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FIRST PICTURES / Procol Harum: Shine On Brightly box set

By Paul Sinclair

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Procol Harum‘s second studio album Shine On Brightly was recently reissued as a three-CD box set by Esoteric and SDE can bring you an exclusive photo gallery…

The album has been remastered from the original tapes and this new set includes both the original stereo mix, the mono mix, (previously unreleased on CD) and a third disc of bonus material drawn from studio sessions, single mixes and three BBC radio sessions recorded in 1968.

The discs are in a smart, glossy clamshell box along with two reproduction posters, some postcards and a 24 page booklet.

Shine On Brightly deluxe edition is out now. Full track listing here.

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12 Comments

12 thoughts on “FIRST PICTURES / Procol Harum: Shine On Brightly box set”

  3. Okay, my bad. I suppose it’s easier to sing along when you’re reading the words from a poster than from a booklet. Bigger type, too.

    One small quibble is that the albums aren’t in mini-replica sleeves. The back of the A&M version was also superb (yes, I know it’s used as the booklet cover), and even the gatefold sparklers photo has charm.

    The “alternative” mannequin shot on CD 3 appears to have been used for a Russian release in 1991. Was it used before then? If not, it might have been fun to have the Cyrillic title.

    Next time, eh? With the Steve Wilson 5.1 mix?

    1. 5.1 ? Well, if the multitracks all exist. They are likely 8-track for most of the songs, but 4-track for “Quite Rightly So”. I doubt that “Bucks Music”(owner of the recordings) wants to spend any more money on remixes, or that Gary Brooker would O.K. them.

  4. There will always be more reissues of the first 4 Procol Harum albums. Bucks Music(AKA “Fly Records” & “Cube Records”) never lets go of everything that they’ve got in the vaults, especially stereo remixes of previously mono recordings, and, of course, they’ve got the session multitracks for the rejected first version of the debut album.

  5. No doubt this will be the last reissue of this on CD. No one has really addressed whether this suffers from the same compression issues that dogged the Salvo.

    I love PH but I am really burned out on their reissues. I’m happy with the Westside of this title so I think I’ll pass.

  6. The poster isn’t worthless. It has the lyrics for all of the main album tracks. By the way, the green-tinted Mannequin cover was a U.S.A. “A&M Records” creation.

  7. Dammit, this thing looks TOO good. I told myself I wouldn’t buy yet another copy of this album but it just looks so great. The improved sound and mono version are almost irrelevant. This is a cruel, cruel release.

    Nice to have reproductions of both covers. For me, even though I bought it in the UK, the “original” vinyl cover is the European mannequin one. That’s my favourite album cover of all time.

    The poster and postcards seem worthless, but still…grudgingly…a must buy.

  8. Indeed, the speed is correct, and the remastering genuinely improves the sound, even on the (very few) lower fidelity tracks, such as the rejected (guitarless) 1967 version of “Shine On Brightly” and “Ul Tuo Diamante”. The packaging is excellent(Disc three’s sleeve is an outtake from the U.S.A. album cover photo session).
    There are very few possible inclusions that have been omitted. For the record, they are:
    A breakdown take of a live-during-mono-mixdown tambourine overdub for “Quite Rightly So”
    A remix of “Quite Rightly So” as it is on the multitrack tape(I.E. without tambourine)
    An alternate backing track for “In The Wee Small Hours of Sixpence”
    The Scandinavian single version of “Quite Rightly So”; an early mix featuring a different vocal, and some lyrics differences. This was the first song recorded at these sessions. The song was promptly released in Scandinavia, and the group went out on tour, but when the group returned from their European tour, and album sessions resumed, Gary Brooker & Keith Reid decided to revise the song with lyrics changes and a re-recorded lead vocal. The Scandinavian single version of “Quite Rightly So” is the only significant omission in this 3-CD set, though I would note that some have claimed that when “Monsieur Armand”(1967 version) was released on the “Salvo” label, it contained a slightly different vocal versus other releases. I have yet to confirm this.
    There is an apparent product shortage on the two new Procol Harum multi-disc sets from the “Esoteric” label. The “Shine On Brightly” 3-CD set has been supplied to Amazon’s British website, but not to the U.S.A. website, and the 2-CD edition of “Procol Harum”(debut album) has been supplied to Amazon’s U.S.A. website, but not to the UK website, who have stalled customers off with two postponements. I cancelled my order for “Procol Harum(Debut album) with Amazon.co.uk, and ordered it from a 3rd party seller on Amazon’s U.S.A. website. That 3rd party seller sent it out to me yesterday.
    Hopefully, Esoteric will manufacture adequate quantities of future Procol Harum releases, and spare us from these distribution shenanigans and rationing tactics.

  10. Can anyone confirm this new master being at the correct speed and not too fast like the 2009 Salvo remaster? I’m waiting to purchase it until I find out if it is fixed.

  11. Very nice packaging, got mine yesterday and can’t wait to hear it. Gary Brooker is one of the greatest British singers ever and can still cut it with the best of em.

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