to be found. The rest of the material can be divided into catchy pop numbers, slow classically influenced blues workouts, and more epic moments, with the five songs coming afterwards being particularly great. "Conquistador" combines great melodic flow, really interesting lyrical allegories, and vintage guitar work, with all of these things coming together full circle at the brilliant chorus (the insanely catchy descending riff over the 'and I hope for... something to find / I can see no... place to unwind' alone is priceless). "She Wandered Through The Garden Fence" combines engaging piano and organ interplay with confused lyrics in an amazingly effective manner (extremely catchy again), and the bluesy "Something Following Me" does an amazing job of gradually building up to the final lines of each chorus to a dark effect ('there's no doubt I'm sitting on my.... own tombstone').
The record isn't all seriousness, though. "Mabel" is actually a brief recreation of a bouncy, lightweight party atmosphere, with sound effects and voices to perfectly lighten the mood. And the melody is so addictive! Somehow it sounds entirely right leading into the creepy "Cerdes (Outside The Gates Of)", whose tight instrumental interplay between the organ, bass playing and excellent guitar soloing complements the dark, mythical storytelling going on in that one. But another flawless transition here I must speak of is how the minute and a half "Good Captain Clack" functions as a short poppy 'goodbye' to the main body of the album with its' melody and huge harmony driven chorus with swirling organ in the background, and then Matthew Fisher's closing instrumental "Repent Walpurgis" comes. This one is incredible - it's almost like the title track turned all dark and doomy, and the way it alternates between a slow tempo with depressing organ and incredibly uplifting piano notes is totally epic and spectacular.
The remaining three tracks on the album might not be masterpieces like some of the others, but they've all got something to make them worth listening to. The rocker "Kaleidoscope" is probably the most uptempo and energetic, with an overly repetitive, but still really catchy organ part that almost sounds like a Stones riff, while the ominous piano line of "A Christmas Camel" sets the stage for the most trippy lyrics on the whole album, with more showstopping Trower soloing in the middle, and "Salad Days (Are Here Again)" is a quite pleasant piano pop ballad with more of the great swirling organ sound, a genuinely beautiful main melody, and interesting lyrics like 'your skin crawls up an octave / your teeth have lost their gleam'. An excellent record this is on the whole, and certainly their most revolutionary effort ever. I'd say it's just as good (if not better) than the 'orchestral' revolution of the Moody Blues' Days Of Future Passed the same year, and that should say something, too.
What do I put for the introduction? I don't know. It's hard for me to put my feelings about this album into words. This is one of the first art-rock albums (along with a gazillion others); nevertheless, even if this band did *not* invent art-rock, they were still a really good band. The production isn't great, but that seems to only enhance the dream-like quality of some of the music; it never gets annoying. At this point, believe it or not, they were excellent at both ballads and rockers; unfortunately, they eventually stopped doing the latter and stopped being as good at the former (but that's getting ahead).
I don't need to mention the title track; aside from an abrupt fadeout, it's pretty much perfect. "Conquistador" is another excellent song which, in my opinion, sounds a lot better in this version than the later live version; there's a much better tension and release on this version. Drummer BJ Wilson in particular is excellent on this song. "She Wandered Through The Garden Fence" is a nice happy pop song with tambourine, with the extremely dark "Something Following Me" (the first of the two "Ballad Of A Thin Man" semi-ripoffs) balancing it out. I'm the only WRC reviewer so far not to like "Mabel", but it's only two minutes, so it doesn't hurt the grade much. By this point, the album starts to sound monotonous despite the styles of the songs being fairly different; it's because the past 4 songs have all been in the keys of G major or minor. (The title track is in C.)
Fortunately, "Cerdes" is in F, so it helps relieve the ears. Unfortunately, "A Christmas Camel" (the second Dylan semi-ripoff) is in G minor; it's a really good song, however. "Kaleidoscope" is in G major, unfortunately, but it's also a good song; it's a fast rocker with an ending that feels like being crushed by a 16-ton safe (in a good way). "Salad Days" follows in D major; it's one of my personal favorites (like most of the other songs on here). I didn't like "Good Captain Clack" at first, but it's grown on me a lot; it starts in G, but it has a key change to Eb, which makes it okay. The wonderful instrumental "Repent Walpurgis" closes in C minor (albeit with a middle section in C major ripped off from JS Bach), with some excellent guitar solos from Robin Trower. I once listened to this piece while it was raining (why is there no antecedent for that pronoun?), and the mood is *perfect*. If you have this album and it starts raining (not too hard), make sure to listen to "Repent Walpurgis"; the effect is absolutely wonderful.
