Another favorite from the later years....

Great to see some appreciation shown for the Procolers. There really was so much good stuff after 'Whiter Shade of Pale', which 99% of listeners have never heard.

Broken Barricades really stands up well over time. 'Simple Sister' and the title track are timeless, but who can resist the slithery, underhanded gems such as 'Luskus Delph' and 'Playmate of the Mouth'. If you love the title track, by all means try to find Procol Harum Live at the Hollywood Bowl. It's from their orchestral period, but the arrangement and chorus really add extra dimensions.

Everyone knows their orchestral period 71/72 from the Edmonton album. Grand Hotel, the studio followup, explored the rather formal orchestral settings, but for me the best stuff on there was still rock and roll ('Bringing Home the Bacon'). Ah, tender juicy steaks.

Exotic Birds and Fruit is a really steady (and overlooked) prog rock gem. They had ditched the orchestra and gone back to some really bracing, creative rock. Guitarist Mick Grabham really shone on brightly here. Check out 'The Idol'.

Just purchased a remastered version of Live in Concert with the Edmonton Orchestra to replace my old CD. Brilliant album and one of my favorite live releases. Sounds great too, even though Trower had left the group.

Intruder wrote: Salty Dog is an absolute classic - their peak, IMO.  Their sound changed completely with Home and Barricades - almost like a different band.  The guitar becomes the focus and that organ fades away.....I love Trower but Fishers organ and vocals are integral to that classic Procols sound.  Home was good, Barricades less so, Hotel brought back the grandeur but not the wit, and Exotic is a bit of a drag.  Each of them is essential if you dig the band, but these days just Salty Dog, the Edmonton album and Home (and my BBC and NYC 1970 bootlegs) get much play.

ASD is a classic, IF the title track was on the original album.

I'm more of a fan of their first two (s/t and SoB) than the next three (ASD, Home and BB), which had some real strong stuff, but also some real WTF tracks. From those three, I tend to think Home is the stronger one, but also the more depressing, and BB the weaker one.

They never made the perfect album(IMHO):

WTF tracks fro ASD (how is this a concept album, anyway):

• A3 Too Much Between Us 3:43
• A4 The Devil Came From Kansas 4:36
• A5 Boredom 4:34
• B1 Juicy John Pink 2:07

Weaker tracks from BB:

• A2 Broken Barricades 3:10
• A3 Memorial Drive 3:43
• A4 Luskus Delph 3:47
• B1 Power Failure 4:30

Basically, I'm a fan of the MkI line-up (or the Trower years), and I love the symphonic would-be recap of those early days. For some reasons, I simply never could get into the post-Trower albums (except for the Edmonton thing), but the very under-rated drummer BJ Wilson remained excellent thoughout

I only have the first album, which I think it's good, though "Conquistador" was kind of a disappointment after hearing that live version they did.

One of my favorite bands since I was a little kid (A Whiter Shade of Pale was one of my first favorite songs).  Love the first group of albums with Trower the best (though Broken Barricades is a step down).  After that Grand Hotel, Exotic & Procol's Ninth are all winners too...different but still cool.  Gary Brooker remains one of the great rock voices in history 

I've not read all the posts here, but I must say that A Whiter Shade Of Pale is THE most overplayed song on the radio and I'm now sick to death of it.

A really wonderful band!
I have all their albums in vinyl, and many of them on cd's as well.
I very underappreciated band...
Everybody knows A Whiter Shade of Pale, but not many things after that.
Shine on Brightly, A Salty Dog, Home, Grand Hotel, Exotic Birds and Fruits, even Something Magic... amazing albums!
But if you want to begin from somewhere, I recommend the live album In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (1972). There, you will get a good idea of what Procol Harum was/is about!

TBH, I'm mostly a first-era fan... the Robin Trower years, to which you can add the Edmonton  Symphonic  Live ... After that, it was only BJ and Brooker (though Fisher hadn't completely disappeared (production) and Reid 's texts were still there as well... But the magic was gone, especially with that terrible Something album.

Edited by Sean Trane - August 20 2018 at 04:58