Pandora's Box: THE UNISSUED 'PROCOL HARUM' STEREO VERSIONS PLUS!

One reason I bought this CD is because these phenomenal underpaid musicians deserve the royalties. I sure HOPE they got a decent deal from the record company! I wish artists' takehome pay from CD's were common knowledge in the music biz, because this should be a factor in fans' purchasing decisions. My other reason is that there's more of Robin Trower's excellent blues guitar in the fadeout to Wish Me Well than there was in the original. But -- other than that tune -- I like the originally-released versions MUCH better than these rejected outtakes, and I agree with most of what reviewer Kurt Harding has said. A couple of points of clarification: The alternate/rejected version of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" on this CD is actually a LATER recording than the hit single -- no matter what the liner notes say -- the Westside reissue liner notes are riddled with errors. Come to the ProcolHarum fan Site to find the correct information. The hit single was recorded before the band was fully formed, but the essentials were already in place for this immortal song, i.e. Gary Brooker's fantastic soulful vocals and Matthew Fisher's enchanting Hammond organ. The song also needed a tasteful and musical drummer, and they got one -- no, not B.J. Wilson who would add his phenomenal musicianship to the band a few months later when the first album was recorded, and definitely not Bobby Harrison, who was hired as a band member the day before the hit single was recorded, but left soon after, along with Ray Royer, who played thankfully barely audible guitar on the hit single. The drummer on the single was the wonderful jazz session man Bill Eyden. The version on this album is with Bobby Harrison and you can hear how his drumming (and Gary Brooker's too-loud piano in places) detracts from the mood of the piece. It was incredibly lucky for them that they got the Perfect Recording of this immortal song in a "first take," recorded Live in the studio with no overdubs or studio tinkering -- as all their music should have been recorded (with state of the art engineering) but sadly wasn't. A minor annoyance is that the cover on the CD depicts the aborted lineup with Royer and Harrison (they're pictured 2nd & 3rd from the left) although most of the songs on the CD feature the Procol of the first album, with Robin Trower and B.J. Wilson.

A three-star rating is pretty darn good for an album composed of unissued stereo mixes and alternate takes. After all the purpose of recording these is to develop a refined sound and the reason that these were unissued is that they are unrefined. I am not in the music business, but I can only surmise that the producer, the musicians and all concerned personnel get together, listen to these takes, then work out ways to make them better and smoother. This is raw sound. Actually, some of these are quite good with only a few kinks to be worked out. Trower's guitar on Something Following Me has less sting here than on the issued version while on Cerdes the opposite occurs. Repent Walpurgis is one song which underwent extensive refinements before it is issued on Procol Harum's eponymous debut album. You'll notice here that the bass is heavy in spots where it should be subdued and that there is much more fire in Trower's guitar. I like this version better than the second (long) version on this album which is much choppier and less mature musically. Whiter Shade of Pale is the most recognisable Procol Harum song, but Repent Walpurgis is the most intense, spiritual and sophisticated of all the many such Procol Harum songs so that it is important that it was recorded as near to perfect as it could be as it eventually was. The early version of Pandora's Box shows itself to be not yet fully developed musically. Its probably a good thing the band waited before putting it on vinyl even though it contains some oddly interesting organ riffs. I've always liked "In the Wee Small Hours of Sixpence", with its quintessentially "English" feel and the majesty of Matthew Fisher's Hammond organ. This take could have been the issued one, needing very little in the way of revision. Kaleidoscope, Wish Me Well, and Conquistador all similarly needed very little adjustment before being ready for vinyl. This compilation closes with an unrefined yet enjoyable version of A Whiter Shade of Pale, quite possibly the greatest and most sublime piece of music EVER to grace the pop charts.That was in a time when there was a tiny window of opportunity for the people to decide what we should listen to rather than the cabal of deal-makers and tin-eared executives who ultimately usurped that power. Pandora's Box is important to Procol Harum fans in that we can listen to greatness at its inception and see how much work it took to "get it right". Everything can't be 5-star. If you love Procol Harum as I do, then even this 3-star album deserves an honored place in your collection. The only swabby element of the album is the picture of the band on the frontpiece in those silly-looking outfits.

The key to this particular Procol release is in the stereo mixes of songs from the first album that we've only been able to hear in mono up until now. Granted, these are alternative takes and probably recorded early in the creative process. But listening to "Conquistador," "Something Following Me," "Cerdes (Outside the Gates Of)," "Kaleidoscope" and "Repent Walpurgis" in full-blown stereo for the first time is a revelation. It offers a tantalizing aural glimpse of what Procol's legendary (and horribly produced in mono only) first album could have sounded like in stereo.