Procol Harum The Grand Hotel

Procol Harum's seventh studio album, Exotic Birds and Fruit, was released in April 1974. In its original LP incarnation, four songs made up side one – "Nothing But the Truth," "Beyond the Pale," "As Strong as Samson," and "The Idol" – all of which featured some of the band's best later work. They had retreated somewhat from the orchestral hybrid of their previous album, Grand Hotel, although "Nothing But the Truth" still boasted a string arrangement. They replaced the sweetening with extra muscle in the remaining instruments, making this one of the group's harder rocking sets. And lyricist Keith Reid, having explored elegant decay in Grand Hotel, was unusually straightforward in his social prescriptions here.

Procol Harum's seventh studio album, Exotic Birds and Fruit, was released in April 1974. In its original LP incarnation, four songs made up side one – "Nothing But the Truth," "Beyond the Pale," "As Strong as Samson," and "The Idol" – all of which featured some of the band's best later work. They had retreated somewhat from the orchestral hybrid of their previous album, Grand Hotel, although "Nothing But the Truth" still boasted a string arrangement.

2009 four disc (three CDs + PAL/Region 2 DVD) collection from the British Rock institution. The trio of CD's feature digitally remastered versions of all the hits plus key album tracks b-sides and classic and rare live performances (six of them previously unreleased). The DVD contains rare and previously unseen concert footage spanning over 30 years of Procol-mania!.

British rock group Procol Harum began life as a psychedelic band and evolved into one of the leading acts in art rock and prog rock, all without changing much about their essential approach. Lead singer and pianist Gary Brooker gave the group their trademark sound with his downbeat vocals and lush melodies, while primary lyricist Keith Reid added words that often pondered the unpredictability of fate in songs like "A Whiter Shade of Pale," "A Salty Dog," and "Conquistador." Their music was executed with keen skill and passion, and the band was also one of the first to experiment with large-scale orchestration, as well as performing on-stage with a full symphony ensemble.

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…

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…

British rock legends Procol Harum are captured here at their finest in concert at London's Union Chapel. The band performed tracks from their latest album, The Well's on Fire, alongside many of their classics including Pandora's Box, Homburg, Conquistador, A Salty Dog, Quite Rightly So and the rarely heard full length version of A Whiter Shade of Pale. It was the last night of a tour that had taken them from London through Europe, Japan and North America then back again to London, and the band celebrated with a truly magical performance.