Track Listing

1. Simple Sister
2. Broken Barricades
3. Memorial Drive
4. Luskus Delph
5. Power Failure
6. Song For A Dreamer
7. Playmate Of The Mouth
8. Poor Mohammed
9. Broken Barricades
10. Simple Sister (1)
11. Poor Mohammed
12. Song For A Dreamer (King Jimi)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11222 in Music
• Released on: 2009-08-03
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .16 pounds

Customer Reviews

Paramounts Revisited
This is the LP that finally put to rest Procol Phase One. Home, their previous effort, still sounded much like the first three LPs, with the "Gothic" organ very much a presence, even without Matthew Fisher at the keyboard.
With Broken Barricades, however, two things became clear: Gary Brooker's voice and piano could easily become the dominant musical force, and Robin Trower's guitar was almost as important; the organ sound now slipped quietly into the background--in fact, the then-new sound of the synthesizer was more important in providing a different sort of keyboard to juxtapose against Brooker's piano--and Brooker now often used an electric piano, sometimes in addition to the standard one.
There isn't a weak song in the program. Simple Sister, the single taken from the LP, is a tour-de-force of almost manic dimensions, the orchestra used sparingly but effectively to propel, rather than just adorn, the quartet. The title song comes as a quiet respite after the gale of the opening track. Song to a Dreamer is one of the last truly psychedelic songs, as Robin pays homage to Jimi Hendrix. Luskus Delph is probably the wittiest song Procol ever created, with the lubricious lyrics in total contradistinction to the elegance of the musical setting.
But it's the rockers that define this disc: the aforementioned Simple Sister sets the pace, but Power Failure pushes it even farther. Originally the lead-off track on side two of the LP, it features one of the only truly interesting drum solos on record (always self-deprecatory, BJ can be heard yelling "Rubbish" as the song resumes). Memorial Drive features a bluesy, sinuous melody that is propelled by Trower's guitar and Brooker's electric piano, one in each speaker; the acoustic piano provides a nice solo. Blues is the inspiration for Playmate of the Mouth, too, but it's a raunchier, earthier blues with very appropriate accompaniment from the brass. Poor Mohammed is the last track on the original LP, and Trower reverts to his own version of the blues shouter, the very un-PC lyric anticipating Salman Rushdie by several decades.
The bonus tracks aren't particularly revelatory on this release--tribute to just how tight the band had become by this stage. It seems typical of the Procol luck that, just as they found their groove, Robin Trower decided to go solo. They wouldn't sound this good again until Exotic Birds and Fruit, over three years later.

a departure from pop into rock n roll
Something of a curiosity album in that it said farewell to the colourful psychedelic influences of 60s pop music and presented the raw rock n roll side of Procol Harum, no doubt losing many fans from the old order but finding fresh interest with a more mature audience. The included booklet attempts to ring the praises for the album but in retrospect it isn't one of their best; the vocal is stylistically stale and all Reid's good lyrics had been used up on their first four albums. Brooker loses his songwriting monopoly allowing Trower to present three soulful power-rock compositions that defined his future musical developement with his own band. This has always been a tough album to get hold of on CD in the past, but is now well worth including in any collection. Oddly, the producers went to a lot of trouble making the fold-out LP-jacket style digipak, but didn't include the original cut-out feature of the original album cover, so something of the original flavour has been lost.

Felix Wickers, Perthshire
Broken Barricades was a strong memory from my vinyl days of the early 70s. The songs are still brilliant with thought-provoking lyrics and unique musical arrangements. I recommend this album if you like something a bit different - go for it, I guarantee this is an album you'll play over and over again. Well I do.