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Rating: 1970, Procol Harum finds themselves orphaned both by bassist Dave Knights and by organist Matthew Fisher, whose sound had heavily characterized the band's most famous songs. Chris Copping (an old friend of the group) steps in, finding himself in the position of replacing both the bassist and the organist. With such premises, it's easy to anticipate the changes we find on the album born from this situation, namely Home.
Right from the opening track, we are overwhelmed by a surprise: a rampant Hard Blues guitar by the excellent Robin Trower, opening the track "Whiskey Train" projects us into a completely new sound for the English band! The drums pump "full throttle" a rhythm of a runaway locomotive guiding us into the grittiest rock-blues performance one would never expect from the authors of "Shade of Pale"... the most thrilling track of the album, an absolutely memorable piece!
The energy is truly abundant, continuing with "Still there'll be more" another hard piece of the album: the menacing tones of the lyrics proclaiming "I'll blacken your Christmas and piss on your door, you'll be crying for mercy but still there'll be more" leave you astonished (like most of the lyrics of the album that we will examine further) and again stealing the spotlight is Robin Trower's guitar, probably tired of being relegated to the background by the dominance of the organ and piano and now coming to claim its role as Guitarhero.
There are no missing more typical episodes in the band's sound like "Whaling Stories" whose structure recalls the suite from the second album "In Held Twas In I", in which Brooker's piano and the symphonic sound so dear to him return to prominence. The contribution of the guitar, especially in the latter part of the track, is nonetheless remarkable.
"The Dead Man's Dream" is another track with the band's typical sound, and even just from the title, we can understand that the theme of the song is "death", which we then discover to be the theme of the whole album: they could easily have called it "Songs from the Grave," given the concentration of lyrics about death! This aura of pessimism I think was dictated by the uncertain situation with which the new decade opened for the band, for which the group's lyricist Keith Reid delivered one more depressed and funereal text than the other: "About to Die" written with Robin Trower is in the same vein, with a guitar riff played in a Leslie focused on minor chords, as well as in the folk-flavored ballad "Nothing That I Didn't Know" whose lyrics talk about a girl who dies.
Breaking the funereal climax of these songs comes "Piggy Pig Pig", a song with a very particular rhythm and a taste that is somewhat bitter and somewhat gutsy, culminating in the final chorus reciting the title along with pig sounds.
As the album's finale, perhaps to emerge from this dive into the depths of a cemetery, we find "Your Own Choice" a mid-tempo with a bittersweet taste guided by a western harmonica that returns a semblance of optimism to the listener.
Despite the depressing (yet interesting) lyrics, the album is more exciting than ever thanks to the continuous stylistic ups and downs, at least according to me, and deserves to be included among the group's classics, thanks especially to Robin Trower's guitar redemption, which by emphasizing the Hard tones offers new nuances to the overall sound.An album to be re-evaluated and listened to, also thanks to the beautiful recording at the legendary Abbey Road (like all the previous albums for that matter) and the presence of that marvel which is "Whiskey Train".
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
05 About to Die (03:35)
About to die - the crowds applaud you
About to die - they'll resurrect you
Light a candle up in kingdom come
Light the way for the saviour's son
A candle burning bright enough to tear the city down
About to die - the crowds reward you
About to die - their cheers ignore you
Light a candle up in kingdom come
Light the way for the chosen one
No candle burned with fire enough to tear that city down
About to die - the crowds applaud me
About to die - they'll resurrect me
Light a candle up in kingdom come
Light the way for the savior's son
A candle burning bright enough to tear the city down
07 Piggy Pig Pig (04:46)
(originally Wash Yourself)
Wash yourself and see your sorrow, make every pitcher clean
Take a mop to swab the floor and destroy the evil dream
Counting houses full of lead, the evil eye on high
The streets awash with blood and pus, the new moon's in the sky
God's aloft, the winds are raging
God's aloft, the winds are cold
After leaving I was weeping - count it out in tolls
Watch the book, the page is turning - how the tale unfolds
Inside every cancered spectre,
inside-outside find your own
God's aloft, the winds are raging - God's aloft, the winds are cold
08 Whaling Stories (07:07)
Pailing well after sixteen days, a mammoth task was set
Sack the town, and rob the tower, and steal the alphabet
Close the door and bar the gate, but keep the windows clean
God's alive inside a movie! Watch the silver screen!
Rum was served to all the traitors; pygmies held themselves in check
Bloodhounds nosed around the houses, down dark alleys sailors crept
Six bells struck, the pot was boiling - soup spilled out on passers-by
Angels mumbled incantations, closely watched by God on high
Lightning struck out - fire and brimstone! Boiling oil and shrieking steam!
Darkness struck with molten fury, flashbulbs glorified the scene
Not a man who had a finger, not a man who could be seen
Nothing called (not name nor number) - Echo stormed its final scream
Daybreak washed with sands of gladness, rotting all it rotted clean
Windows peeped out on their neighbors, inside fireside bedsides gleam
SHALIMAR, the trumpets chorused, angels wholly all shall take
Those alive will meet the prophets, those at peace shall see their wake
09 Your Own Choice (03:09)
There's too many women and not enough wine
Too many poets and not enough rhyme
Too many glasses and not enough time
Draw your own conclusions
My old dog's a good old dog
My old man's a silly old sod
The human face is a terrible place
Choose your own examples
Went to the river, but I could not swim
Knew I'd drown if I went in
Lost my faith in a terrible race
Rest-in-peace hereafter
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