- Audio CD (11 Jun 1999)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Extra tracks
- Label: Westside
- ASIN: B00000FDEN
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Audio Cassette | Vinyl
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 298,397 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Quite Rightly So |
| 2. Shine On Brightly |
| 3. Skip Softly (My Moonbeams) |
| 4. Wish Me Well |
| 5. Rambling On |
| 6. Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone) |
| 7. In Held 'Twas In I |
| 8. Seem To Have The Blues (Mostly All The Time) |
| 9. Monsieur Armand |
| 10. Alpha |
| 11. In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence (B-side) |
| 12. In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence (Alternate version) |
| 13. Quite Rightly So (Take 4 breakdown) |
| 14. Quite Rightly So (Take 6) |
| 15. Il Tuo Diamante (Shine On Brightly-Italian version) |
Product Description
Review
For a group that lived their life in the shadow of their debut single, Procol Harum released some music of remarkable quality. Originally released in November 1968, Shine On Brightly is regarded by many as the group's best album. It is certainly their most influential.
Although produced by Denny Cordell, it is clear that the young assistant producer, Tony Visconti and engineer Glyn Johns have their fingerprints all over it. Quite Rightly So and the title track (''And even my befuddled brain is shining brightly quite insane'') are masterpieces of organ-driven, symphonic rock.
Skip Softly (My Moonbeams) is very much a product of its era, but much better is Wish Me Well, one of the group's most explicit nods to their R & B roots. Rambling On sounds like a virtual blueprint for David Bowie's Hunky Dory.
The album is dominated by the side-long In Held Twas I. It encapsulates the period's hope and opulence. With Keith Reid's frequently impenetrable but deeply poetic words, it is something grand sounding even grander. Parts of it is extremely listenable (In The Autumn Of My Madness), some of it exceptionally dated (Twas Teatime At The Circus, anybody?). It is impossible, however, to deny its influence on the Who's Tommy and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.
Gary Brooker's vocals are tremendous throughout, again making a case for him being one of the most underrated vocalists in the UK pop history. With Robin Trower's unobtrusive guitar and Matthew Fisher's organ, the Procol Harum sound is one of the most definable of the late 60s.
Given its largesse, it was a surprise that Shine On Brightly failed to make the UK charts. However, it reached the US Top 30 and cemented their popularity in the states. Now, it is part of their meticulously researched 40th Anniversary series and comes complete with 12 bonus tracks.
If you are unfamiliar with their oeuvre and had enough of A Whiter Shade Of Pale, listen to this and understand why Procol Harum was so feted. --Daryl Easlea
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnum Harum,
By
This review is from: Shine on brightly (40th Anniversary Series) (Audio CD)
In the US, this LP was originally released on Herb Alpert's A&M label, shortly after their second single, Homburg. The gatefold sleeve featured two bizarrely composed desert scenes featuring a mannikin and an old upright piano, all in a ghastly green tint (the cover is reproduced in the booklet included with this disc). All of this added to the mystique in the States surrounding the band, which most of us had never even seen a photo of. Speaking of which, there was a very odd B&W photo on the inside showing the band in shadow with no identifying caption. This, and the lyrics to just two songs--Shine On, Brightly and Magdalene, I think--and of course, we had no idea what "my Regal Zonophone" referred to!
But no matter: the album was in glorious stereo, not the awful "rechannelled" nonsense that Deram/Decca subjected the first LP to. And I Held Twas In I captivated, with its spoken segments (I always thought it was Matthew Fisher who spoke the line beginning "Held close by that...", until I heard Keith Reid in an interview many years later); the song-cycle format was--then--pretty progressive stuff. It was also the first real Procol album, in the sense that Robin Trower and Matthew were much more fully engaged than mere sidemen. I know that there is bad feeling surrounding the AWSOP lawsuit, which is understandable, but it would truly be a shame if Matthew's very real contributions to this and the subsequent A Salty Dog were sullied by his later behavior. It was clear with this LP that Procol were more than a one-hit band, and had no need to rely on a hook like the sound of the organ on AWSOP. Robin began to show his strength as a guitarist in his own right, and we could now clearly hear Gary Brooker's outstanding piano, no longer buried in the mono mix. Perhaps most often cruelly under-appreciated is the outstanding bass playing of David Knights, which benefits the most from the improved sonics. Procol never sounded stronger. I was able to hear the band at the Fillmore East a couple of months before the release of this disc, and clearly remember how strong the band were, easily outclassing Fleetwood Mac (or Ten Years After--I forget which), who were second on the bill, and challenging headliners Country Joe and the Fish in showmanship and musicality. I shouldn't have to extol the virtues of the songs on this LP at this late date, so I'll concentrate on the sound, which is really the only reason to consider up-grading to this new version. When compared to earlier releases on Repertoire and Westside, not to mention much earlier short-lived issues on A&M, there is an immediately noticeable gain in clarity and, especially, bass response. Whatever limitations are present were presumably there on the original LP. The somewhat gimmicky panning from channel to channel featured on several songs is all part of the fun, the experimentation of the times. The chorus at the end of In Held now truly sounds celebratory. If you know Procol, this is the version of this album to own--even if, like me, you've bought all of the others. If you don't know Procol, this is the CD to start with.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Procol Pinky and Perky,
By
This review is from: Shine on brightly (40th Anniversary Series) (Audio CD)
I love this lp, its a psych classic and particularly enjoy the dual keyboard textures of Brookers piano and Fishers hammond along with some great vocal and way the music is so layered. I played it to death in the past and have an original Mono vinyl lp. I lost my cd version from 10 years back so thought I would buy this remastered version and it was only 3.99 at the time. Anyway something has happened to the speed of the music,it seems like they have increased the pitch of the music and it sounds slightly faster. I compared the vinyl to the cd and this is defintely the case. Where before it had a nice pace giving the vocals and everything some space and added to the melachony of some of the slower pieces, now it feels slightly rushed. Also some of the organ feels a bit buried. The previous cd mix had a very similar pace and sound to the vinyl but something has gone wrong here. I can understand how the mix will be different and the bass always seems to be more prominent on remastered versions but to speed the pitch just slightly has ruined it for me. As someone who has played this to death and being a musician also I can defintely tell the difference.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Procol Harum revisited !,
By Sport and Art Afficionado (Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Shine on brightly (40th Anniversary Series) (Audio CD)
I used to have this album on vinyl many years ago and probably wore it out over time and lost it along the way somewhere. So I was delighted to find it re-issued and re-mastered on CD. I was slightly apprehensive playing it for the first time in case it didn't sound as good as I remembered it from 40 years ago, but I wasn't disappointed. It is even better than I remember - a classic re-issue and recommended for all PH fans and those who want to know what they were all about.
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