This is certainly one of the best albums I've heard so far in my life. I'm giving it a 9.5, but feel free to make it a 10 if your copy has "Homburg", one of the best Procol Harum songs ever (in my opinion). I haven't heard "Lime Street Blues" or any of those other bonus tracks (my copy is called "Procol Harum", is in a 2-CD set of their first four albums entitled "First Four", and doesn't even have "AWSoP" on it), so I can't say anything about them.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(Nick Karn's review)
HIGH POINTS: Shine On Brightly, Quite Rightly So. LOW POINTS: None.
Not quite as good as before, but Procol's second effort is still very worthwhile in many ways. First off, just like earlier, there isn't really a single weak song to be found, though this time there's a more prominent focus on artsiness in the song structures, not unlike the trends of 1968. Throughout the album, there's actually around four or five instances where the songs quiet down as if they're ending (or incorporating false fadeouts) - why they employed a technique like this, I'm not exactly sure, but it's one of those things that contributes to the songs generally having a bit more in the way of changes in dynamics than before. Maybe there's also a bit less prominent Robin Trower guitar work than before, though he certainly has some great moments throughout. Oh, and there's also something else quite innovative here.
And that would be found in the closing "In Held 'Twas In I", whose title is derived from the first word to appear in each verse. What makes this piece so notable is that it might be the first extended suite in art rock as a five part, 17-1/2 minute epic - maybe not quite a sidelong, but it has that aura where it could be treated like one. That said, it's not exactly comparable with some of the better progressive ventures of later - the individual sections and melodies are mostly fine, but the transitions between them are awkward and iffy at best (particularly the point where the entertaingly jovial circus styled pop of ''Twas Teatime At The Circus' thunderstorms into the ballad portion 'In The Autumn Of My Madness'). Plus, the beginning four minutes or so (the slightly dull but still hypnotizing Eastern-tinged spoken word poetry of 'Glimpses Of Nirvana') can actually be called pretentious and rambling (heck, Keith Reid even admits 'the words I use are pretentious and may make you cringe with embarassment' in the lyrics), and you can't accuse anything from the debut of that.
Regardless of the imperfections it might have (the 'Grand Finale' choir and Trower guitar solo portion that ends it is also quite majestic, but also overlong), there are several moments here which I quite like in this piece. The aforementioned ''Twas Teatime...' is a wonderfully lighthearted breather from the epic feel, and 'Look To Your Soul' is a terrific, dark piano ballad with great singing from Gary Brooker (especially when he belts out at the chorus 'if you just look to your.... SOOOOOOOOOUL.' followed by more creepy organ). The acoustic 'In The Autumn Of My Madness' is nice and effectively bombastic as well, and that transition to 'Look To Your Soul' (though still awkward) has some really effective stop-start guitar bursts and a menacing rhythm. All in all, a good, but flawed, centerpiece.
What really makes the album near excellent, though, are the other songs here. OK, maybe the dreary "Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone)" (which shares side two with the 'epic') is a little slow and boring, but the melody moves me just fine despite the atmosphere, and it is the shortest song on the album. But all the songs on side one work well - particularly the opening two. "Quite Rightly So" could have easily fit on A Whiter Shade, as it's in the vein of the more uplifting pop from that effort, that organ part is engaging and bouncy in all its' simplicity, and it's got a great singalong vocal melody to go along with it. The title track, though, is definitely my favorite on the whole album, mostly due to the absolutely awesome way Trower's one-note guitar screeching interacts with the loudly mixed blaring Fisher organ in the chorus ('shine on brightly, quite insane'). And the piano pop verses are excellent, too.
The rest of side one is also very enjoyable Maybe "Wish Me Well" is a bit too reminiscent of the feel "Cerdes" had (in the main piano part), but it has a melody of its' own, plus that shuffling rhythm and excellent guitar soloing in the background definitely makes up for it, while "Skip Softly (My Moonbeams)" and "Rambling On" are probably the most curious songs here. The former has this really dark guitar oriented rhythm that actually does have a 'skipping' quality to it, and it's probably the most prog-like of these songs, with a false ending that eventually turns into a barrage of ominous piano notes and shifts into a great hard rocking jam. And the latter? This one's a very good melodic ballad with awkwardly charming lyrics about some dude thinking he could fly after seeing a Batman movie (with another false fadeout and subtly effective guitar work). Both very interesting. Overall? A step down from a near-classic, sure, but the material is still very, very good, and a tinge more creative, too.
