Procol Harlum

Since 2001 the band has made several tours of mostly Europe, but also Japan and the US. This DVD captures the band performing many of their most popular tracks in Copenhagen, Denmark on 15th December 2001…

Filmed against the stunning backdrop of Denmark's Ledreborg Castle in summer 2006, this spectacular concert combines the power and artisrty of Procol Harum performing live with the symphonic splendour of the Danish National Concert Orchetra and Choir. The show features songs spanning Procol Harum's four decades of music making, from A Whiter Shade of Pale to An Old English Dream, all given a new dimension by the combination of rock band and orchetra…

After the multi-million selling "A Whiter Shade of Pale," Procol Harum coalesced around a new line-up and cut a debut album in two days, the sales of which were only fair (because the hit song wasn't on it originally)…

What is most interesting about this two-disc set, which contains the first four albums of Procol Harum in their entirety, is the absence of two of the group's biggest and best songs, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and "Homburg," both of which were originally issued as singles only in the U.K…

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. 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. When the band arrived in Florida and played the songs intended for the album, the Albert brothers threw half of them out. That left half of an album to fill, which led singer/pianist/composer Gary Brooker to turn to a parable-like poem written years earlier by his lyric partner Keith Reid, "The Worm & the Tree," and - in a move anticipating This Is Spinal Tap - writing a musical suite around it to fill up side two…

Procol Harum is a band that is (these days anyway) rather obscure, but has had a definite influence on rock music, in general, and progressive rock, in particular. "Best Of" albums seldom are that, and whether or not this one is certainly falls under the area of debate. However, the album is a good introduction to the many sides of this complex and intriguing band. For those who only know of the group's two hits, "Whiter Shade of Pale" and "Conquistador," the disc provides both of them. However, for the more knowledgeable fans, it has a purpose, too. Fans of progressive rock will certainly find a lot of the material here of interest. Besides the aforementioned "Whiter Shade of Pale," which some consider the first progressive rock song, there are other showings of early prog here. "A Salty Dog" is certainly one of these. The song "Simple Sister" is both a solid rocker and, seemingly, a big influence on Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4." "Shine On Brightly" showcases the group's psychedelic tendencies and Beatles influences.