Procol Harlum

The Prodigal Stranger is the tenth studio album by Procol Harum, released in 1991. The album is dedicated to the memory of Barrie James (B. J.) Wilson, who had been the drummer on all of the group's previous albums. Recorded after a 14-year break, even singer Gary Brooker was uncertain whether or not the sessions would work out for the band: "We never knew if it would work out, but we did know one thing and that was that the basis of us making the new Procol Harum record would be if we could get together a good set of songs…it was very like making a first album."…

Procol Harum's debut album is amazingly engaging, considering that it was rushed out to capitalize on the hit title track. The material was all already written (before the hit, in fact), but the group recorded the LP in just two days, simply to get a long-player out, and came up with one of the more pleasingly straightforward releases in their history…

Despite the departure of organist Matthew Fisher, Procol Harum survived, and this album is ample proof. Fisher was one of the prime architects of the Harum sound, and his work on such classics as "Shine on Brightly" and, of course, "Whiter Shade of Pale" underline that. Procol continued as a four-piece, and it was indeed a good thing that they decided not to replace Fisher. The sound of the band on this album is a bit sparser, but definitely not without dimension and dynamics. "Simple Sister," one of the finest Gary Brooker/Keith Reid compositions, is truly glorious, with Robin Trower's frightening lead guitar work juxtaposed nicely against a wonderful string arrangement. Several other tracks are first rate, including "Power Failure" and "Playmate of the Mouth."

Fifty years after "Whiter Shade of Pale" introduced the concept of progressive rock, Procol Harum roll on, even with singer and pianist Gary Brooker as the only remaining original member. Novum is their first new studio album in 14 years. Their last, 2003's The Well's on Fire, marked the end of the decades-long writing partnership between Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid. Organist Matthew Fisher and drummer Mark Brzezicki left shortly thereafter. Brooker still had guitarist Geoff Whitehorn and bassist Matt Pegg. They recruited organist Josh Phillips and drummer Greg Dunn. This version has been together for a decade.
Novum is a worthy 50th anniversary offering (though it's not, as Brooker claims, Procol's finest). This is the sound of a working band, not a tired reunion project…

When Procol Harum's ninth studio album, Something Magic, was released in March 1977, it sold poorly and was largely dismissed, with the group breaking up at the end of the promotional tour for it. With this reissue more than 30 years later, annotator Roland Clare argues it is "in need of outright reappraisal." He doesn't actually make that case, but he does explain the circumstances that led to the debacle. After its previous album, Procol's Ninth, produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Procol Harum might have been expected to go back to a more conventional approach; instead, the group hired the hot studio of the day, Criteria in Miami, and its hot resident producers, Ron and Howie Albert.

Procol Harum's debut album is amazingly engaging, considering that it was rushed out to capitalize on the hit title track. The material was all already written (before the hit, in fact), but the group recorded the LP in just two days, simply to get a long-player out, and came up with one of the more pleasingly straightforward releases in their history…