BROKEN BARRICADES

Broken Barricades is the fifth full-length studio album by UK progressive rock act Procol Harum. The album was recorded at AIR studios in London and producded by Chris Thomas. The last album Home (1970) by Procol Harum was a good and solid effort but not really excellent to my ears and I wasn´t expecting too much from Broken Barricades, thinking that Procol Harum´s progressive days were more or less over after Shine On Brightly (1968). Fortunately I´ve been proven wrong by Broken Barricades.

The original album only had eight songs while the 2002 CD Re-issue have three bonus tracks ( Single edits and mono versions of some of the original songs). All eight songs are high quality compositions brilliantly showcasing Procol Harum´s by now trademark style. Gary Brooker´s omnipresent piano playing and strong vocals and melodic vocal lines, Robin Trower´s bluesy guitar delivery, Barrie James Wilson´s strong and busy drumming and Chris Copping´s excellent bass and organ/ synth playing ( classical inspired) all make up for an excellent experience. The lineup hasn´t changed since the release of Home but it´s the songs that stand out compared to that release. Strong and memorable pop/ rock compositions with just enough innovative ideas to be called progressive. I love the powerful Simple Sister, the beautiful Broken Barricades ( does the piano/ keyboard work not sound a lot like Genesis?), the equally beautiful and string laden Luskus Delph, The powerful Power Failure with the almost fusion-like middle drum part and the psychadelic Song For A Dreamer. This albums got it all.

The production is warm and pleasant.

Broken Barricades is an excellent album by Procol Harum and it fully deserves a 4 star rating. This would unfortunately be guitarist Robin Trower´s last album with Procol Harum before pursuing a solo career. A great loss for the band but they would carry on without him.