I've heard that this truly is a sequel to the previous album; unfortunately, I like it a lot less, and it's not the usual "In Held 'Twas In I" complaint, either. I actually like most of "In Held 'Twas In I"...
The opening "Quite Rightly So" is an excellent song; it's the hardest-rocking song on here (a MAJOR flaw with the album: they seem to avoid rocking out on here, which is detrimental for a band whose guitarist always uses lots of distortion), and it has a huge sound reminiscent of the last album. I also really like the title track with its dynamic shifts and one-note guitar riffs. Unfortunately, after this is where the problems begin, at least for me. "Skip Softly (My Moonbeams)" tries too hard to be "weird", and as a result, comes across as the music played in the background of the cartoon with a baby bear in a forest at night trying to make a scared face as cartoon ghosts circle him, just like Sergey Jilkin said on George Starostin's site. "Wish Me Well" has some interesting percussion, but doesn't interest me too much otherwise. Sorry. "Rambling On" is a pretty good ballad which is unfortunately nearly wrecked by guitarist Robin Trower, who thinks he's playing a proto-metal song. TURN DOWN THE DISTORTION! I don't hate distortion; I just hate when it's misused. In some cases, the tone colors that distortion creates can greatly improve the music, but not here. A lot of people don't like "Magdalene", but I find it very relaxing (partly because the guitar on here is acoustic), at least until the hilarious fake trumpets come in toward the end of the song.
As for "In Held 'Twas In I" (which is really a bunch of different songs that should have been on separate tracks), the opening "Glimpses Of Nirvana" is funny on first listen, but quickly gets old (at least to me). "'Twas Tea-time At The Circus" reminds me a lot of the Beatles' "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite" despite being very different. "In The Autumn Of My Madness" is a nice enough tune by organist Matthew Fisher. The opening of "Look To Your Soul" is really great, but unfortunately the main song part doesn't catch my ear too much (altho the harpsichord usage *is* interesting). Finally, "Grand Finale" is in 3/4, not 6/8 like most bands would have done it, and it is probably the high point of the whole suite (unfortunately, it's not quite as good as Repent Walpurgis, which concludes a LOT more forcefully).
Feel free to raise the rating to a 7 if your edition contains "In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence"; how on earth did this song get cut from the album when some of these others weren't? It's somewhat in the vein of "She Wandered Through The Garden Fence" from the last album, and gave me the goosebumps the first several times I heard it; I can't say that about too many songs. Once again, I haven't heard "Alpha" or any other bonus tracks that might be on this one.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(Nick Karn's review)
HIGH POINTS: A Salty Dog, Wreck Of The Hesperus, The Milk Of Human Kindness, Pilgrim's Progress. LOW POINTS: Juicy John Pink.
In some ways, Procol Harum's third album is a great advance over their first two, enough that I can easily see why it's a huge favorite among fans. The songs quite often have a more bombastic feel to them with superior production, there's a more diverse array of instrumentation, the symphonic tone their music has often had to this point is magnified even more with the presence of an actual orchestra on a few songs, and many of the lyrics are among Keith Reid's best ever (which is good, since Procol can often be a very lyrically-driven band). This is definitely an impressive album, a stronger one than Shine On Brightly, though there are a few noticeable problems here that don't allow me to quite rank this on the same level as A Whiter Shade, though it's not that far off, at least. It's just that, you know, more energetic tempos wouldn't hurt. Or a stronger second half, for that matter, but that's later.
Things start off awesome beyond description with the opening title track, though - this is where the symphonic arrangements work best, with incredibly majestic sweeping melodies that definitely bring to mind strong images of the sea, and the climactic last verse in particular contains some of the most breathtakingly well-written lyrics I've heard (the 'we fired the gun, and burnt the mast...' portion), and the panoramic backdrop on which they're sung makes this song one of the greatest in art rock history, if not Procol's best ever. It's also followed up wonderfully by a groovy piano pop piece in "The Milk Of Human Kindness", which hits upon a fabulously addictive rhythm and guitar riff that's still permanently wedged in my head (as is the chorus melody), and a top-notch acoustic ballad "Too Much Between Us", featuring a gorgeous soft tone in Gary Brooker's singing that I don't remember hearing before.
