Procol Harum - Procol's Ninth
by Dan MacIntosh
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Procol Harum's Procol's Ninth is a very different album for those unfamiliar with this act's full catalogue. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, 2 famous rock and soul songwriters, produced the album, and it shows. It is as though Leiber and Stoller reminded this British band about all the goodness to be found in early American rock & roll. The group obviously knows its way around this pioneering music, too.
Procol Harum can sound a little stuffy to some ears. They were probably chamber rock before that term even existed. However, listen to the way Gary Brooker sings "I Keep Forgetting"; it's as though he's forgotten the band's subdued music all together � at least temporarily.
Although the album opens with "Pandora's Box", which features pretty flute, most of this album is packed with wonderful honking horns. "Taking The Time" is straight out blues, while "The Unquiet Zone" hops along with busy percussion.
Lyrically, this is not Procol Harum's most esoteric work. "Without A Doubt" does have a little of that old, more proper sound going for it. However, for the most part, these are songs about the simpler things in life; love lost and found, and all that.
One unlikely album track is "Eight Days a Week", which is � of course � a Beatles song. It's upbeat, with handclaps. Nevertheless, Brooker sings it with slight resignation. How he finds sadness in that song must have taken some looking. (It's not supposed to be a downer). Still, it's fun to hear Procol Harum stepping outside their comfort zone.
You'd expect an album of chamber rock from an album that alludes to Beethoven's Ninth. Such is not the case, though. There are no symphonies. No overtures are included. It's a band wearing blue jeans, not tuxedos. This is Procol Harum having fun. Chances are good you'll have fun too if you give it a spin. You might say this is the darker (as in more soulful) side of these usually pale boys.
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Procol Harum - Procol's Ninth
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