Terrific guitar work characterizes numbers like Simple Sister and Playmate of the Mouth, which rock harder than many of the band’s earlier efforts; and while extended drum solos like BJ Wilson’s on Power Failure now seem a bit anachronistic, that number easily packs enough punch to belie its title.
There’s even more to like on this new three-CD edition, which adds extensive liner notes and 36 bonus tracks (all but four of them previously unreleased) to remastered versions of the 1971 album’s eight numbers. The first disc’s bonus—raw and early renditions of all of the original album’s songs—will probably appeal mostly just to the group’s most rabid fans; but anyone who enjoys Procol Harum will want to hear discs two and three, which feature live 1971 performances on New York’s WPLJ-FM and the BBC’s Radio One, and at a Stockholm, Sweden concert.
In addition to material drawn from Broken Barricades, these tracks include earlier triumphs, such as Repent Walpurgis from their eponymous debut; Shine on Brightly’s title cut, Magadelene [sic] (My Regal Zonophone), and In the Autumn of My Madness; and the anthemic title cut from A Salty Dog.