Shine on Brightly [Import]

Procol Harum | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 9, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: SALVO
• ASIN: B001V6PSSQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,725 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Japanese reissue of their sophomore album, originally released in 1968. Remastered using 20 bit K2 Mastering technology. Packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. 2001 release. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shine On, Harum!, March 23, 2003

By 

Alan Caylow (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shine on Brightly (Audio CD)

1968's "Shine On Brightly" is Procol Harum's second album, and it's another classic Bach-meets-rock hybrid from Gary Brooker & company. "Quite Rightly So" and the title track are both Harum classics. "Skip Softly (My Moonbeams)" has a great ominous bounce to it. The gospel-esque "Wish Me Well" is another buried treasure from the band, as are "Rambling On" and "Magdelene (My Regal Zonophone)". Finally, Harum deliver the first of their two epic pieces in their catalog, the 17-minute "In Held Twas In I," a classical-rock suite containing 5 or 6 different movements, plus a couple of spoken word passages (Harum's other lenghty piece is the conceptual "The Worm & The Tree" from 1977's "Something Magic," but that's another review). "In Held Twas In I" is not for everybody---some fans say the various movements don't flow together too well---but I think it's a very adventurous piece, filled with lots of great moods & melodies. And, as one of rock's very first epic compositions, it's also quite groundbreaking. From start to finish, "Shine On Brightly" is another great milestone for Procol Harum.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite groups of the 60s...., December 6, 2003

By 

Photoscribe "semi-renaissance man" (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Shine on Brightly (Audio CD)

Procol Harum was (were?) nicknamed "The Madmen of Rock", and they lived up to the name completely! They were like the Honoré De Balzacs of the genre, (the lead singer, Gary Brooker, even LOOKED like Balzac!) putting out an odd mixture of bluesy, organ and piano-driven, classically informed rock with lyrics and wizard guitar licks that had few, if any, equals. Since Procol's inception, Genesis is about the only group that even came close to sounding like them. NOBODY threw off the same rich aesthetic vibe they did.

This album, "Shine on Brightly", is probably where the group established their "madmen" reputation, putting you in mind of William Blake and Hieronymus Bosch as if these painters were musicians, with songs like "Skip Softly (My Moonbeams)" and the title song. The masterpiece on this album, (VERY William Blake-ish!) is the nearly 18 minute long "In Held Twas In I", an epic composition with passages like: "In The Autumn of My Madness" and "Twas Teatime At The Circus", capturing the full-on "Ship Of Fools" feel that they'll probably take with them into rock & roll heaven! (Or hell, where they belong!) The piece ends with "Look To Your Soul", a passage that snatches hope from self-induced despair.

Other tunes include "Wish Me Well", a precursor to their "Juicy John Pink" on "Salty Dog" with its ultra-bluesy guitar riff and Screamin' Jay Hawkins singing style; "Magdalene, My Regal Zononphone", a typical Procol number with gentle, classically influenced music framing very introspective lyrics; "Ramblin' On", a song that sounds like it should have been on their first album along with "Christmas Camel" and "She Wandered Through The Garden Fence".

For some odd reason, I've always liked Procol Harum. They didn't sound like anyone else, (until their pale imitations, Genesis, came along,) and nobody had the intelligent lyrical mode they had, with its study of faux madness and voluptuary indulgence. It was if Orson Welles had decided to become a rock auteur!

For all intents and purposes, this album, indeed, was the true bridge between their first album and "Salty Dog", with elements of both being quite obvious in it. One could do a LOT worse than discovering this group of non-conformist individuals who laid a lot of groundwork for the branch of music known as "art rock".

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Procol essential, May 22, 2000

By 

"cerdes" (Topeka, KS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shine on Brightly (Audio CD)

As an album, "Shine on Brightly" is somewhat of a concept piece. It seems to chronicle the fall and subsequent rise of an ordinary individual as he/she progresses through paranoia and insanity to self actualization and nirvanic bliss. This journey is summarized in the epic eighteen minute "In Held 'Twas In I." But, more on that masterpiece in a moment. Six songs of individual importance, beauty, and weight lead up to Procol's opus. Of these, my personal favorites are "Quite Rightly So," "Skip Softly (My Moonbeams)," and "Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone)." "Magdalene" and "Skip Softly" are particularly beautiful in their lyrics, which seem deal with the redemptive qualities of music and the descent into a dark world of insanity, repectively. For me, however, the true highlight of the album is "In Held 'Twas In I," particularly the "Grand Finale." The composition never really lags or bores (like most Art or Progressive Rock epics), and always greets the ears with new and marvelous sounds. The Westside reissue again features songs that are either previously unreleased, B-sides, or alternate versions. Of these, the cynical "Seem to Have the Blues (Mostly All the Time)" and "In the Wee Small Hours of Sixpence" are probably the strongest, although Gary Brooker does a nice job with the Italian rendering of the lyrics to "Shine on Brightly" in the rarity, "Il Tuo Diamante." All in all, Procol's second album is an exciting and magnificent Art-Rock production, worth owning not only for fans of the band but fans who admire intelligent lyrics and songwriting of a heightened quality.