Find of the day

[PeterG]

Doing the rounds of the charity shops and flea markets yesterday, and nothing of interest in them, until the last one, also nothing of interest in the usual record crates, but then one of the staff brought a new pile of stuff out, and I was able to have the first look through that on my own, undisturbed by other record hunters. Deep joy!

And I found a Procol Harum LP that I've never seen or even heard of before, "Something Magic" 1977, purchased for the princely sum of 1 euro. The vinyl is in close to new condition, it sounds great, no scratches or blips at all. It almost looks like one of those cases when someone has owned an album that they didn't like and never listened to.
My copy has that yellow sticker on the back, with the text - Including an additional track "Wizard Man"

[Vic2012]

But is it any good?

[JJ88]

^Put it this way, I've only ever played the CD a couple of times. Sounds like the original owner might have done the same. I remember the grand total of one decent song, 'Strangers In Space'. However, they did an In Concert for the BBC in this period, for any fans of the album.

[Trane]

man, you couldn't possibly pay me enough to take that bloody album home

[Mister Triscuits]

But is it any good?

The first half is pretty good. Not up there with Procol's best, but enjoyable. It was their only album with Pete Solley on keys, while Chris Copping moved back to bass, so there's a distinctly different ensemble sound. Unfortunately the album was botched by unsympathetic producers and record company interference. Apparently Procol wanted to do an album with Bob Ezrin, but that fell through, and they somehow ended up with the Albert brothers, who pronounced the material Procol presented for the album "dogshit" and rejected most of it. This forced Gary Brooker to cobble together a rushed version of the unfinished "Worm and the Tree" epic to fill up the album. This involved farming out the orchestration to an outside arranger, as Brooker didn't have time to do it himself. Meanwhile, Chrysalis demanded the last-minute inclusion of the "Wizard Man" single, despite the fact that it doesn't match the mood of the album and would stick out like a sore thumb no matter where it was placed in the running order. The whole experience was demoralizing for the band; Chris Copping promptly quit; and the whole band folded not long afterwards.

[rcarlberg]

Bought it when it came out, in my opinion it's their weakest album, the long track "The Worm and the Wood" (or whatever it's called) was cringe-worthy. I don't remember any other tracks being standouts. And isn't the production kinda slick and overly processed? That's my memory. I can't be arsed to drag it out.

[Mister Triscuits]

in my opinion it's their weakest album

Yep. (Well, until their reunion.)

the long track "The Worm and the Wood" (or whatever it's called) was cringe-worthy.

Yep.

And isn't the production kinda slick and overly processed?

Yep.

But call me a fanboy, even bad Procol is pretty decent. The obvious problem with "The Worm and the Tree" is that it's all spoken word. (And in a meter that irresistibly recalls Dr. Seuss.) Whether Brooker would have come up with melodies for it if he'd had time to finish it, or if it was always going to be spoken word, I don't know.

[Progbear]

When I saw what the find was, I said, “Uh-oh! Weren’t we having a discussion on how much this album sucks in another thread?”

But, yes...mostly forgettable, except for “The Worm and the Tree,” which is simply execrable. I really hate that stupid “this is why punk happened” cliché, but when the alternative is drivel like this...

Put the album in a frame and stick it on the wall. At least the cover is nice.

[PeterG]

Well, yea, the narration on the B side is bloody awful, and the bits of music between the narration aren't much better.

But I like the easy going songs on the A side.

Like I said though, I never even knew about this album until yesterday, so I just had to buy it.

[spacefreak]

It's a decent album and the last worth. Haven't listened to it since the 90s though...

[viukkis]

Strangers in Space is a hauntingly beautiful song and definitely worth 1 euro. The rest ranges from dull to excruciating.