- Audio CD (13 July 2001)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Extra tracks
- Label: Westside
- ASIN: B000009B6E
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 119,950 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Conquistador |
| 2. She Wandered Through The Garden Fence |
| 3. Something Following Me |
| 4. Mabel |
| 5. Cerdes (Outside The Gates Of) |
| 6. A Christmas Camel |
| 7. Kaleidoscope |
| 8. Salad Days (Are Here Again) |
| 9. Good Captain Clack |
| 10. Repent Walpurgis |
| 11. A Whiter Shade Of Pale (Original Single Version) |
| 12. Lime Street Blues |
| 13. Homburg (Original Single Version) |
| 14. Salad Days (Are Here Again) (Earlier Alternate Version) |
| 15. Mabel (Earlier Undubbed Version) |
| 16. Cerdes (Outside The Gates Of) (Earlier Alternate Version) |
| 17. Something Following Me (Earlier Alternate Version) |
| 18. Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone) (Original Version) |
| 19. Quite Rightly So (Earlier Undubbed Version) |
| 20. Shine On Brightly (Earlier Alternate Version) |
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
beginning the journey,
This review is from: Procol Harum...Plus: Remastered (Audio CD)
this was procol harum's first album but if you compare it to other bands of the time there was nothing amateur about it. this is a polished band playing at their best.repent walpurgis, an instrumental track remains one of the best attempts at combining classical . blues and rock . the organ playing alone establishes matthew fisher as one of the world's best. conquistador , on this album is a stripped down version of the song that went on to sell a million copies four years later. cerdes is a unique blues song with a ponderous base line and magical lyrics. this gives a taste of a band that played all kinds of music with equal facility. so much so that they could not be labelled. there are echoes of bob dylan and the band but in the end this is the first album of a unique and individual band.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
MAGNIFICENT,
This review is from: Procol Harum...Plus: Remastered (Audio CD)
One of those albums that you could go back to again and again ,i purchased it on cd in 1991 and its an album thats lost nothing of its original charm to my ears.I guess the album has ,to me,a double thread of intrest running right the way through it ,from the opening " whiter shade of pale" to the closing "repent walpurgis" the music itself is gorgeous and rich with that beautiful "church like" organ and secondly the marvellous lyrics of keith reid ,which are witty and at times stop you in your tracks,even if you dont always know what hes talking about ,the words are very descriptive and very beautiful,theres no weak tracks but "a christmas carol" and "salad days(are here again)" are the stand outs to me in an album thats a treasure chest of late sixties delights.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews) 20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The first album and one of the finest,
By "cerdes" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Procol Harum...Plus: Remastered (Audio CD)
Recording a full album after the wonderously intoxicating hit, "A Whiter Shade of Pale," must have seemed an extremely difficult task, but it is one that Procol Harum pull off with an enormous amount of musical and lyrical success. Songs such as "Cerdes (Outside the Gates Of)", with its guitar drenched British R&B sound and mythologically inspired lyrics, as well as the jangly "She Wandered Through the Garden Fence" are obvious Procol masterpieces. The album's instrumental closer, "Repent Walpurgis," is one of the most powerful passages in rock history. The only song that really misses on the album is the slightly humorous "Mabel," but the song clocks in at under two minutes and does little to ruin the beauty of the remaining tracks. Westside's reissue includes "A Whiter Shade of Pale" as well as the bluesy and appropriately titled "Lime Street Blues" and the majestic and mournful "Homburg." The remaining tracks are all alternate versions of Procol classics and are probably only of interest to the die-hard fans such as myself. Overall, this album is an essential part of the Procol Harum canon, and is a nice starting point for those new to the band's unique style and sound.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How does one measure the quality of an album?,
By Moldyoldie - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Procol Harum...Plus: Remastered (Audio CD)
One way to measure the quality of an album is it's singability. By no means am I a singer, but when I'm alone in the car with this album playing, I can't help but singalong with Gary Brooker at the top of my lungs on every track. (Those high notes during the chorus of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" are a definite challenge, however!)The instrumental "Repent Walpurgis" even has me singing the notes. For Procoholics everywhere, the bonus tracks are an interesting sidelight. For everyone else, this is the perfect introduction to a band I'm glad to say is my very favorite. (I'm 46, by the way, and have listened to a lot of music.) I'd recommend the new listener buy the group's albums in chronological order and experience a marvelous musical and lyrical evolution...not to mention a real treat. The lyrics are like any good poetry, not necessarily representative of anything but magically evocative. The music will stay with you forever. 12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nearly flawless debut,
By WTDK "If at first the idea is not absurd, the... - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Procol Harum...Plus: Remastered (Audio CD)
The Doors, Hmmmm? Well, Procol Harum really doesn't have anything in common with The Doors except the prominence of Matthew Fisher's organ. Lyrically and musically The Doors veered from bluesy to pretentious claptrap. I always felt The Doors were over rated but on to the album.
Procol Harum (the name is an alliteration of a latin term)appeared out of nowhere in 1967 with A Whiter Shade of Pale. The original UK album didn't have the hit single on it (it was added for the US and other countries). Lyrically obtuse at times but musically adept, Procol Harum offered a rarity in music--a wedding of R&B grit to post-psychedlic/classically inspired music. Singer Gary Brooker (he became the singer by default--the original lead singer quit) has a delivery that recalls the best R&B singers from the 60's. I hear traces of Ray Charles and Percy Sledge in his delivery. Although Keith Reid's lyrics can occasionally be a bit obtuse, most of his words lack the pretense of many other lyricists of the time. Brooker's delivery of Reid's lyrics are heartfelt even if it's not clear what he's singing about. Matthew Fisher's organ was a prominent feature on the three albums (he was gone by album four entitled Home). The melody for the hit single Pale (included here as a bonus track and on the terrific recent reissue from BGO Records)borrows the melody and chords from a piece by Bach and manages to spin it into rock gold. Robin Trower appears on a number of tracks but since Procol Harum wasn't really a band until after the single and his guitar isn't quite as omnipresent as on later releases. Aside from Fisher, the most striking instrument (despite being buried in the mono mix) is Bill Eyden's drumming. His fluid, precise jazzy style was clearly an influence on Bill Brufford and other progressive rock drummers. Just about every song on Procol Harum is a gem. Sadly there isn't a true stereo mix of this fine album so much of the detail is lost in the mono mix (there is a 1997 remix of Pale on Classic Tracks and Rarities that sounds beautiful). The mono sound is very good considering the age of the tapes. The bonus tracks are nice but many are not essential (the best of them are on the Classic Tracks and Rarities CD issued in 2002). BGO's release of this album is a twofer with both the debut and weaker second album included (along with singles and b-sides). I'd recommend picking that up only because it's a better deal price wise. |
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