The main flaw within this album becomes apparent within the next two songs, though - too much sluggishness. Luckily, both of them are very good tracks ("The Devil Came From Kansas" has a lot of pummeling intensity within the guitar work and convincing production, as well as excellent soloing, while "Boredom" is a very infectious folksy ballad featuring a neat blend of sleigh bells, xylophone, acoustic guitar and recorder), though they don't greatly enhance the pace of the album. And that slow tempo problem is magnified even more with Robin Trower's two contributions, the severely out-of-place underproduced crappy generic blues throwaway "Juicy John Pink" (though at least this one's short), and the really plodding, but at least somewhat passionately performed and sung "Crucifiction Lane". Maybe these guys needed some coffee or something....
At least Matthew Fisher's songs where he takes the lead vocal spot give side two more of a beauty that actually lives up to the best stuff on side one. "Wreck Of The Hesperus" is another one of those songs featuring orchestration, and it actually competes with the title track for the 'best song' spot on here - the combination of that great repeating piano line, awesome pop melody, orchestral bursts, and occasional guitar flourishes creates quite a lot of magic. The closing hymn-like power of "Pilgrim's Progress" is also really, really good, with a very touching introspective melody, solemn organ, and even a fantastic uptempo piano pop section towards the end of the song to finally break the album out of its' sluggishness.
Actually, if A Salty Dog's second half were nearly as strong as its' first one, and there were more moments of the lighthearted "The Milk Of Human Kindness" variety to make the experience less dragging (despite the album's overall excellent consistency), I could actually rank this higher than Whiter Shade. Couldn't they have replaced the less remarkable moments of 'orchestrated' seriousness like the more unmemorable "All This And More" (which, melodically, sounds like an average Shine On Brightly outtake) with something like, you know, the awesome rocking bonus track "Long Gone Geek", or something similar to that? Maybe they thought they had an 'artsy' reputation to uphold here, I'm not sure. Still a very excellent effort in spite of this - I won't argue there. It's got an all-time art rock classic, after all.
A Salty Dog is regarded by many fans as their best; of course, I disagree with this assessment, since I like being disagreeable. The album is named after an alcoholic drink, which serves as a theme thruout the album; most of this album is lethargic and kinda depressed, and I've heard that alcohol is supposed to be a "depressant". :-) This is probably the only unifying theme in the album; the songs are actually very diverse and don't have too much in common.
The title track took a long time to grow on me (I used to hate it), and I'm still NOT too fond of the string section, but it's still a good song, and if you have a bias against string sections in rock music like I do, you should try to overcome it. I don't think it's the best on the album, tho. "The Milk Of Human Kindness" then proceeds to irritate me for the next four minutes by building up lots of tension in the verses and not releasing it in the chorus; they may have drank one too many Salty Dogs to make it really rock out like it should have in my opinion. "Too Much Between Us" is an okay acoustic ballad that I don't feel like saying much about. "The Devil Came From Kansas" would have been highly instrumental in increasing album sales among Midwestern 13-year-old males ("Cool! Satan lives here!"), but was unfortunately counteracted by Midwestern soccer-moms refusing to give allowance to their sons to keep them from buying this album. "Boredom" is another acoustic ballad that I actually like a lot; its instrumentation is extremely atypical for Procol Harum, featuring marimbas, recorders, and tablas (so much for any cultural consistency).
"Juicy John Pink", a blues song, is a song I am required to either like or be sick to death of, since I live in Mississippi, after all. Sadly, I don't care for it, since I'm unfortunately sick to death of the style. "Wreck Of The Hesperus" is a really cool song with a tricky rhythm that must have been very hard to play live (as well as what sounds like either reverb or lots of compression on the drums). It also features the Return Of The Orchestra, which on here is fine with me, since it doesn't play thru the whole song. "All This And More" may be the first power ballad ever written; amazingly, the guitar style on this song works perfectly. "Crucifiction Lane" is a soul ballad I don't care much for. Finally, at the end, comes the best song on the album, the Matthew Fisher tune "Pilgrim's Progress". It is yet *another* ballad, this time in a style reminiscent of their earlier work(well, except for the coda, which sorta reminds me of the Beach Boys). From what I understand, Gary Brooker, Robin Trower, and Matthew Fisher all wrote music for this song, and Keith Reid had to choose one of the tunes to fit the lyrics; I would say that Reid chose wisely.
