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TAKE A RIDE ON THE SALTY DOG BACK TO THE MAIN PAGE NOW! HEY! ARE YOU THE WEIRDO WHO JUST SALTED YOUR DOG JUST NOW?
OVERALL ALBUM SCORE: 9.3 OUT OF 10 OH MAN! IS THAT TITLE TRACK GREAT, OR WHAT??? THAT HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF MY ULTI-MULTIMATELY FAVORITE SONGS OF ALL TIME THAT EVEN THE PHAROES OF EGYPT, THE EMPERORS OF JAPAN, OR THE POOP-MUCKERS OF GREAT BRITIAN IN 2000 BC WOULD HAVE SLICED OFF THEIR LEFT TOE JUST TO HEAR A SIMPLE BAR FROM ITS ABSOLUTELY HEAVENLY SPLENDOUR! OH MAN! WHAT HEAVEN-INSPIRED CONSEQUENCES LED ME TO UNCOVER THIS ABSOLUTELY LOVELY-oops I had the caps button on, didn't I? Sorry. ... I just turned it off now. Anyway, that song is, indeed, great. But what about the rest of the tracks? They're all pretty good as well! In fact, this has got to be one of the best art-rock albums EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. All Procol Harum not-fans know too well that if you heard one Procol Harum album, you've heard them all. That is true to an extent! (Although, each album has at least one song in it that you NEED to take home with you!) However, this is the point in their discography when it feels like they are spending more time developing these songs in the studio. "A Salty Dog," the title track, is the perfect example of this. Not only does it use much more eloquent and carefully selected synthesizers, but also sound effects! I'm not sure how much I would like it without these qualities. I sure don't like Sarah Brightman's buggered rendition of it. The rest of these songs use a wide variety of instruments as well. The whole reason I decided to buy this album was because "A Salty Dog" was on it. I originally didn't care about the other songs at all! I used to just play that first track over and over again. If I tried to listen to a different track on this album, I would shake my head and replay that first one again! (Heehee!) Well ... now that I've had it awhile, my initial transfixing fascinated reaction toward having "A Salty Dog" on CD has worn off a little bit and I'm able to enjoy all of the other songs. They aren't quite as eloquent as "A Salty Dog" is, but they are quite good. And they are also a fairly diverse set. There's the blues-inspired "Milk of Human Kindness," there's a strange little marimba-led, world-beat song "Boredom," there's a heavy R&B number "Juicy John Pink," there's the dreary nursery-ish song "Too Much Between Us," and there's much more good ART-ROCK! And they were certainly much better at ART-ROCK than what their successors (Alan Parsons, etc.), in spite of their merits, did later. The average music-goer could even find Procol Harum to be more enjoyable than the average Progressive-Rock band that came about in this period. I know I do. Overall, this is a humdinger of an album! *Now I'm going to spend all afternoon wondering why I just said "humdinger"* Overall Album Score: 9.3 stars out of 10 (No. I don't feel bad at all letting this album's overall score rise well-above that of the band's first and second albums. I find A Salty Dog to be the bands most consistent and interesting albums. The extra studio-time they had to develop everything helped as well.) Average Song Score: 8.9 (Ooooo! For some reason, I thought the song score would be somewhere in the 9's category! Well, it's close. This album contains many fine songs and one song that's GREATGREATGREATGREAT!!!!!!) Album Tilt: 9.5 (I feel very comfortable giving this album a nice boost. After I got used to it, I had no trouble at all going through all of the tracks.) Artist Tilt: 9.5 (This is one of art-rock's finest outputs! And, it's one of Procol Harum's most diverse!) Track Reviews A Salty Dog 10plus/10 Wow! What can I say? This song describes the absolute pinnacle of art rock! The song is utterly grand and eloquent, and it even puts you right in the middle of the ocean! (That point is especially unusual for me considering I live in Kansas, and I haven't been to the ocean for more than five years ... much less have I ever been in the *MIDDLE* of the ocean. I even smell the salt and I can sense the calm of the waters. How cool is that? In that sense, this song is even better than "A Whiter Shade of Pale." I don't really get location-specific aura from that song. However, I'm going to resist from comparing these two songs further, because they are incomparable! They're both wonderful songs, and I had just might as well leave it at that! When it's all said and done, I find it hard to believe that this track is only four minutes and forty seconds long. I bought this album just for this SONG. The rest are all freebees! (And some of them are great.) The Milk of Human Kindness 9/10 This is where Robin Trower (did I mention that Robin Trower used to be in this band?) gets to