blackleatherbookshelf | Entries tagged with alan parsons project

Time, rolling like a river,
3 Out Of 5 Stars

While his prior studio album was released six years before, Alan Parsons put together a new touring version of the Alan Parsons Project and took it on a global tour. "Eye 2 Eye," recorded in Madrid, is from that period. The members aren't many of the more infamous APP crew (no Colin Blunstone, Chris Rainbow, Lenny Zakatek etc), but the new gang fills in admirably. The set list leans heavily on hits, with only "More and More Lost Without You" (from "Valid Path") veering from the better known songs.

Like all of Parsons' albums, even his live recording are immaculately done. The sounds is just slightly less pristine than the studio versions, there's no pandering to the crowd (no 'clap your hands!!' or 'sing along with this part!' type of audience baiting). While "Eye 2 Eye" won't wipe the memory of the classic albums from your brain, it's not a disappointing CD by any means. However, the only reason you'll need to won it is if you're an APP completest.

PS - Nice to see the acknowledgement of Eric Woolfson in the liner notes.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Psychobabble" Alan Parsons Project

Nice, Nice, Very Nice
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Ambrosia started life as a prog-rock band with classical leanings, and art-intellectual enough to make a chorus of one of their better songs a lift from a Kurt Vonnegut novel. Then they even gave the author a composer's credit on said song ("Nice Nice Very Nice"), for which Vonnegut sends the band a delightful thank you note, which is reproduced in the CD booklet. Their second album, "Somewhere I've Never Traveled," was produced by legend Alan Parsons and was nominated for an engineering Grammy. The album cover was even designed to fold into an elaborate pyramid. By their third album, "Life Beyond LA," Ambrosia had jettisoned the overtly prog-arty portion of their sound, tightened up their sound considerably, lost founding member Chris North, and hit on the formula for massive mainstream success.

"Life Beyond LA" also found singer David Pack breaking ranks with the band's old style and writing the pop ballad "How Much I Feel." It was totally unlike anything the group had recorded to that date and pushed pack to the front of the band. What is most interesting is how the tightened sound on "Life Beyond LA" seemed to be edging Ambrosia more towards the enigmatic feel of Steely Dan, with both the title track and "Angola" from this collection highlighting this move. Still, a number three pop ballad will tend to make a band feel cornered, which is what happened next.

When the album "One Eighty" appeared, Ambrosia appeared on the cover in a very stylized group photo, and the first single was yet another soft-pop ballad. "The Biggest Part of Me" hit number two on Billboard and the follow-up, "Your The Only Woman" reached the top twenty. Chris North had returned to the band, but Ambrosia was now firmly entrenched in the kind of soulful pop The Doobie Brothers were making. It's not by accident that Michael McDonald and David Pack had become friends in this time (and the two bands toured together); Pack and McDonald sing together on "I Just Can't Let Go," a bonus track on this anthology.

Back to their original four-man line up, Ambrosia tried to break out of this box by recording the harder rocking "Road Island." Along with a cover by the always demented Ralph Steadman (of "Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas" fame), and is a significant move back toward rocking. "Still Not Satisfied" is the sole song from that album included and this time bassist Joe Puerta sings the lead. (It should be noted that Joe often took lead on Ambrosia songs and the band has always had excellent harmonies). However, by now the public that had pegged the band as pop-stars found something as solid as "Kid No More" (my favorite song from "Road Island" and not included here) too heavy for their interests. "Road Island" flopped and Ambrosia parted ways soon after.

There are three bonus tracks here, the newly recorded "Mama Don't Understand" and "Sky Is Falling" along with the remixed and somewhat re-recorded "I Just Can't Let Go," which originally appeared on David Pack's lone solo album. The band again sounds like they've taken league with latter day Doobie Brothers on these, and they are good tracks. Pack has distinguished himself as both vocalist and producer, while Joe Puerta became the bassist for Bruce Hornsby and The Range. And while they may never create anything as cinematicaly ambitious as "Cowboy Star" or as soulful as "How Much I Feel" again, this collection of songs shows Ambrosia to be a great band that didn't get the creative credit they deserved in their prime.

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Life Beyond LA" Ambrosia

Chemical Balance
4 Out Of 5 Stars

As the Alan Parsons Project continued their glide from prog-rock to prog-pop, "Ammonia Avenue" maintained the quality of the previous Eye in the Sky. Stellar musicianship, exquisite production values, and top-notch songwriting. This also may be the album where the first cracks in the Parsons/Woolfson alliance can be seen forming.

The late Eric Woolfson was still the conceptual leader in the APP, but he was also aspiring to the stage. "Ammonia Avenue's" pop conventions were now more prominent than the rock ones, with the Phil Spector wall-of-sound homage of "Don't Answer Me" being the most obvious. (I was also surprised to learn the these songs were originally being considered as a double album, with the remainders eventually arriving on Vulture Culture. Parsons still delivered his sonic expertise, with his signature sound permeating "You Don't Believe" and the instrumental "Pipeline."

