Disco de Procol Harum: “The Chrysalis Years 1973-1977”

For the fans that want the songs titles; Grand Hotel, Pandora's Box, Fresh Fruit, Bringing Home the Bacon, Something Majic, Fool's Gold, Nothing But The Truth, Toujours L'Amour, As Strong As Samson, T.V. Caesar, Wizard Man, The Unquiet Zone, A Souvenir Of London, and The Idol. This is a great CD. The sound is first rate. My only gripe is the next to nothing insert which list the songs and which LPs they were from. Clearly not on a par with their earlier work but still fascinating.

There is something very special about Procol Harum's songs.I can't quite point my finger on it,though I absolutely love the sound of their hammond organ,which is heard in pretty well all of their songs.This is definetly one of my favourite CDs that I play most often.It's a pity that their only two US singles are A Whiter Shade Of Pale and the live version of Conquistador.Many of the songs on this album are even better.Procol Harum is a very unique band.

Procol Harum was one of the leading `second British invasion' bands such as Traffic, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Yes. Unlike the first three of these six, and like the latter three, Procol Harum fused Rock idioms with symphonic accompanyments. There very first hit single, `A Whiter Shade of Pale' is based on the melody from a Johan Sebastian Bach work and strong orchestral sounds are heard on their second major single, `Conquistador'.

One of the hallmarks of this second wave can be identified by the change in subject in the great `first wave' bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Who. These bands move from `Please Please Me', `Satisfaction', and `My Generation' to `Eleanor Rigby', `Sympathy for the Devil', and `Armenia, City by the Sea' (and other mythical stories) such as `Tommy'. That is, the established bands changed the landscape and the new bands moved in when the emphasis is on protest, counterculture, myth, and legend, not to mention a little consciousness expanding here and there.

Between 1967 and 1971, Procol Harum released four really great albums. These were `A Whiter Shade of Pale', `Shine on Brightly', `A Salty Dog', and `Home'. I can still remember the rush I got when I put the `Salty Dog' LP on for the first time and heard the haunting opening bars signifying a lonely foghorn in the night. Through this period, Procol Harum was on A & M records, which has put out 25th anniversary CDs for various artists, including one for Procol Harum covering largely the hits on these four albums, although some of the versions are not the original album versions but live versions with symphonic accompanyment.

For those of you who may not know Procol Harum that well, it's leaders were vocalist and keyboard man, Gary Brooker, who did very well in comparison with such leading Rock vocalists such as Joe Cocker, Steve Winwood, and Roger Daltry. Lead guitar was Robin Trower, who may not have been in the same league as Eric Clapton, but he could go toe to toe with Jimmy Paige and Jeff Beck. One of the most unusual aspects of Procol Harum's compositions was that they were done by a non-performing member of the band, Keith Reid, who is credited, with Brooker, as the composer of most of Procol Harum's best numbers.

I generally dislike `best of' albums, but in the world where I already have all the important albums on vinyl, a CD of the twelve (12) best Procol Harum numbers is a real bargain.

In contrast, there is another CD entitled `The Chrysalis Years 1973-1977'. This is also a `best of' collection, unfortunately, there is practically nothing of value from which to cull a `best of' collection of numbers. I am totally unfamiliar with these fourteen (14) numbers, and not one of them sets my nerves atingling as the work from their first four years.

I strongly recommend the first album and do not recommend the second.

Indispensible, a must have, but the individual albums are always better!

Could you please give us the song titles?