The Alan Parsons Project

The Turn of a Friendly Card (Expanded Edition)

admin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:15:00 +0000

Alan Parsons needs no introduction. In addition to his production credits on albums like The Beatles' Abbey Road and Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, this iconic musician achieved success with his own band, The Alan Parsons Project. With the remastered version of his classic 1980 album, The Turn of a Friendly Card (Expanded Edition), fans now have a chance to listen to previously unreleased alternate takes and demos. I'm not usually big on remastered versions of classic albums—to me, nothing beats the sound of a vinyl record—but the sound is very good on this. I don't have a copy of this album on vinyl to compare the sound with, but they seem to have done a good job at preserving the warmth and integrity of the sonics.

The Turn of a Friendly Card is a concept album that tells the story of a gambler and the toll it takes on his life. The album swoops from dramatic highs to melancholy lows as the “Friendly Card” turns out to be not-so-friendly. Solidly written and tightly executed, this album is a pleasure to listen to. As with any prog-rock record, the album ambles and wanders; while there are times it might benefit from being a tad shorter, the songs are very compelling with an almost cinematic quality.

There are seventeen tracks on this album—the first ten are the remastered songs from the original album; the remaining seven are bonus tracks—treating the listener to alternate versions of “May Be a Price to Pay,” “Nothing Left to Lose,” “Time,” “Games People Play,” and “The Gold Bug.” These mixes make for an interesting listen, with the inclusion of demos and early rough mixes. These bonus tracks will probably be of more interest to die hard fans than casual listeners, but there are some standouts—you don't have to be an audio buff to enjoy “Nothing Left To Lose (Chris Rainbow Overdub Vocal Compilation),” which highlights Rainbow's striking vocals. I think any lover of classic rock will enjoy The Turn of a Friendly Card (Expanded Edition)—I'd be willing to bet on it.

Written by: Beeb Ashcroft, June 8th 2009

Eve

admin — Sun, 31 May 2009 09:21:00 +0000

By The Alan Parsons Project

Arista

After the release of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon, Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson put together the Alan Parsons Project, a British progressive rock group that put out several albums that could be considered “concept” albums—not too unlike what the Mars Volta does now.

1979 was the original release year for the album Eve and the concept for this album is the tale of a woman and how she affects men. Sort of an interesting take when you consider Jane Fonda’s Barbarella was released in 1968 and showcased her talents and affect on men. I doubt Eve was totally inspired by Jane Fonda, but you get the general idea. Fighting against the infusion of new wave British pop and punk rock, the Alan Parsons’ Project remastered edition of Eve comes out to a completely new musical landscape. However, the album is inconsistent and uneven, and fans of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon might find this particular album difficult to grab onto.

The opening track “Lucifer” opens with an instrumental, then starts strong with the following songs “You Lay Down with the Dogs” and “I’d Rather be a Man,” whose lyrics might be too strong for some: “Well I’d rather be a man than play my role like you do/ I’d rather be a man than sin my soul like you do/ I’d rather be a man than slave the way you do/ I’d rather be a man cause a man don’t crawl like you do.”

After that, the entire album falls flat and tapers off. I kept finding myself shuffling to the next song, hoping to find some magic in the music. The remastered edition doesn’t offer as much as other versions, and doesn’t sound any better than the original, which is somewhat surprising, as Parsons worked as an engineer on The Beatles’ Abbey Road and Let It Be, as well as Dark Side Of The Moon. But Eve doesn’t capture quite the same distinct feel for my pop loving ears. Perhaps I’ve got a grudge against art house rock. But in all honesty, Eve is definitely not art house rock and definitely not the album to check out if you want to listen to the Alan Parsons’ Project.

Written by: Mónica Teresa Ortiz, May 31st 2009

Gaudi (1987 Expanded Restoration)

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:26:00 +0000

By The Alan Parsons Project

Legacy Recordings

The Alan Parsons Project music can be defined as mainly rock. They create concept albums revolving around different ideas or people, such as Edgar Allan Poe, and for this particular concept album Antonio Gaudi served as the inspiration. Gaudi was a Spanish modernist architect whose buildings still stand as monuments of his genius. Among his very impressive work is La Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, which is considered his masterpiece even though it remains unfinished. Several musicians and singers contribute to the Project’s vision. It is for a very specific audience as the music varies.

This project was originally released in 1987 and you can definitely tell. It’s filled with power rock ballads, and not the timeless type of power rock. Traditionally, The Alan Parson’s Project has several artists contribute to the albums, not the album as a whole but to individual songs. The Gaudi project is no exception. This amalgam of talent can prove divisive and incoherent yet at the same time it works. As a whole the album does have too many styles but if taken individually, the songs are good within their own right.

The Gaudi project can be described mainly as power rock. Some tracks are instrumental but what’s consistent is the intensity that keeps building. The lyrics are a bit obvious, sticking to the main theme, Gaudi and his work La Sagrada Familia. In fact, the album begins and ends with an eight-minute instrumental track by the same title. None of them really seem to capture the magnitude and complexity of Gaudi’s work. The last song “Paseo de gracia” is perhaps the only one that obviously reflects their inspiration. It features an acoustic Spanish flamenco style that is reminiscent of their inspiration while remaining conceptual. As for the other tracks, they are all very different and the lyrics seem to take the idea in a more liberal sense.

The Alan Parsons Project’s Gaudi is an album that established fans probably will truly enjoy, but it might be a bit difficult for those not familiar to understand.

Written by: Jessica Sánchez, May 18th 2009