Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

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The Prodigal Stranger

Contemporary album review


L'Hebdo, 31 October 1991, Lausanne, Switzerland

Le rock vit à l'heure de la nostalgie. De tous les come-back témoignant du phénomène, le plus inopiné reste celui de Procol Harum, dont on avait perdu la trace depuis plus d'une décennie.

Rock is in a state of nostalgia. Of all the come-backs that attest to this phenomenon, the most unexpected remains that of Procol Harum, lost without trace for over a decade.

Gary Brooker a quitté son pub pour retrouver son piano, son parolier Keith Reid, l'organiste Matthew Fisher et le guitariste Robin Trower, c'est-à-dire les membres fondateurs du seul groupe qui ait véritablement su unir les sphères rock et classique. Il ne manque que le bassiste David Knights et le batteur B.J. Wilson pour que le Procol Harum de 1967, celui de <<Whiter Shade Of Pale>>, soit recréé.

Gary Brooker has left his pub to rediscover his piano, his wordsmith Keith Reid, organist Matthew Fisher and guitarist Robin Trower, namely the founder members of the only group that ever really knew how to unite the rock and classical worlds. It would take only bass-player David Knights and drummer BJ Wilson to recreate the 1967 Procol Harum of A Whiter Shade of Pale.

Lé résultat de cette association, <<The Prodigal Stranger>>, est certes en deçà d'un chef d'oeuvre comme <<Grand Hotel>> (1973), mais incomparablement supérieur aux sinistres exercices de style de quelques ressuscités lucratifs (Yes) ou survivants artificiels (Moody Blues).

The result of this collaboration, The Prodigal Stranger, certainly falls short of a masterpiece like Grand Hotel, but it's incomparably better than the gruesome style-exercises of certain resurrected money-spinners like Yes, or artificial survivors like the Moody Blues.

La vilaine fée FM a passé, avec sa batterie carrée, mais les conquistadors du rock brandebourgeois portent plutôt fièrement leurs couleurs. On retrouvé avec plaisir l'alliage de l'orgue et du piano, la grosse voix de Brooker et son sens inaltéré de la melodie.

The bad fairy of commercial music has paid a call with her four-square drumming, but on the whole the conquistadors of Brandenbourgeois rock keep their standard flying proudly. It's a pleasure to rediscover that piano / organ blend, Brooker's big voice and his unchanged melodic sense.

Une chanson comme <<Perpetual Motion>> n'aurait pas déparé la discographie procolienne des années 70. Une phrase de <<Grand Hotel>> est d'ailleurs citée dans cete [sic] chanson pleine de nostalgie.

A song like Perpetual Motion wouldn't have disgraced Procol's 70s catalogue: this nostalgic number even quotes a phrase from Grand Hotel.

Thanks to François Courvoisier for this; trans. RC


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