Procol Harum - The Well's On Fire (2003)

Year: 4 March 2003 (CD 2003)
Label: Eagle Records (US), ER 20006-2
Style: Progressive Rock, Classic Rock
Country: Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England
Time: 59:08
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 399 Mb

The Well's On Fire is a very laid-back record. The band isn't obviously trying to break any new ground here, but the music is good, and gets better with each listen. At this point Procol Harum has long since established its own sound and style, and is definitely sticking to its guns. Gary Brooker sounds as good as ever. It's his voice that really makes this album shine, but that's the case with any Brooker/Procol release for this writer.
Besides Gary's pipes, Matthew Fisher's organ is another great feature. He definitely has a sound that is irreplaceable, and very original. Just try to imagine the basic sound of Whiter Shade Of Pale and you'll know what I mean. Fisher, however, plays very gently, and doesn't abuse his presence on the album. In other words, he appears where he's needed.
Procol Harum's music these days can be considered an adult contemporary, as it has a very peaceful flow. I tend to call it night music. You know, when the lights are dim, you're drinking wine, and listen to something gentle, yet very rhythm-oriented. That's where this album fits in. I wonder how this material will work live. It certainly has a potential to develop into interesting set. On the other hand, Procol Harum has so many great songs to choose from that it will be difficult to knock down the classics in favor of the new songs.
The question is, was this the album everyone was waiting for the last ten years? It's hard to answer that, and you can look at it from both angles. On the positive side, it is a very good music played by a band with definite feel, and great amount of professionalism. And on the negative angle, it doesn't really bring anything new to the band's already established norms. I prefer to stick with the first view, as I thoroughly enjoy this album.
(procolharum.com/phalbum12-vault-rev.htm)

01. An Old English Dream (04:41)
02. Shadow Boxed (03:34)
03. A Robe Of Silk (02:43)
04. The Blink Of An Eye (04:42)
05. The Vip Room (04:55)
06. The Question (05:01)
07. This World Is Rich (05:20)
08. Fellow Travellors (04:47)
09. Wall Street Blues (04:26)
10. The Emperor's New Clothes (04:17)
11. So Far Behind (03:51)
12. Every Dog Will Have His Day (05:20)
13. Weisselklenzenacht (05:24)

UploadyIo     DailyUploads     TurboBit

All my files:     UploadyIo     DailyUploads     KatFile

Procol Harum - Broken Barricades [MFSL-CD] (1971)

Year: April 1971 (CD 1987)
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (US, Japan, West Germany),  MFCD 846
Style: Progressive Rock, Classic Rock
Country: Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England
Time: 35:10
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 200 Mb

And so the evolution of Robin Trower's importance to Procol Harum reaches its peak (and, unfortunately, finale). Apparently the band came to the conclusion that Trower's guitar was indeed the saving grace of Home, so they took the next logical step and based this album almost completely around that particular strength. A good half of the album can easily fall into the hard-rock category, and the tracks that aren't (with one exception) still feature Trower prominently. I can see where, possibly, those who fell in love with the band with Shine on Brightly could be disappointed, as the album, while still more than a bit 'artsy,' gets away from the basic 'group sound' established on that album.
The album does have some tracks that don't quite cut the mustard for me, but not any more than on a typical Procol Harum album, so I'm not particularly bothered. Of these, the title track is a low point – it's uncharacteristically built around an unimpressive synth loop, with nothing great in the vocal melody or lyrics to redeem it (not to mention no guitar work), and at 3:11 it's easily a good minute-and-a-half overlong. I'm also not that fond of Luskus Delph – it wants so much to get by just on 'oh, isn't that pretty,' but aside from the OK vocal melody, there's simply too little substance (strings and all) to make it so. And again, what is it with this sudden need on Brooker's part to use a synth to try and create 'beauty' when he'd already shown his great skill at using 'traditional' keyboard instruments to do so perfectly well?
The other six tracks, however, are all aces – they won't fit one's traditional conception of PH, but they're great nonetheless. Simple Sister gets the album off to a terrific start, with a great guitar riff serving as the foundation while Brooker yells his head off (he isn't the most convincing rocker in the world, but he tries), and a great instrumental chunk in the middle based around a different bass/piano riff while Trower first builds the tension with his riffage and then does a bunch of totally effective and efficient solos, with strings and horns gradually popping up to remind that this is, in fact, still Procol Harum you're listening to. It's a weird combination of materials, definitely, but then I'm all for weirdness when it's a synonym for originality, and I'd definitely be more than a bit surprised if there were any other rock songs that quite resembled this little ditty.
Other high quality hard rock tunes on this album include Memorial Drive, a great riff-driven groove (with semi-bombastic lyrics that sound oddly out-of-place but don't hurt anything), Power Failure, with a neat rolling piano riff augmented by power chords (and some random 'live' cheering in the middle, for whatever reason), and the closing Trower-sung Poor Mohammed, which rocks so well that I find myself desperately wishing that the band could have included more tracks along these lines and made the album longer. The main riff is just killer, especially that little slide thing at the end of each iteration, and I haven't even mentioned the crunchy soloing at the end. Go Robin go!
(full version: procolharum.com/99/mcferrin_rev-brok-barr.htm)

01. Simple Sister (05:52)
02. Broken Barricades (03:14)
03. Memorial Drive (03:48)
04. Luskus Delph (03:48)
05. Power Failure (04:33)
06. Song For A Dreamer (05:41)
07. Playmate Of The Mouth (05:06)
08. Poor Mohammed (03:05)

UploadyIo     DailyUploads     TurboBit

All my files:     UploadyIo     DailyUploads     KatFile