PROCOL HARUM [AKA: A WHITER SHADE OF PALE]

The unique sound of these keyboards was unknown and it does have a definite prog orientation. Are Procol Harum one of the godfathers of progressive rock?

One thing is for sure, those guys know how to write wonderful melodies, nice ballad, and perform them in an emotional way. In line with The Beatles or The Moodies (while at their best for the latter ones). Each old freak of my generation has been deeply in love of a song which is not featured on the original European release of this album.

I received the single in 1971 from one of my aunties (merci tantine) and although I already knew it, it was the first time that I could listen to it endlessly. "Whiter" is definitely a classic of rock music. It will be featured on many versions afterwards. I can only recommend you to grab one of these of course.

But this album holds some other very good tracks. A mix between their great melody lines ("Conquistador"), their superb organ oriented music "She Wandered.", some heavy soul ("Cerdes", "A Christmas Camel") which both feature a very good guitar play on top of these powerful keys.

This album surely deserves your attention if you are interested in the origin of the music we all love. Keyboards lovers should find what there are looking for here. Just listen to their sounds during "Salad Days" and the wonderful instrumental "Repent Walpurgis". Beautiful.

This album is not a masterpiece in the strict sense, but has an immense merit: to have paved the way for a different type of music. Intelligent, catchy, popular. For all of this, I upgrade it from a seven out of ten to the four star rating. A document.

Share this PROCOL HARUM review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to ZowieZiggy
• Report this review (#170783)
• Buy PROCOL HARUM music online with PA partners
• Show all PROCOL HARUM MP3/Stream
• Go to PROCOL HARUM page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Procol Harum [Aka: A Whiter Shade of Pale] page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for PROCOL HARUM related discussions