I haven't listened to Procol Harum in a while

You know, if at times my nonsense rhymes, then i'll stand trial. It's certainly true that i sat me down to tell a simple story, but my goodness the places we've explored. I thought it might be interesting to go way back near the beginning. No, not Vanilla Fudge, i was thinking of A Salty Dog by Procol Harum. As i recall, i didn't have much to say because it's lovely. I was also just clumsily starting to write the story i sat me down to write, so where the devil did that suggestion come from? Where's Narray, the Metatron, the Mouth of my subconscious Sauron? Nowhere? Ok, guess i'll wing it. I don't have any proof, but i suspect it's that the actual dream in BTBAM's Automata is supposedly about finding his family and returning home. This album is clearly the first half of that process, sailing off and finding yourself in the middle of the journey.

There's a fair bit of garbage amateur musicology about this album, critical blather as i call it. Supposedly, you can hear that Robin Trower has begun to head off in a different direction and will quit soon. No, he's just panned hard right (not counting that one track where they just randomly twist the knob back and forth so he sounds like a fly buzzing around your head), in a completely different room, and playing sloppy. Sure, David Gilmour did exactly the same thing on tracks he thought were dumb, but these songs aren't dumb. This is a great album. For starters, all the protagonists are muddling through the middle of their adventures, and they can't stop adventuring them even if they wanted to. 

Hey guys, you're not gonna believe this, but i think the album might have a nautical theme. 

Are you sure? 

Well, i mean there's a lighthouse on the cover, and that's how i'd paint water if i knew how to paint. His hat says he's a hero, but he kind of reminds me of the Player's Navy Cut Cigarette logo.

Do you think it's the same lighthouse as the Lighthouse lighthouse?

Enough of that, you two! I didn't invite you here to talk over my talky talk like dumb dumbs. I invited you here to point out that the wider array of styles and changing vocalists signifies that we are all on our own adventure through life, we're all out at sea, we don't know what we'll find when we get to where we're getting, but hopefully we'll have the chance to party on the beach somewhere in the middle. 

Even better, the album is a proper cycle: he starts telling the story, lives through it, sits down to start telling the story, and you guessed it, proceeds to start telling the story. If that doesn't make you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, then you just aren't even trying, are you?

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