Procol Harum ‎– Shine On Brightly (1968/1972) [LP, DSD128]

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Procol Harum ‎– Shine On Brightly (1968/1972) [LP, DSD128]

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Procol Harum were and still are one of my all time favorite rock groups and most all their records are essential, they have made at least 4 spectacular albums in Procol Harum, A Salty Dog, Home and this their second album Shine On Brightly which may just be their best. It's odd that I say that because when I first heard the record I didn't really care for it, but on repeated playings over the years it's become one of my favorite records.
Procol Harum sadly are only remembered in most parts for their chart topping summer of '67 hit "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", a second single the somewhat similar "Homburg" also hit big in many countries but after that the group couldn't get arrested for the most part chartwise in the U.K. so they concentrated on the USA market where they had a very loyal cult following and were critical heroes especially in early Rolling Stone and Crawdaddy days.
Procol's first album simply titled Procol Harum was a wonderful debut album right on par with if not better than Pink Floyd's first album, it also seemed to have a big influence on The Band's "Music From Big Pink".
Procol's second album "Shine On Brightly" however was not as well recieved as their debut by most ( myself included ) yet with the passing of time to me it's a much more interesting album. Side one opens with the marvelous "Quite Rightly So" which was picked as a single and promptly bombed on the charts which seems bizarre as it was to me their best single to date, all the Procol strengths are right there in abundance, superb music, great Keith Reid lyrics and a top flight vocal by Gary Brooker ( who must rank as one of the most overlooked singers of 60's British rock ) this song should have topped the charts but never reached higher than 50 in the UK.

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Procol Harum ‎– Shine On Brightly (1968/1972) [LP, DSD128]

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Procol Harum ‎– Shine On Brightly (1968/1972) [LP, DSD128]

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