Procol Harum Album: “30th Anniversary Antholog”

Procol's first four albums, some singles, B-sides, and outtakes, all of which have something to commend them. The sound is much better than previous releases of this material, and the material is often terrific.

At their core, Procol was really a British R&B outfit with an imaginative Hammond organist in Matthew Fisher, and one of the most distinctive guitarists around in Robin Trower (before he submerged his style into that of Jimi Hendrix). And Gary Brooker was always a terrific singer. The first record was mostly Ray Charles influenced, although the lyrics strove for mid-sixties Dylan. The second record is as psychedelic as they come, and the third (Salty Dog) was Beatlesque in its scope and variety. Procol fans shouldn't miss this collection.

Procol Harum practicallly invented "classical rock", and few groups have had the kind of musical alchemy that this band did: Matthew Fisher's classically-trained organ, Gary Brooker's bluesy vocals, Robin Trower's emerging guitar-god chops, and Keith Reid's intriguing lyrics. This set includes their first four album releases, representing perhaps their best work.

Their self-titled debut album established Procol Harum's baroque sound with classically-infused tunes such as "Conquistador" and "She Wandered Through the Garden Fence". It is interesting that the original UK release omitted their smash single, "A Whiter Shade of Pale", but that was standard practice in the UK recording industry in those days, to omit singles from the subsequent album release. (If memory serves me, the US release dropped the track "Good Captain Clack" in favor of "Whiter".) Also of note is the fact that the album is entirely in mono, a strange production decision considering it came out in the same era as stereophonic sprees such as "Sgt. Pepper" and "Pet Sounds". (There are stereo takes of some of the songs on the third disc.)

For my money, "Shine on Brightly" was their best album, and one of the 60's rock masterpieces. Trower really begins to emerge as a force here, as evidenced on tracks like "Rambling On" and the suite "In Held Twas In I". (According to the liner notes, the latter work was a big influence on the Who's "Tommy.") The album's theme of self-searching and discovery echoes the Moody Blues' "In Search of the Lost Chord", and production-wise, its ambition rivals "Sgt. Pepper".

"Home" is a bit more uneven than the previous two albums, and marked the departure of organist Fisher. But there are still highlights, including "About to Die", the mini-suite "Whaling Stories" (whose seagoing theme could easily have fit on "A Salty Dog"), and the amazing "Whisky Train", one of Trower's greatest moments and one of the best damn rock songs ever.

Disc 3 would be for completists only, if not for the inclusion of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and "A Salty Dog". Also, "Homburg", the followup single to "Whiter", is worthy of inclusion. I agree with another reviewer that it would have been nice to drop some of the "alternate takes" in favor of squeezing in their excellent fifth album, "Broken Barricades"; maybe licensing was an issue. But make no mistake: this is a fine three-disc compendium of Procol's early work, and an essential addition to the collection of any fan of the "progressive rock" era.

This is truely a great collection of die-hard Procol fans. What I want to know is what ever happened to all the cuts from the "Broken Barrickades" album, like "Simple Sister" and " Power Failure", etc. I can't find them anyplace. If anybody out there has any info, please e-mail me... signed True Procol Fan Vaugj@aol.com

The first 4 Procol Harum albums have been released in various CD formats now, most containing bonus tracks (different takes, outtakes). This collection brings you the first 4 albums on the first 2 CD's and the third CD is filled with tracks that didn't fit on the first 2 plus a stack of bonus tracks.

Sound quality is great and the bonus tracks are really interesting.

We want "Broken Barricades". We want "Broken Barricades"!