This special compilation presents songs from all of Procol Harum’s twelve albums, spanning 1967 to the present day, and contains all their hit singles. It’s enhanced by contemporary live tracks, concert versions full of characteristically inspired and soulful playing. Procol harum bring melody, wit and a rocking drive to their unique vision of the Blues: the earthy and unearthly are fused in these unforgettable tracks.

Just
as The Troggs and Mungo Jerry are about, respectively, Reg Presley and
Ray Dorset, so Procol Harum will always be able to carry on in
recognisable form as long as Gary Brooker stays at the helm. On the
three in-concert items from 2009 included here - among them, the
penultimate domestic Top Thirty strike, 1972’s ’Conquistador’ - his
tenor is still as gruffly compelling as that of Cliff Bennett, Steve
Winwood, and boyhood hero Ray Charles.

Yet,
like others of ’a certain age’, I hear ’A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ no more
than a mariner hears the sea. Nevertheless, its ’Homburg’ follow-up
still resonates emotionally, and so to a greater extent does the
ponderous and haunting majesty of ’A Salty Dog’, the nautical saga set
in the days of three-mast clippers.

Further
lesser hits plus undeserved flops and album highlights fill the
remainder of 17 selections which, supplemented by an engrossing essay by
Roland Clare, should please most of the people most of the time.