Nobody knows it, because the subject mattter -- death -- is so very disturbing. So, to begin with, listeners are likely to reject individual songs, like "The Dead Man's Dream," a Lovecraftian horror tale of terrifying power, or "Barnyard Story," whose closing quatrain has to be the most exquisite artistic expression of suicidal depression in pop music history (if not all literature).

And given all this darkness, what listener is going to stop and try to add up all the songs to see if they form a whole greater than the sum of the their parts? There's a theme here, obviously, but is there a statement?

Yes. And a hugely positive one. Like SHINE ON BRIGHTLY and A SALTY DOG, HOME ends with a song that solves the Zen riddle of why life is like a beanstalk -- but with a special twist for the specific problem of coming to terms with your own mortality. Earlier we learned that "there is no maze to unwind;" the hidden truth about life is that there is no hidden truth. In "Your Own Choice," our narrator realizes that there *is* no coming to terms with your mortality -- which paradoxically, is how you *do* come to terms with it. You must lose faith in humanity to have any faith at all.

The opening track, "Whiskey Train," is a fine blues rocker, but nothing special. The chorus of Robin Trower's other composition, "About to Die," leans perhaps a little too heavily on The Band as a model. Every other moment on this album is breathtakingly perfect. Really. Kudos to producer Chris Thomas, especially for the job he did capturing B. J. Wilson's astonishing drumming (imagine Beethoven in Keith Moon's body). Gary Brooker's singing and piano playing are terrific. Likewise Chris Copping's organ playing -- it's less majestic and melodic than predecessor Matthew Fisher, but actually better suited to the darker material. And Trower -- long before he discovered Hendrix -- had an utterly unmistakeable style of his own; his lead /rhythm playing in the powerhouse rocker "Still There'll Be More" and his solo in "Whaling Stories" mark him already as a genuine Guitar God.

The sequencing is close to optimal in terms of exploring the death theme -- try 1, 4, 5, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9. That actually tells a story -- the death of a friend ("Nothing That I Didn't Know") plunges the already alcoholic narrator into a Christ-obsessed ("About to Die" and "Barnyard Story"), suicidal and homicidal ("Still There'll Be More") rumination which extends into a contemplation of the apocalypse ("Piggy Pig Pig" and the band's crowning masterpiece, "Whaling Stories") before arriving at the unexpected Answer (complete with bucolic harmonica).

Lyricist Keith Reid has said that the album's thematic unity was not intentional, and that only in retrospect does he realize how depressed he must have been at the time. Consider this: after writing four albums full of songs about death (with the sea as an almost constant metaphor), he hardly ever dealt with this subject matter again. And though I hate to endorse the "suffer for your art" notion, truth to tell, once he succeeded in working through this great question that lay at the heart of all his early work, he quickly became just a shadow of his former artistic self. In a strange way, I think that's testament to the power of the first four Procol Harum albums, and especially this, the stunning climax and capstone.


greatest rock album: greatest rock song greatest guitar lead   December 24, 2001
harry salzberg (milford delaware)
10 out of 13 found this review helpful

if you've ever wanted to hear the lightning in trower's poignant whaling stories lead, or the change in timber as gary's chords fade away, or the thunder in bj's drumming, or the 'k' in wake at the end......then buy this expensive release...never has a band unleashed such symphonic power and poetic lyrics....I saw them perform these songs at the fillmore east in june 1970....rock and roll has been downhill ever since.


Gary Brooker and Keith Reed "Shine on Brightly."   March 13, 1999
Stephen S. Woodruff (Connecticut)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

The power, clarity and insight of this album is unusual not only for its time, but for rock in general. While it seems that the lyrcist Reid was understandably impacted by the death of a six year old child "Nothing that I didn't Know", he still relentlessly examines death, alcholism,and greed and does it with rhyme that is clear and to the point. While he is painfully aware of the realities of life, he does offer comfort to "those alive and those at peace." Musically the potent words are more then matched by talents of Brooker, Trower, Wilson and Coppings. Brooker's vocals and Trower's guitar work are superb. For clarity and strength of purpose all the tracks work. This is not an ablum for the faint hearted nor the intellectually challenged May they always "Shine on Brightly."


Procol brings home the bacon on fourth album.   August 4, 1998
gortleib@aol.com (Detroit, MI)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Procol Harum's first album sans organist Matthew Fisher, Home is the dividing line between the two camps of Procol devotees: Those who gave up on the band after Fisher left, and those who thought the band was better off without him. On Home, Fisher's sublime, cathedral-like organ passages are replaced by stark, whittled-down arrangements (there are no Salty Dog string sections here) dominated by Robin Trower's bluesy guitar and Gary Brooker's gruff voice and pounding grand piano. New bassist/organist Chris Coppings attempts to emulate Fisher's organ on cuts like Piggy Pig Pig, but lacks Fisher's presence. Titles like Dead Man's Dream and About To Die showcase Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid in a particularly dark state of mind. Still, the epic Whaling Stories more than compensates and is alone worth the price of admission.


Procol's Darkest Album   March 16, 2000
Kurt Harding (Boerne TX)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I am one of those who likes both the pre-and-post "Home" work of Procol Harum. Whisky Train is OK but somewhat repetitive. The real gems on this album are songs of death and decay. Dead Man's Dream is the masterpiece. There is nothing quite so terrifying to a listener with a good buzz on than to hear the words "The corpses were rotten, yet each one was living. Their eyes were alive, with maggots crawling" overlaid on the background of the band's eerie, sepulchral organ. God, what a song! Still There'll Be More, a song of revenge, is not as well written but I remember the lyrics had many parents thinking that their offspring were listening to unspeakable degeneracy. Actually, it's pretty tame by today's standards. Nothing That I Didn't Already Know is a tragic and melancholy tune of early death. About to Die is a pseudo-religious anthem featuring some fine guitar work by Robin Trower and some fabulous piano-pounding by Gary Brooker. I like Barnyard Story, a short enigmatic song that adds to the album's air of tragedy and impending doom. Piggy Pig Pig heightens this feeling with the forceful piano of Gary Brooker and a background chorus evocative of that in the Beatles "I Am The Walrus". This is followed by the even more apocalyptic "Whaling Stories" and finishes in an atmosphere of peace and relaxation. The finale, Your Own Choice, is kind of a throwaway which adds nothing to an otherwise great album.