Expanded Procol Harum reissues (2015)

Disc 3 of the new set has the Monsieur Armand backing track, but the vocal version is slightly different. Both versions (Salvo and Esoteric) have the early version of Shine on Brightly.

I'm pretty sure the Esoteric has the same two versions of Sixpence as the Westside but haven't verified.

 

I have the Westside of the self-titled first album. Is there enough of a sound quality/mastering difference on the album tracks to upgrade to the 2015 Esoteric?

 

Shine on Brightly set is great. Interesting to hear the mono mix but the band intended this to be stereo even thought Denny Cordel who was MIA much of the time as producer wanted mino. His assistant Visconti seems to have been more of the actual producer with the help of Glyn Johns. This set confirms the greatness of this record and for me it's still their very best.

 

I'm keeping my Salvo issue of this. I'll listen to it when I'm in a bit of hurry and don't have the time to listen to the real thing.

 

Thanks for your review. I was very impressed by the Salvo issue of the 1st lp (save for the noise reduction) but if you say the Esoteric reissue is better, I'm going for it. I'm wondering if Kaleidoscope is remastered straight from the original Regal Zonophone master with its quirky abrupt ending. I always loved that original 'faulty' mix but the only cd appearance I know of is from a French Cube CD from the 80's.

Regarding Shine on Brightly, the original mono lp mix is just a stereo fold down. I owned a UK original RegZon mono copy.

 

Anyone have DR readings? If brickwalled, I am not interested.

 

According to the new issue Shine on is a true mono mix. That's how I read it.

 

My ears tell me it's not brickwalled but maybe numbers and pictures might change that thinking.

 

The Salvos were pretty compressed. I ended up seeking out early CDs, which I am decently happy with. But you know how it goes... the siren song of a "better version" always calls.

 

I can't figure out if the 1967 version of "quite rightly so" that's on one of the first album reissues has been replicated on the new esoteric shine on brightly.

also, what's the different between the album QRS, the single version, and the mono version?

 

Just received the first album on Esoteric. The BBC tracks are generally better than what has been officially circulating. I have not read the liner notes, but track 16 on the first Cd is marked on the outside jacket as being an instrumental version of Salad Days but I heard vocals.... Actually this alternate version is quite cool and I am actually happy that it has vocals.

The speed of Christmas Camel is two seconds longer than the Salvo version, which I maintain was too sped up on a number of tracks. Phil Cohen seems to agree about the Salvo issues, though as previously discussed many members of this forum think I am smoking funny stuff on the salvo speed issue on the first album. (The speed issue on Shine on Brightly is less disputed).

http://www.procolharum.com/phalbum_salvo-rev_1_cohen.htm

That is one second shorter than the Japanese K2HD release VICP-63270 (from 2006 or so); not to be confused with later Japanese K2HD releases that used the Salvo tapes. Sound quality is not quite as good in my view as that Japanese release mentioned in the sentence before but is still quite good. I do not know quite where the Japanese version was sourced from.

So anyway for $20 from Amazon US this is a very good deal. You get a superset of the rare tracks from the Westside releases of Pandoras box and the Procol Harum Plus disc and also the Salvo release, plus some cool BBC rarities.

Also the version of Conquistador appears correct, which was totally messed up on the Salvo release.

I have yet to read the liner notes or fool with the cool inserts.

I give this a thumbs up on first listening.

 

Do the deluxe Shine on Brigthly mentions the recording dates of the Album's songs? Thanks

 

Yes. On the back of the cardboard sleeves.

 

Still awaiting my copies......

 

I went back and listened again to the Westside release of Procol Harum Plus. I had forgotten how good that one sounded. Must be the same source as the Japanese disc that I have previously mentioned.

The new release is actually a bit quieter. I do not think either are compressed as far as I can tell. At the margin, the out of print Westside version may in fact be very marginally better but not by a lot. The true determination would require more accurate volume matching.

 

I just got this today, and I've listened to the main album program, looked at the waveforms, and taken some DR measurements.

This remastering is just great. I know Ben Wiseman (I think he did the remastering here) has gotten flack for his use of NR, and he must have listened because there is no NR at all on any of the tracks. Even problem spots (quiet intros, beats between long, slow outros) sound totally unfutzed. The eq is pleasant, and there doesn't seem to be any digital compression. Some of the tracks have a little bit of limiting, but even then it's usually only in one part, and it's not at all drastic. I'd compare the presence of limiting to the presence of limiting in the Doug Sax remasters of Pink Floyd's works-- so minor, it's not worth getting upset about. And I usually HATE limiting. But here, it's really not a problem. None of the tracks are below 10 on the meter, and the overall DR is 11. Considering that this album wasn't particularly well-recorded, I think that's pretty good.

 

As am I.

 

If comparing is this close then whichever one chooses for enjoyment would be good. How many do the A/B thing when they just want to listen to an album ?

 

I've always wanted to dig deeper into this band only ever having the A&M Classics compilation. These releases have piqued my interest. Which album should I begin with as a newbie?

 

Everything up to Ninth. But the first two are a good start !

 

Why are the vocals missing from Understandably Blue on this new reissue???

 

Start at the beginning, it's a very good place to start with Procol Harum.

 

Personally I would start with salty dog

 

Did you get the first two, which have just been released on Esoteric (self titled and Shine on Brightly)? Start there if you haven't.

The next two - A Salty Dog and Home - are supposed to be re-released at the end of the month. Definitely get those next.

After that, you can either keep going chronologically or skip around, depending on which of the first four you prefer (e.g. if you're a big Robin Trower fan, get Broken Barricades etc.)

 

But then you would just pass up their greatest album.