Review: Procol Harum 'Shine On Brightly' http://www.electricroulette.com/2009/04/review-procol-harum-shine-on-brightly.html
by Mof Gimmers 04/17/2009 Procol Harum? Those guys that did that "skipped the light fandangledo" or whatever? Yeah man. They did that one. One hit wonders. Probably a bit lame otherwise, right? Well, even the biggest '60s nut may never have delved further than 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' and maybe dug the 'Shine On Brightly' 45 as featured on a load of decent (and probably not-so decent) comps. But what about their LPs? You dug the 'Shine On Brightly' long player? It's something of a classic and no doubt overlooked by a fair few thanks to them having a massive hit prior... man... if you're spending cash on LPs, you want something that contains no hits... makes you cooler don't it? Does it f.... So anyway, I got 'Shine On Brightly' in the inbox and straight off the bat, it's an impressive package. Loadsa cool pics of posters for gonkoid festivals and US gigs at the Fillmore and the Grand Ballroom. There's a fat-ass booklet fulla essays, single covers and shit from the studio. It's an audiophiles wet-dream. You can almost smell the vinyl. If you've got in on vinyl, that's a bit redundant obviously. Like any reissue, the packaging is a nice aside from the grooves. And mercifully, the grooves on this LP are Grade A. 'Shine On Brightly' is a super tripped-out journey into phased out musings, backed by drugged drums and fuzz guitar cuttin' through a variety of killer keys. It's heavy on the keys. Piano, Hammond, Mellotron all feature strongly... 'specially on ace opener, 'Quite Rightly So', which sees Gary Brooker in fine voice. It's when you listen to Procol Harum in their pomp that you realise that Brooker was one of the greatest voices ever to come outta British music. Serious. There's something in his voice that has been put under a spell... there's magic in those pines of his. S'funny. The languid funk, spiked with acid, is something that people associate with other bands of the '60s, but Procol Harum were one of the best on the block. Maybe the stupid amount of court cases and stuff have detracted from the memory, with each new reissue possibly looked at like yet another thing to help out a hard-up band, broke from court costs. Thankfully though, this one is well worth buying and it doesn't matter what it's paying for. If you sit and get lost in the brilliantly overblown 'Rambling On', or the wonderfully ridiculous second half suite of the LP, 'In Held Twas In I', split over five parts, you'll be thrilling at the decade that let the musicians loose in the studios like madmen taking over the nuthouse. This release captures a band in the thick of a generation of musicians who were complete at ease with mixin' up the experimental with the unashamed pop. Often in the same song. Back then, it was encouraged to explore your head... the kit... the new toys... the possibility of what song-writing was... and 'Shine On Brightly' is a fine example of that. With the added bonus of a shedload of extra tracks, like the ace fuzz monster of 'Monsieur Armand' and the popsike of 'McGreggor', this is something that should find a home in your racks and shelves. This is a strange, wonderful LP... stick out an arm and climb aboard. . --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sixties-L" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sixties-l?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