show his stuff specifically. This is a blues-based song that is full of Robbie's ultra-talented guitar chops. But Gary sometimes likes to drown him out. Me? I'm for Gary in the end. If Robin doesn't like it, he can leave the band! When I initially got this album, I would sometimes listen to this song, too. And it's excellent. It's just not ELOQUENT like I was originally hoping for in these other tracks. Too Much Between Us 8.5/10 This is where the album gets BORRRRRRRRRRING! Yes ... that's what I originally thought about this track. Now I think this slow, dreary song is rather comforting. It has a nice, calm nursery song quality about it. The Devil Came From Kansas 8/10 ER WHAT????!?!?!? That makes sense actually. The devil was probably my forth grade teacher. (In case you are uninitiated, I have lived in Kansas for about fourteen years, and I plan to move out ASAP.) Well, when I put aside my fascination of why this strange art-rock band from England would chose my little state as being the birthplace of Satan (not that I am contradicting them), I must add that I still enjoy the song! The tune isn't very good, but in this track I specifically enjoy the little oddities sprinkled throughout the track, not the least one being a NICE electric guitar passage by Robin Trower. (Did I mention that Robin Trower used to be in this band?) Boredom 9/10 Now who ever argued that Procol Harum wasn't diverse? Although, I suppose there's not really much of a difference between this track and what's conceived as an average Procol Harum track, except that it uses the marimba, what sounds like a wood flute, and some jingly percussion instruments. Anyway, if it's diverse or not, it at least REALLY stick out and it's a song that earns my interest. Other than that, if you strip everything down to its bare bones, the tune is quite primitive. But maybe that's the point! Juicy John Pink 8/10 Talk about stripping something to its bare bones! This song is just Gary Brooker singing and Robin Trower (did I mention that Robin Trower used to be in this band?) playing some real down and dirty licks of his guitar in the background. There's also a little bit of harmonica and a rather quiet drum. This track might be deemed as unnecessary, but I welcome its addition because it continues to hold my interest. Wreck of Hesperus 9/10 This one is comparable to "A Salty Dog" in its eloquence. However, it's not nearly as engaging as that other song was. It seems to want to have the same effect to the listener as "A Salty Dog" did. Instead of putting us in calm waters, it tries to put us in tough waters. Even though it does succeed to an extent, it is a limited extent. I did, however, give this track a fairly high rating because I still like it quite a lot! It's just not as effortlessly pleasing as "A Salty Dog" was. This is a very good symphonic art-rock piece that was performed and arranged very well. The tune's not bad, either. All This and More 9/10 This one might not be as impressive-in-the-studio as the previous track was, but it's definitely more dynamic. Gary really gives it what he's got here! Wow! The reason I'm not scoring this track any higher is because I simply don't care for the tune. But it's perfectly fine to listen to. Crucifixion Land 8.5/10 Hey! Who is that singing??? You know who that almost sounds like? Robin Trower! ... Wait! It IS Robin Trower! Whoah! I didn't know he used to be in this band! That's cool! This is a slow, soulful song that's altogether very nice. And a simply excellent vocal delivery from Robin! He has enough talent to start his own recording career. Pilgrim's Progress 9/10 The song is kind of slow and uneventful (it sounds almost like a psalm in its mellowness and lackluster.) Nevertheless, the song is very PLEASANT (it's also fairly reminiscent of "A Whiter Shade of Pale"). Plus, if you are still hanging around, it with a nice, louder instrumental passage. Do you agree with me? Or should I just ship myself out? Leave your comments here! thomasduve@web.de (Thomas Duve) received Oct. 3, 2005 The title track deserves all praise yoi give, even more, it scales up to the regions of 11, especialy during the 'how many moons...' section. Have you ever heard a more moving passage in a song ever - and that includes not onla rock, but classical. slb23@shaw.ca (Simon B.) received Dec. 26, 2005 I just want to comment on the title track of the album: you
got it right on the nose! 10plus/10 is right! There's just something
about this song that is so lonely and melancholy (even sad perhaps?) yet
hopeful at the same time. The vocals are great, nice and soaring, and
the strings are the icing on the cake. Just a damn good song.
Good 'on 'ya.
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All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He *likes* to be artistically-challenged.
