Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Track Listings
| 1. Shadow Boxed |
| 2. The Blink Of An Eye |
| 3. Old English Dream |
| 4. The Vip Room |
| 5. A Robe Of Silk |
| 6. Fellow Travellors |
| 7. The Question |
| 8. This World Is Rich (For Stephen Maboe) |
| 9. The Wall Street Blues |
| 10. The Emperors New Clothes |
| 11. The Signature |
| 12. Every Dog Must Have His Day |
| 13. So Far Behind |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
On The Well's on Fire, smoky-throated vocalist Gary Brooker and longstanding auxiliary lyricist Keith Reid suggest that the world has become a far greedier and more dangerously divisive place since the last Procol Harum studio album (1991's The Prodigal Stranger). Here are 13 new songs addressing such global woes as Third World debt, road congestion, September 11th ("The Blink of an Eye") and false political prophets. (The maudlin, piano-led "Emperor's New Clothes" isn't quite as incisive as Roy Harper's "The Monster" but the target is just as obvious.)
It's hard to shed a tear for Procol's fictional fool who puts all his eggs in the stock market basket--the title alone, "Wall Street Blues", tells you all you need to know about the oeuvre and the outcome. But the brooding, Peter Gabriel style "This World Is Rich"--inspired by an article in The Guardian about the poor from African slums marching peacefully on the world summit for sustainable development in Johannesburg--is enough to make well-heeled Western listeners squirm humbly in their luxuriously upholstered armchairs. Furthermore, graceful compositions like the ruminative, churchy "Fellow Travellers" and organist Matthew Fisher's exquisite instrumental finale "The Signature" (yes, it really does revisit the Bachian pastures of "A Whiter Shade of Pale") compensate for every foreseeable "dad-rock" jam doodle.
Although The Well's on Fire could hardly hope to measure up to A Salty Dog or Exotic Birds and Fruit, it's a quality comeback, a long overdue reward for Procol Harum fans who've patiently kept the faith. --Kevin Maidment
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
With "The Well's On Fire", Procol Harum - best known for the 1967 smash hit "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" - makes a surprising comeback with a basket of brand new songs written by Gary Brooker, fellow founding member Matthew Fisher and genious poet Kieth Reid. Written and performed with great respect, in the original Procol Harum spirit - added a twist of year 2003 - these tunes are not very easy digested; but put this album in your CD-tray, and I guarantee it will stay in there the next three months !!
Procol Harum, by some judged dead and gone, seems to ignore the fact, that many years may have passed since their initial succes - sounding only that more determined, fresh and original.
Newcomers be aware: If you decide to buy "The Well's On Fire", you have to buy at least eleven other Procol Harum albums ! The Brooker / Fisher / Reid universe is odd but addictive; Symphonic, touching, absurd, soul-rocking and heavy.
Procol Harum, by some judged dead and gone, seems to ignore the fact, that many years may have passed since their initial succes - sounding only that more determined, fresh and original.
Newcomers be aware: If you decide to buy "The Well's On Fire", you have to buy at least eleven other Procol Harum albums ! The Brooker / Fisher / Reid universe is odd but addictive; Symphonic, touching, absurd, soul-rocking and heavy.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album is a great return to form for an underrated and classic band. The songs sparkle with a fresh, live in the studio feel that would be the envy of any new bands debut, let alone one which started in 1967 with the eponymous "A Whiter Shade of Pale". It's all here, the classical references, doomy church organs, kick ass r'nb', scholarly thought provoking lyrics, and all with that smoky voice, which like fine wine just gets better and better with age. And "This World is Rich" should have even the most cynical in tears.
Buy this one, it's good.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Wow, and I was impressed with "Prodigal Stranger" a few years back! I'll admit , as I waited for my copy of this new disc I worried a little about how good it might be. But my thoughts were groundless. This is a wonderful album...for Procol fans and fans of GOOD music everywhere. Great tunes, great production and a stirring instrumental extravaganza for a finale. I know I am a little biased as I still count 'A Whiter Shade of Pale" as my all-time favorite song...but trust me: put this CD in your player,slip on the earphones,sit back and enjoy. I know the boys are currently on tour in the U.K. (go see 'em!) and I can only hope they will extend their U.S. tour so that I can enjoy them in concert again.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Could've been released in 1976
This is a surprisingly decent album considering the schlock that comprised PRODIGAL STRANGER, SOMETHING MAGIC and NO MORE FEAR OF FLYING (the only Brooker solo effort I'm familiar... Read more
Published 17 months ago by David Sleger
Poor by Procol standards
As a big fan of Procol for 40 years, I am devastated that I can't find one track I like on this album. Read more
Published on 14 May 2010 by D. Lee
IS IT REALLY FORTY YEARS SINCE................................
I heard a'A Whiter Shade of Pale' and rushed out to buy a chainstore kaftan? Well there's been a lot of water under the bridge since then and Procol have undergone many line-up... Read more
Published on 11 April 2007 by Mis R. L. Pearson
Sounds like the early Procol Harum
Whilst this is not a brilliant album, I still think that to be able to produce something this good 36 years after the release of their first, "Procol Harum" in 1967, is quite an... Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2006 by alextorres
Great return for a classic band
Procol Harum return with a great album after far to long an absence from the studio with an album stuffed with good songs; it's all here: the ballsy rockers, thoughtful ruminations... Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2003 by Organ Boy
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?
|