I don't have the song "Long Gone Geek" on my copy; a lot of people really like that song, but I've never heard it. Overall, I would not consider this their best work, altho I think it's a small step up from Shine On Brightly.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(Nick Karn's review)
HIGH POINTS: The Dead Man's Dream, Whisky Train, Piggy Pig Pig. LOW POINTS: Whaling Stories.
Whoa - you think some terrible incident and/or negative thoughts must have crossed Keith Reid in between A Salty Dog and the sessions for this album? One listen to the lyrics on here, and most would swear that was the case - nowhere on the first three albums will you find such an overwhelming vibe of darkness and death as you will on much of Home. Adding to that, while there's still a good amount of the trademark organ and piano interplay, it's not as frequent as before, because of a major change in the lineup: Matthew Fisher and the bass player (what was that guy's name again?) out, Chris Copping in to take over both spots. The 'bass' half of his job description is more prominent here, though, so Robin Trower seizes the opportunity to make things heavier and a bit more guitar-dominated, which is a welcome change. If anything, I actually prefer this more energetic and darker approach to the style of the last album.
Plus, for the fourth time in a row, we even starts off with two major classics, and after sitting through A Salty Dog, the guitar-heavy energy of the opening "Whisky Train" certainly does sound very welcome. This is Trower's best work to date, with a great Hendrix-style riff most hard rock bands would kill for, and he always throws in little changes to it and inspired solos throughout so it never becomes monotonous. Gary Brooker's no slouch here either, with his worn vocals perfectly matching the song's alcoholic subject matter and the subtle bits of piano. And even further adding to the 'darkness and death' atmosphere is "The Dead Man's Dream", which starts off in a quiet piano/vocal mode until before you know it, it builds up to loud and bombastic guitar and organ blasts and spoken word lyrics recounting the dead man's dream are overwhelming you - 'The corpses were rotten, yet each one was living! Their eyes were alive... with maggots crawling'! It's a really convincing attempt at a chilling 'graveyard' mood, it is, and my personal favorite on here.
Unfortunately, they just can't keep up that high a level of songwriting. But admittedly, there are a couple really good minor highlights - "Still There'll Be More" rocks out convincingly, with a sort of 'skipping' groove created by the bass and piano interplay, and it's got an interesting contrast between upbeat tempo and more dark lyrics ('I'll foul all the fountains and trample the leaves, I'll blacken your christmas and piss on your door') and "Piggy Pig Pig" plays out like a scarier and more epic-sounding "Milk Of Human Kindness" (though it really gets catapulted to highlight status on account of its' fantastic ending coda, with the band chanting the title in a hilariously twisted but also frightening way over the piano melody). And I guess "Your Own Choice" is a nice uplifting poppy conclusion to the album (love those introductory piano lines that are a perfect lead-in, as well as that ending harmonica solo).
The other four songs, though, are what drag the rating down a little from something potentially very excellent. "Barnyard Story" is an enjoyable, though merely decent, piano ballad that doesn't have much atmosphere going for it, and much like "In Held ('Twas) In I" two years before, the 7 minute "Whaling Stories" shows in spades that long epics are not this band's forte. I honestly do really like that evil ascending distorted riff that pops up three minutes in, but that's about the only very good thing I can say about this piece - the arrangement flows awkwardly, the vocal melodies are so bland that it becomes obvious they're just there as an afterthought to support the artsy lyrics, that aforementioned riff gets tiresome as it repeats itself later on, and the big climactic 'choir' ending sounds forced.
And finally, while certainly still a lot better than his other contributions from the last album, Trower's "About To Die" doesn't hold a candle to "Whisky Train" in rockin' energy and excellent guitar work, just a 'good' heavy song that continues the typical death themes with more of that piano/organ interplay added in. And "Nothing That I Didn't Know" is effectively depressing but could be better, plodding around a bit too much on the despairing vocals and piano arrangement, and the way too simple lyrics don't give too much colorful insight on 'what happened to Jenny Droe', the song's main character other than that she died. Still, the album's highlights, overall intriguing atmosphere and solid guitar work still make it worthwhile. If only "Whaling Stories" could have actually been developed into the great epic so many fans actually claim it to be instead of the halfway melodic mess it is, maybe I could even give it an 8.
