New 4-cd/dvd compendium, and further Procol Harum reissues from Salvo
Salvo’s reissue of vintage Procol Harum material continues with a beautifully packaged box-set comprising of three cd’s, a dvd and a 71-page booklet. Two of the cd’s represent the hits and key album tracks. A further cd consists of live material from 1970-2007, and there is an additional dvd of concert footage. As a career-retrospective of the band, this serves admirably, but quite what audience this set will appeal to is another matter. Salvo’s own 2-cd Procol “best of” – Secrets Of The Hive – will be more than sufficient for the casual listener, whereas more ardent admirers of the band will already have most of the material from the first two cd’s from this set.
However, if you want to check out the back catalogue of this classic band in some detail, this is the place to start.
Exotic Birds And Fruit was largely overlooked at the time of release (1974), despite being one of Procol’s better albums, and tracks here such as Nothing But The Truth and Strong As Samson were staple items from the band’s latter-day live performances. A consistently good album for a band seven years into their existence. As with the other Salvo Procol Harum reissues, this cd comes with bonus tracks, booklet and digipak sleeve.
Procol’s Ninth experimented with rock and roll-era legends Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller as producers. Maybe the original idea was a Beatles Get Back return-to-basics approach, but the result was an average album, by Procol standards. It did provide the band with a somewhat surprising hit with Pandora’s Box, but unremarkable cover versions of I Keep Forgetting and Eight Days A Week showed a band increasingly short of strong original material.
Something Magic was anything but magic. Releasing an album, half of which consisted of one turgid track - The Worm And The Tree - at the height of the punk-era, showed a band swimming against the tide. The title track could have graced any of their better albums, but there is little else here, even for committed fans.
As a comprehensive insight into Procol Harum, All This And More is unreservedly recommended. If you prefer to dip into one of the original albums here, go for Exotic Birds and Fruit. Neither will disappoint. For further information - http://www.salvo-music.co.uk
Reviewed by Reviewed by PHIL RAE |
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