I loved Procol Harum's first three albums at the time of their release, and still do. Then organist Matthew Fisher left the group, and their style and sound changed dramatically. The fourth album---Home---was not at all to my liking, Robin Trower’s rather clichéd white-boy Blues style of guitar playing coming far too center stage for me. I saw them live in 1970, and they struck me as just another British Blues-Rock band, a genre I find dreadfully boring. It was a shame, because the Matthew Fisher-era PH was a unique, magnificently Baroque-ish musical group. I wrote PH off, never desiring to hear another of their albums.
Had Trower left by the time of Grand Hotel? I’ll look it up. Perhaps his departure for a solo career returned PH to their former glory. Art Dudley often mentions Grand Hotel in his reviews, and now with reubent’s endorsement---my musical taste aligns with his---I believe I need to hear the album.