Home, the fourth album by Procol Harum, is usually considered to be the start of their "hard rock" period. Personally, I don't see how the music rocks any harder than on their debut; the guitar's more prominent because their organist (Matthew Fisher) quit on them and they have better production, but that's really the main "rock" element. I have a bit of a bias against death imagery, partly because I never liked it much in the first place, but mostly because I'm sick to death of it; I have known a whole bunch of people who revel in death and destruction, but personally I don't see where the excitement is in it. As a result, I don't appreciate this album as well as I'd be able to otherwise.
"Whisky Train" is a really cool, surprisingly optimistic rocker that is actually in a minor key (altho it ends on a major chord). The drumming is really crazy on this song; I've never heard any patterns like it before, and anyone else who wants to use the pattern will obviously be ripping off this song. I don't care much for "The Dead Man's Dream" partly because I simply don't like the music that much and partly because I'm a wimp who can't take lyrics about maggots and death and stuff. "Still There'll Be More" has some really cool music balanced with even more disturbing lyrics than the last song; I can listen to it comfortably up until the parts about raping someone else's wife. I like "Nothing That I Didn't Know", which despite being about someone who died, is actually much more comfortable than the previous two songs. "About To Die" is pessimistic, but it's actually in a major key (perhaps it's the opposite of "Whisky Train"); the last line of each chorus is probably my favorite part of the song.
"Barnyard Story" is a song I don't care much for, despite what sounds like a pipe organ on the track. "Piggy Pig Pig" has dual pianos, an odd drum pattern with a million percussion overdubs, and some truly excellent guitar work; this all adds up to one of my favorite songs on the album (altho the song itself is really good, too). And, yes, the coda does rule. "Whaling Stories" is one of those tracks that cannot be overrated or underrated, since the reactions of Big Procol Harum Fans (e. g. "This is the greatest song in the world!") and most music reviewers (e. g. "This is the worst song on the album") cancel each other out. Personally, I like it well enough, but it's certainly not the best on the album, and it's a bit wearying after having listened to really depressing music for the previous 26 minutes (I actually think this song works better on my compilation CD). This probably sounds stupid, but I really love the way this song ends. The album is then closed by the excellent "Your Own Choice", which may be depressing, but sounds like a ray of sunshine compared to everything else on here, and to me seems to have the most emotional resonance (of course, your mileage may vary).
If there was a list of albums not to give to suicidal people as birthday presents, this album would definitely make the top 10 on that list. If you don't share my bias against really dark music, take the rating as a guide rather than the review.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Simple Sister, Song For A Dreamer, Memorial Drive. LOW POINTS: None.
The hard-to-find album - for no real good reason, Broken Barricades is not something you'll easily be finding among the racks of Best Buy amongst the 9 billion copies of some mediocre 'talent' like Clay Aiken or The Mest-Up Yellow Charlotte November Ataris Plan any time soon (boy, if my sister ever found this review... haha), and that's even in comparison to a lot of the other Procol albums. Damn underappreciated band. Ah well, in any case, the transformation of these guys from the symphonic artsiness of A Salty Dog to the Robin Trower-dominated hard rrrock of this one was pretty much complete here, so what appropriately happens after this album? Why, Trower leaves after this one for a solo career, of course, and the rest of the band go right back to the symphonic path with Grand Hotel (that's later, though)! So enjoy the culmination of that hard rock path here, assuming you can actually find the damn thing (hint: look online).
As far as the actual quality goes, this is definitely a step up in overall consistency from Home - close to half the album compares favorably with the best material they ever did, in fact. And once again it starts off with a bang - "Simple Sister" is a great fusion of the band's bombastic, orchestral side and the rocking one. The pounding dun-dun-dun-dun-dun piano/guitar/bass/whatever main riff and epic structure are simply unforgettable here, and the added flourishes of powerful solos and orchestration amongst the aggressive playing make it a winner. "Memorial Drive", with its' memorable fusion between the riffage and organ, is another excellent showcase of tightness that also leaves room for Trower to stretch out, and it also brings to mind driving down a road with the windows down (not in a "Panama" way though, of course, the lyrics are still Keith Reid's doing). Plus, the fun "Power Failure" is another one of those energized live-sounding songs that would probably be a blast to play in concert, and it's got a powerful singalong melody to it as well. Of course, that drum solo in the middle with the random 'live' crowd noise kinda puts it into Tormato territory slightly, but even that slightly flow-disruptive yet entertaining midsection has a very interesting story behind it (whenever the power went out at Procol concerts, B.J. Wilson would just keep on playing a solo until the power was eventually restored).
