Procol Harum Album: “Procol Harum [Procol Harum...Plus]”

One way to measure the quality of an album is it's singability. By no means am I a singer, but when I'm alone in the car with this album playing, I can't help but singalong with Gary Brooker at the top of my lungs on every track. (Those high notes during the chorus of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" are a definite challenge, however!)

The instrumental "Repent Walpurgis" even has me singing the notes.

For Procoholics everywhere, the bonus tracks are an interesting sidelight. For everyone else, this is the perfect introduction to a band I'm glad to say is my very favorite. (I'm 46, by the way, and have listened to a lot of music.)

I'd recommend the new listener buy the group's albums in chronological order and experience a marvelous musical and lyrical evolution...not to mention a real treat. The lyrics are like any good poetry, not necessarily representative of anything but magically evocative. The music will stay with you forever.

This is the 1967 self-titled debut for Procol Harum (also released as "A Whiter Shade Of Pale"), and it's one of their all-time greatest works. Along with The Moody Blues' "Nights In White Satin," Procol Harum helped introduce classical rock to the world with their smash hit, "A Whiter Shade Of Pale." Their hybrid of organ/piano rock mixed with touches of classical elements, along with the commanding voice of singer/pianist Gary Brooker, is a winning combination that still sets this marvelous band apart from all the rest. Their 1967 debut is a brilliant album, featuring not only the all-time classic "Whiter Shade..." but also other marvelous songs like "Conquistador" (later a hit in a live version), "She Wandered Through The Garden Fence," the outrageous fun of "Mabel," the rocking "Cerdes (Outside The Gates Of)", "A Christmas Camel," "Kaleidoscope," and organist Matthew Fisher's signature instrumental, "Repent Walpurgis." All of the band members are outstanding musicians, not only Brooker & Fisher but also guitarist Robin Trower, drummer B.J. Wilson and bassist David Knights, while Keith Reid's lyrics are true poetry. Still going strong 36 years later, Procol Harum are a rock institution, and still one of the world's finest bands. They couldn't have had a better album to launch into the musical world with: "Procol Harum" is a definite rock classic.

Buy it you won't regret it. The music sounds great. What a CD

What the Rolling Stones and Traffic did for "black" music, Procol Harum did for classical European music. They represent the best of early progressive rock, and "Procol Harum" is a strong debut. "Whiter Shade of Pale" and "Homburg" are classics, but a number of the album tracks are just as good. One of my favorite aspects of the band is the combination of piano and organ - check out "Christmas Camel" and you'll see what I mean.

Although largely known as proto-proggers due to the initial singles, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and "Homburg," Procol Harum were actually art rockers of the highest order. This debut record found the band exploring a number of styles, from the quasi-psychedelia of "She Wandered Through the Garden Fence" and "Kaleidascope" to the British music-hall of "Mabel" and the aforementioned proto-prog of "Repent Walpurgis."

Gary Brooker possessed one of rock's greatest voices and was also one mighty fine pianist, while Matthew Fisher, along with Keith Emerson who was in The Nice at the time, set the standard for all future prog keyboardists with his excellent, classically-influenced Hammond lines. Robin Trower ably followed along with his bandmates' style-hopping, while remaining a bluesman at heart.

The band's ace in the hole was lyricist Keith Reid, whose literate and uniformly excellent lyrics put this band head and shoulders above the other bands of the era, who tended toward hippy-dippy love and sunshine lyrics that were dated the minute they hit the shelf. Reid's lyrics stand the test of time, as evidenced by the outstanding "A Christmas Camel."

The 4-star rating is only in comparison to this band's other fine work. If it was by anybody else I would give it 5 stars, but Procol Harum was about to begin a sequence of themed albums that focused their talents and found even greater rewards.