Expanded Procol Harum reissues (2015)

what could be on expanded Edmonton?

 

Well, you could include Calgary, Banff, and the rest of Alberta. ...

 

Hi Paul. As a fellow Canadian, I'll take your advice. Oh ... an update - I've taken the plunge and ordered the Esoteric single-disc version of Shine On, but I'm going to keep the Salvo for the bonus tracks (which were not afflicted with the speed issues AFAIK).

 

Why the single disc version?

 

Money (in Canada on Amazon, the box is more than double the single). Also, I'm not convinced yet of the relative improvement. If it is, I may spring for the 3-disc set. I would pass the single on to a deserving poverty-stricken fan

 

What tempts me about the 3-disc SOB (of course, as I've said elsewhere, I just ordered the single disc! ), is the mono version in its entirety. I tend to agree about so-called "bonus" tracks on just about any release (despite my earlier reply to Dennis Metz): a few gems occasionally, but mostly included to prove why they weren't released in the first place

 

I just did (yet to be "approved"). Are you this guy? http://www.procolharum.com/710820_ph-canada.htm . If so, three things: 1) I was there - terrific concert, although fraught with sound problems, as I recall. 2) This was the Dave Ball (may he RIP) band, which went on to record with/in Edmonton. 3) I will "friend" you - I feel we may have a few "commonalities."

 

I'm enjoying the first two albums on Esoteric. They've done things right, with a few puzzling exceptions (David Knights is mostly listed as "Knight", for instance, and it's annoying that the two packages have totally different dimensions -- SoB won't fit on my shelf next to the first album).
I've listened to the mono a couple of times. Can anyone spot any significant differences from the stereo version?
Also, can someone kindly compile a list of what tracks are missing from the Esoteric that appeared on the Salvo and Westside editions (including the Pandora's Box CD)?
Thanks

 

Roman, try this link. Allmusic.com is usually pretty reliable. http://www.allmusic.com/album/shine-on-brightly-mw0000197503/releases
Some of the links are faulty, but the Westside link that's 8th on the list is right, and the 'Salvo' link (11th on the list) is also correct.

 

As I mentioned earlier, Understandably Blue on the Esoteric mistakenly omits the vocal, which can only be found on the Salvo. I must be the only be here who loves that tune!

 

How would you compare later K2HD releases with Salvo and with the present ones?
Aren't they too bright?
Which Japanese K2HD (if any?) are worth considering?
From 2003 (20 bit editions) or from 2009?

 

is the vocal vintage? it sounds newer.

pandora's box is listed as an instrumental in the booklet - i wonder if this designation was meant for understandably blue, because pandora's box does have vocals.**


i went through all of the bonus tracks on the first two releases, and this is what i kept...

from 1st plus -
...nothing

from 1st salvo -
"understandably blue"

from shine on brightly plus -
"in the wee small hours of sixpence" (alternate take)
"quite rightly so" (take 4 breakdown)
"quite rightly so" (take 6)

from shine on brightly salvo -
"in the wee small hours of sixpence (stereo backing track)

edit: pandora's box doesn't have vocals. i was way off.

 

I ended up with 2 copies of the 3 disc set

 

Funny!, so, You=2; Me=0. I have a 2nd copy of the Bruce Springsteen remastered box set. Maybe .....

 

Not thrilled with the sound on Esoteric's A Salty Dog; noticeably more compressed than the Salvo or MFSL, and even more compressed than Esoteric's editions of the first two albums

 

Good to know, Robert, I have the Salvo, and IMO it sounds pretty good. Good thing, b/c ASD is their best (or at least my overall favourite)

 

I mean rbbert!

 

I know the discussion here is by and for those much deeper into Procol Harum than I, but perhaps someone can clear up a lingering question of mine--has there ever been a stereo mix of "Whiter Shade of Pale?" If so, where might it be found? If not, why not? Thx

 

Yup......

(My blog about playing in the Palers' Band, meeting Gary Brooker, Geoff Whitehorn and the other band members as well as attending the July 11 & 12, 2014 Procol Harum concerts in NY are also on the site)

 

Did you take DR numbers? This is ridiculous if that's the case, the debut was really good and much less compressed than the Salvo. I hope they wise up again before they get to Broken Barricades.

 

Anybody have DR values? Is is the same squashed shizzle that's been available lately?

 

Do you mean a) the song and not b) the 1st album, sometimes known as AWSOP, but entitled simply "Procol Harum"? A good question, anyway.

If a), as far as I know, there is an outtake version that appeared on Disc 3 of the old 30th Anniversary Box from the 90s. It may appear as a bonus track elsewhere FAIK.
If b), I don't believe a true stereo version of the album was ever released, as there was probably no mix done of the whole album. I think there were a few of the songs that were also mixed in stereo. To clutter things up, an early 70s LP release of (most of) the 1st album (entitled A Whiter Shade Of Pale), included that song and omitted Good Captain Clack. It was labelled "STEREO" but was really so-called "Electronically Reprocessed Stereo" which was a habit of some record companies back then as the transition from mono (BAD!) to stereo (GOOD!) was happening (I'm being sarcastic, lest I be misinterpreted!); it was a way of "spreading out the sound of a mono mix to make it "sound like" stereo. Some companies called it "Simulated Stereo". It was usually crap, either way.

I assume that you know AWSOP (the song) was not initially included on the 1st album UK/European release, which ensured the album's poor sales, while it was released eventually in the US and Canada WITH AWSOP (the song).

Confused yet? I know I am (always )

 

I don't think Esoteric have the rights to Broken Barricades - only the first four (I think!)

 

I'll believe it when I hear it

 

Thanks for the complex response. I indeed did mean the song, not the album. Do you know if the outtake (on the 30th Anniv set you mention) was mixed for stereo? Perhaps because AWSOP was first released as a single, then tacked onto the American version of the album, that this doomed the mix to be forever more mono, as was the original single?