Granted, not all the songs on here are simple hard rock, but the spirit of Robin Trower is definitely alive and well in most of them, from his vocal lead in the bluesy closer "Poor Mohammed" (not one of the more memorable songs on here melodically, but great use of bottleneck slide guitar here nonetheless and fine energy) to his great Hendrix imitation in "Song For A Dreamer", one of the major highlights on here, nailing the dreamy vibe of the more experimental Electric Ladyland tracks (particularly the "Rainy Day, Dream Away" suite) damn near perfectly, with its' echoey, sophisticated production. Sure, again the vocal melody ain't that great, but this isn't the point - marvel at his mastery of the whole atmosphere and the breathtaking solos he comes up with throughout - and he throws out a lot of these solos and various tricks during the song's extended 5-1/2 minute length, so that can only be a good thing.
I can't quite rank this album up to the level of Whiter Shade or Salty Dog, though, for a few reasons. For one thing, it's a little too short (8 songs in 33 minutes), plus quite often, the guitar work and atmosphere are more memorable than the actual vocal melodies, and not just in Trower's songs either (witness the still very good but sloooow and lazy horn-filled "Playmate Of The Mouth", where a bunch of guys from the pub playing horns help Procol out to create a boozy atmosphere). Also, while hardly terrible, the two softer songs (the anthemic and poppy title track which is based on a synth loop and anthemic lyrics, and the porno song "Luskus Delph" with very pretty orchestration and vocals that are uncomfortably mixed with kinda grossly sexual lyrics) are merely just enjoyable as opposed to really inspiring like the best stuff. These flaws hardly bring down the album too much, though, as this is yet another highly recommended effort, and a great swansong in Procol for the creator of Bridge Of Sighs.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
(reviewed by Alex Harris)
Procol Harum's Greatest Hits (A&M) is a really good US compilation; it was my first PH purchase, and it does something rare for a compilation: a LOT of my favorite PH tracks are on this compilation. I'm sorry if my reviewing seems really dry on this album; I have a lot of memories connected to it (it was almost the only thing I listened to my first semester of college), and I have to make sure I can dissociate the music from the memories long enough to be able to give a semi-fair review to it (altho even then I make no claim of objectivity).
Unlike most people, I don't care much for the 1972 orchestral rendition of "Conquistador" (from Live In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra); it just seems to lose something that the original version has. (For one thing, I like Robin Trower's guitar tone better than newcomer Dave Ball's (not the guy from Soft Cell) guitar tone.) "Simple Sister", from Broken Barricades, is an excellent example of a well-done tension-and-release gambit. The main part of the song itself is merely okay, but the instrumental middle section elevates it to greatness; I don't want to tell anyone how the song is laid out or anything, but let me just say that it totally blows the coda of Yes's "Starship Trooper" out of the water (at least for me). (I've never heard King Crimson's "Starless", often hailed as one of the best examples of such an idea, so I can't make any comparisons.)
"Whaling Stories" works a little better in the context of this compilation than it did on Home, as it's allowed to create an effect on its own rather than just extending the effect of the past several songs. "Power Failure", from Broken Barricades, is a bright melodic rocker (always an appealing style for a Pop Wimp like me) with some crazy but strangely logical drumming (and I'm not even talking about the drum solo with that). "Homburg" is simply one of Procol Harum's best songs ever, altho it does sound suspiciously like a clone of "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" (apparently, "Homburg" was actually written earlier). It was the song that convinced me that I really wanted to buy this compilation (and this was at a time when I was very scared of buying CDs for fear that I wouldn't like them enough). "In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence" is another wonderful-but-forgotten song that was sadly relegated to a B-side upon original release. It seems to really confuse reviewers; one person said that it was not typical of Procol Harum, while another said it was the essence of Procol Harum. Yet another site calls it a blues song, but I can't hear much blues in it. Finally, "Repent Walpurgis" closes, and while I really like this instrumental when it's on their debut, to me it sounds out-of-place on this compilation, and it's much more enjoyable in its original context.
As for other songs, "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", "Whisky Train", "A Salty Dog", "Shine On Brightly", and "Boredom" are all present. My only qualm with the song selection is that "Quite Rightly So" from Shine On Brightly isn't on it, but we get the B-side, "In TheWee Small Hours Of Sixpence", which sounds like a fair trade to me. (Even if I don't like the orchestral version of "Conquistador" too much, it's still important to hear, especially since it was their second biggest hit.)
Post your comments / reviews for this album
Index | Main band/artist reviews page