Disco de Procol Harum: “Broken Barricades [German Bonus Tracks]”

It is hard to say that one Procol Harum album is a higher grade of "5 stars" than another, because most of their albums attain that lofty status. To me, there are five distinct periods in the evolution of the band. Broken Barricades marks the end of their second period and also the end of an era with the subsequent departure of guitarist Robin Trower who was instrumental in giving the second period its harder sound.

On Broken Barricades, the usual songwriting team of Gary Brooker and Keith Reid continues at center stage, but with diminished presence. My favorites from that team include the brutal Simple Sister on which Trower plays full throttle, the inscrutable title cut, the suggestive Luskus Delph, and the opaque classic Playmate of the Mouth. Fans of drummer BJ Wilson will thrill to Power Failure. And Trower teams up with Reid to put his stamp on three cuts, the best by far of which is the soaring Song For A Dreamer.

Trower has often been accused of aping Jimi Hendrix, but Trower's style was in formation before Hendrix was well known, so I for one do not agree with that charge. It is true that Trower admired Hendrix, and Song For A Dreamer is Trower's tribute to him.

If you are a fan of Procol Harum on any level, this well-done remaster of a classic album deserves a place in your CD rotation. If this is your first taste of the band, I say buy this while it is still available and check out the band's other great albums.

In My book, this is one of this band's best albums. As another reviewer points out, this is where Trower really perfected his style before embarking on a highly successful solo career. His solo work in my opinion was nowhere near as interesting as the what he did with Procol Harum. After "Bridge Of Sighs", it all sounded like a tired Hendrix rehash. Trower was heavully influenced by Hendrix early on, but had his own uniqueness that added much to the overall sound of Procol Harum. I would much rather hear Hendrix himself, than Trower playing exactly like him. With that criticism out of the way, Trower is simply brilliant here. "Broken Barricades" was a vast improvement over the somewhat underproduced "Home". There are a couple of orchestrated tracks as well as some hard rock numbers. "Simple Sister" is a flat out masterpiece and showcases lyricist Keith Reid's maniacal lyrics set against Trower's guitar, Gary Brooker's firery vocals, orchestrations and BJ Wilson's explosive drumming.

Also of note is how much bassisr/Keyboardist Chris Copping's playing had improved here. There's just a touch of synthesizer in the mix. The band had avoided them up to this point.

Procol Harum remains one of the most inluential bands to emerge from the late 60's. Even The Beatles cited them. Just listen to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", but don't take my word for it. Just ask Brian May. He's pointed out that "Whaling Stories" from "Home" was his inspiration. Pete Townsend will tell you that "In Held Twas In I" from "Shine On Brightly" gave him the courage to write a nice little concept known as "Tommy". You can also hear the influnence of Procol Harum in The Strawbs as well as early Genesis.

For years, Broken Barricades was one of Procol Harum's albums that was completely out of print and if you could find it on CD, it was expensive and the sound quality questionable. Then along came Gary Brooker who re-released it himself on his own label followed shortly thereafter by what appeared to be the definitive reissue on Germany's Repertoire label. That was so well done its hard to imagine how it could be improved upon. Well, in some ways (except in package design) that's now been done as part of Salvo Records' ambitious project to remaster and reissue all official Procol Harum albums.

Not to knock the Repertoire reissue, but man does this sound good. All of my favorites come alive in a way I couldn't before imagine. Simple Sister, Song For A Dreamer, and Playmate of the Mouth sound especially delightful. The bonus tracks, particularly the raw track for Simple Sister and the backing track for Song For A Dreamer, sound great as well. I am glad that Salvo found some extras to put on this edition that would not merely ape those supplied on its predecessor.

If you are a Procol Harum fanatic like I am, you should own this edition even if you already own the more than adequate Repertoire reissue. As with the other CDs in this series, Broken Barricades comes with a meaty and informative booklet that contains pictures, commentary, and pertinent album info. Get it while its cheap, you won't be disappointed.

Broken Barricades was released in 1971 as the second and final album of Procol Harum's second incarnation following organist Matthew Fisher's departure--that of a rocking foursome with a waning reliance on dualing keyboards and featuring more of Robin Trower's distinctive gutteral guitar and B.J. Wilson's unique signature drumming in the forefront. Though certainly not a full-tilt rocker, the album did manage to display a plethora of musical stylings to which fans were not necessarily accustomed, hence it's a "must listen" for those who are just now exploring the group's marvelous oeuvre.

As usual, Gary Brooker is the driving force with arrangements and vocals that leap, soar, soothe, and assuage. From the building orchestral swells of the opening number "Simple Sister" to the quiet paean to the female form titled "Luskus Delph", Brooker musically explores realms not normally heard in the rock idiom. Chris Copping supplies some great bass lines and lyricist Keith Reid is as evocative and suggestive as ever!

My personal favorite is the title track with its coda of a bright repeating synthesizer statement combined with the most delightful of Wilson drum signatures. Another favorite is the bluesy ragtime "Playmate of the Mouth"---love those 'bones! The entire band are having great fun on this track. For those who savor drum soloing, Wilson delivers on the driving "Power Failure", an otherwise non-descript tune.

Trower checks in with a phantasmagoric guitar melange titled "Song for a Dreamer" as well as an album-closing guitar workout called "Poor Mohammed". He provides lead vocals for both, something heard just once previously on the album A Salty Dog. Both tunes, however, are perhaps the most atypical of the group heard here. Trower would soon depart to pursue his very successful solo career.

So as not to give the impression that this sounds like a 21st Century production, I'll just say the remastered sound is very serviceable. The instrumental and vocal balances are fabulous...turn up the volume!

Although their LP sales never showed it, Procol Harum had already toured the states 11 times by the time this Lp was complete, packing houses and mystifying audiences from coast to coast. Though it only hit as high as #32 on the Billboard Album charts, New York`s Village Voice hailed it Album Of The Year. Yielding classics such as 'Simple Sister' (check out the wicked,barbed lyrics), and the barn-burning, storm-bringing 'Power Failure', not to mention that both Trower and drummer B.J. Wilson (RIP) consistently shine on this LP like no other, this is the first time a bass player was used, and there`s an absence of the hallmark organ that gave the band its original earmark (hence the need for a bass player). This Salvo remastered reissue is a joy to listen to, the booklet is great to read and look at the rare pics and promo items and ads, `love the tri-fold covers that they package these Lp`s in, and there are some good bonus raw backing tracks to 4 of the tunes as well. This was Trower`s swan song w/ Harum, and his Hendrix tribute, 'Song For A Dreamer', clearly indicated where he was heading on his solo career, with spacey, dreamy, wide-open-spaces for his signature licks to flow and ebb. A great listen then, a great listen now...