Album Reviews

21st Century Procol Harum neglect is one of our time's most serious musical scandals if you axe me. That it took until now to get a high quality reissue of this most excellent album, while other less stellar records are one their 3rd or 4th reissue is a leading indicator of the neglect and lack of appreciation for this super group.

Everyone knows the tune "A Whiter Shade of Pale" but how many know this record and many more fine ones that followed? What a line up on this one! Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher, Robin Trower (!), drummer Barrie "B.J." Wilson, bassist David Knights and lyricist Keith Reid. Too much talent and differences of artistic opinion sunk the lineup, with Fisher walking out after supposedly being squelched by Brooker, despite having produced this spectacular record! Damn!

And let's not forget that Ken Scott (do I have to cite credits?) engineered on most tracks of the 1969 release with Henry Lewy (!) doing the honors on one and Ian Stuart (that Ian Stuart) recording the short but tasty blues number "Juicy John Pink" Brooker's vocals on this record to this day produce "the chills" on the stunning opener "A Salty Dog" (a new Brooker-led Procol Harum is currently touring Europe and Scandinavia this fall of 2017). Not going to do a song by song of such a familiar album, but let's just say this lineup, which was soon over, when the bass player, Trower and Matthew Fisher split shortly after the recording of this album, was sensational ( Trower tried to get Fisher back, he returned for part of the next album and then was permanently gone). The album hit Robert Christgau in the right place. He gave it a rare A+.

If the opener, with strings arranged by Brooker doesn't get you, the tender "Too Much Between Us" by Trower will and if that doesn't, maybe the heavy metal-isn "The Devil Came From Kansas" will, or maybe the caribbean tinged "Boredom" will sink your dinghy. The depth charge of a closer "Pilgrim's Progress" Yes, this is a eclectic mix of tunes, but more disciplined than Shine on Brightly the group's Regal Zonophone/A&M debut.

For those who loved this record in 1969 it surely stood the test of time. It still has the atmospheric goods and the ability to send your mind packing for 40 minutes or so, helped by really fine sonics (thanks Ken!). So how do these three versions compare? All are excellent though the new Mo-Fi reissue offers the greatest dynamics, the best bass extension and the most vivid harmonics—particularly on the strings, which admittedly are only on two tracks. You could argue that the originals have more "atmospherics" but I'd argue back that that was the product of distance and haze not on the tape.

The A&M (probably mastered by Bernie Grundman) and the Regal Zonophone have the advantage of being sourced from a fresh tape, which does produce a few attractive but hard to pin down qualities, especially in terms of transient precision, while the Mo-Fi's tape is almost fifty years old! It's held up well. Was this one a safety copy with the original having burned in the Universal fire? Is this the original from the EMI/UMe U.K. vaults? Mo-Fi doesn't say, but lets the record do the talking. And you can be sure the vinyl pressed at RTI is the quietest of all.

If you love this record I think you will be very happy you bought Mobile Fidelity's reissue. Your happiness will begin on the opening track when Brooker begins singing and the strings enter. You've never heard Brooker sound so tonally "Brookerish", nor have the string harmonies ever sounded so lush and "right".

A great job by the Mobile Fidelity team!