Broken Barricades (studio album) by Procol Harum

From Jboy56 04/16/2023 17:42

A strange thing for a PH album, hard rocking and lacking the usual finesse and prog / baroque atmosphere.

Fifth album from Procol Harum marked a radical change for the band comapred to their previous albums. Known for their strong influence from classical music, this bluesy, at times even heavy, album was quite a surprise when first released in 1971.
The brilliant guitarist Robin Trower, who had given a great bluesy touch to their first classic albums, apparently wanted a bigger place in the spotlight, and apart from two songs the album does not really sound like a Procol Harum album at all.

Original organ player Matthew Fisher had left the group before the recording of the previous album "Home", and it probably can be stated that Broken Barricades is a logical continuation of what was started on "Home" - see "Whisky Train".

Personally I find this album one of their least satisfying records; actually only the title track and "Luskus Delph" have the classic Procol Harum qualities. These two songs, on the other hand, ranks among the band's very best, so the album does deserve its place in the great Procol Harum catalogue.

The rest of the album is okay, though not very memorable. A paradox that Robin Trower left the group shortly after recording this album.

https://www.angelfire.com/nv/Badfinger/BANDprocolharum.html

Their other great album. BJ Wilsons drum break on "Power Failure" was worth the outrageous amount I had to pay for a used copy a few years ago.

From Crumpet 04/05/2018 16:12

This album has been on my wish list for a long time, so I feel I should point out that I have highly anticipated it for a few months, just incase that affects my opinion.

This album had alot to live up to, it was released after a run of classic albums, but does it live up to them? Yes and no. Broken Barricades is nowhere near as good as the bands debut or their second album (Shine on Brightly) and it isn’t quite as good as A Salty Dog, but I do feel that it is perhaps slightly better than Home.

The album starts off with the classic rock ballad ‘Simple Sister’ before moving on to the wonderful title track. Then we have ‘Memorial Drive’, a fine track, but the weakest on side A, before ending this side with ‘Luskus Delph’, my favourite track on the album.

Side B opens up with ‘Power Failure’, an interesting track that starts off similar to ‘Shine on Brightly’ before segueing into a strange percussion driven section and finally back to the origional tune. I like it. Then we have a Trower track, ‘Song for a Dreamer’ is a psychedelic rock track that is probably at its best if your using drugs, but it works well while your sober too. Then we have ‘Playmate of the Mouth’, another great track before ending on ‘Poor Mohammed’, probably the weakest track of the album but the guitar solo at the end at least means the album ends on a high note.

Overall, Broken Barricades is a great album, a fun listen, but not one of Harum’s very best.

Luskus delph, Simple sister and the title track are memorable tunes and Harum at their best. B.J. Wilsons drumsolo on Power Failure is a bit too long, though. ...But i love this album...