Lost in the Looking-Glass

Comment Richard Beck [USA]

I finally received my copy of Lost in the Looking Glass a few days ago. I am astounded by much of what I have been listening to. I believe that I understand why Gary Brooker was so enthused by it, in fact I am convinced that I know the very moment that he brimmed over in amazement and reached for a telephone. Track A6......The Milk of Human Kindness. Reincarnated as a classic 'torch' song complete with sumptuous trumpet, sexy vocals, and the most supple piano arrangement I have ever heard.

I don't mean to serve up a full review of this CD at this time, but I wholeheartedly recommend purchasing one. So much originality and humor. So many colors and textures. These many interpretations FORCE the mind to ignore the beloved Procol sound and to hear the power in each song with each new voice of its very own.

This compilation sounds like an audio recording from a Broadway Musical adaptation of Keith Reid-based songs. A little imagination on the part of the listener can sense a broad, human, story line that would command the attention of a theatre audience while the music and the words seduce the soul. Unique entertainment, indeed!

If anyone ever thought that Reid's words somehow distanced Procol Harum from the mainstream of rock music, this album of interpretations should dispel such notions. Procol Harum and its music are victims of the lack of originality and imagination in the minds of the public, and certainly not in the songs, which are plainly a moveable feast of originality and imagination.

Lost in the Looking Glass has profoundly altered my perceptions in most delightful and enlightening ways. Bravo to all who took the plunge into that pool inside the forest.

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