Procol Harum – Exotic Birds and Fruit (2009 Reissue)

“Is it on, Tommy?”

So begins Procol Harum’s seventh studio album, Exotic Birds and Fruit. Words that give way to the 1974 opener ‘Nothing But the Truth’, a belter of a tune whose intent, and indeed top billing, is to address any concerns that seven years into the band’s lifespan, Procol Harum had become a spent force.

Firing on all cylinders, ‘Nothing But the Truth’ also kicks off Salvo’s final batch of reissues from the original Procol run, with Procol’s Ninth and Something Magic also seeing the light of day in digitally remastered, lushly packaged editions.

Exotic Birds and Fruit is a return to the rockier sound of Home and Broken Barricades, with the orchestral elements stripped away in favour of a back-to-basics approach – the band playing together as a band, minus the symphonic embellishments. The result is a rawer sound, ideal for touring, though one still at home to the now trademark powerhouse piano and serpentine organ threadwork.

Anybody who followed Procol Harum week here at Head Full of Snow will be aware that I am a big fan of the progressive, symphonic rock sound exercised on the likes of A Salty Dog and Grand Hotel. However, the lack of such extravagance on Exotic Birds and Fruit takes nothing away from the album or the group’s ability to knock out a damned fine tune.

This is ably demonstrated by the aforementioned ‘Nothing But the Truth’, up there with ‘Hello Susie’ from The Move’s Shazam as far as grab-you-by-the-throat-and-throttle-you-for-attention album openers go. ‘Beyond the Pale’ revels in an East-European flavoured melody that curls up from the crackling fury of a Hungarian campfire, whilst elsewhere ‘Fresh Fruit’ bounces along joyfully, straight into the uptempo wall of rock ‘n’ roll sound that is ‘Butterfly Boys’ – a sly dig at Procol Harum’s then label, Chrysalis Records. They even revisit old ground in the shape of ‘Monsieur R. Monde’, a dynamic reinvention of the 1967 song ‘Monsieur Armand’, which appears as a bonus track on the reissue of Shine on Brightly.

Exotic Birds and Fruit is another in the long line of excellent albums from the songwriting team of Gary Brooker and Keith Reid, proof in 1974, if proof were needed, that Procol Harum weren’t ready to be put out to pasture just yet.

As ever, the remastering and sound quality is top notch, and the Salvo reissue of Exotic Birds and Fruit adds a rare B-side, ‘Drunk Again’, plus an alternate mix of ‘Strong as Samson’ as bonuses to the original nine tracks.

Exotic Birds and Fruit (40th Anniversary Series) is released on November 16^th 2009 and available from Amazon.co.uk

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album reviews, prog rock