Ultimately, "Ammonia Avenue" reaches a balance between the two men, yet it was the first time an APP album felt like it was being divided between its two creative forces. Parsons and Woolfson would soldier on for three more albums, but this was the junction that the two men began taking their separate highways.

Current Mood: mellow
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "You Don't Believe" Alan Parsons Project

Tower of Musical Babel
3 Out of 5 Stars

The late Eric Woolfson states that it was his fascination with architect Antonio Gaudi that led to 1987's "Gaudi," the 11th and final proper Alan Parsons Project album. And like Gaudi's famous La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral that remains under construction to this day despite Gaudi's death in 1926. Gaudi designed and built colorful, spiraling and imaginative buildings throughout Spain, but it is his cathedral that remains the best known of his works.

It is that cathedral that provides the best moments on "Gaudi." The opening track is a near nine minute epic, "La Sagrada Familia." Then the finale, the instrumental "Paseo De Gracia" (Path of Grace), with Spanish guitar over lush orchestration, is vintage APP. Other than "Closer To Heaven, though, the remaining tracks do not seem to have much to tie them together thematically. The production values are still flawless, and the sound of this remaster is fantastic, but the album itself is weak.

The usual team provides highlights, with Wolfson, John Miles and Lenny Zakatek giving the solid vocals. On the rockier song, "Standing On Higher Ground," it's Geoff Barradale (who was the lead singer in cult faves Vitamin Z) who gives "Gaudi" its punchiest moment. The rough version of "Standing On Higher Ground" shows up as a bonus track with Wolfson showing an uncharacteristic silliness, along with a demo of "Too Late," where the vocal is just the melody song in la la la and do do do. Not exactly essential, but interesting. "Gaudi" also lacks the in-depth liner notes that the earlier re-issues had, like Parsons and Wolfson commenting on the demos and bonus material. Which makes this, the last of the Alan Parsons Project re-issues, one of the lesser in the pack.

Current Mood: creative
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Standing On Higher Ground" The Alan Parsons Project

Vulture Culture, You Use it or You Lose It
3 Out of 5 Stars

The Alan Parsons Project made a serious move towards pop when "Vulture Culture" made its appearance in 1985. No opening instrumental. No orchestrations. And for the first time in many albums, no hit single. Granted, it may have been the years catching up to them (the APP's 8th album in 10 years), but "Vulture Culture" also feels a bit lackluster by Parson's own usual high standards.

The theme this time is man's general self-centeredness and predatory nature, stated rather bluntly in the opening "Let's Talk About Me." But this time, the concept feels more contrived than previous albums that so masterfully fused their ideas (like Pyramid or Eye in the Sky). The musicianship and production is newly highlighted in the remaster, and APP's usual team of stalwart musicians and vocalists are on board. Saxophonist Richard Collte in particular adds depth to some of the songs here, especially on the de-rigueur instrumental, "Hawkeye."

"Vulture Culture" does have a few highlights. The ballad "Days are Numbers (The Traveller)" should have been the first single. Graced with a gorgeous chorus and a splendid vocal from Chris Rainbow, it rates with "Time" as one of the Project's finest songs. Surprisingly, one of the other high points comes from a bonus track, the previously unreleased "No Answers Only Questions." A gentle folk ballad that probes the concept's question of why mankind seems so bent on competing so aggressively against each other.

The late Eric Woolfson writes in the liner-notes that, at the time, he and Parsons didn't think the song fit into the overall theme of "Vulture Culture." Now featured as a bonus track, "No Answers Only Questions" strikes a nice coda to the original album and, with the passing of Woolfson in November 2009, posts an additional note on the legacy of what a gifted singer/composer he was. In my opinion, "Vulture Culture" is on a par with Eve in the canon of APP albums; not bad, but one that could be set aside for better works first.

Current Mood: cold
Current Location: Winteer Wonderland
Current Music: "Days Are Numbers" Alan Parsons Project

Addiction and Risk set to Music,

4 Out of 5 Stars

(I read today that Eric Woolfon, the half of the Alan Parsons Project that wasn't Alan Parsons, succumbed to cancer Dec 2, 2009. More can be found here.)

The fifth album for The Alan Parsons Project was a change for the changing times. By 1980, disco had reshaped the industry, though it was in its last throes when "Turn Of A Friendly Card" arrived. Record companies were beginning to feel an economic pinch for the first time in years. The result was artists tightening up their music and presentation, and APP was no exception. From the lack of a gatefold sleeve to the more pop-oriented single "Games People Play," this was a shift towards radio friendliness that would peak when Eye in the Sky was released two years later.

There were marked differences in other departments. First and most, Eric Woolfson sang lead vocals for the first time. Two songs features his voice in front, "Time" and "Nothing Left to Lose." The dreamy "Time" became a top 20 single and also moved APP into adult contemporary territory. That settled the suits at Arista, certainly. It was certainly inspiring to Woolfson, who incorporated a few of "Turn's" songs into his musical, "Gambler."

However, the original album's side two was a suite as only the prog-minded Parsons could have pieced together. Bookended by the two-parted title track, it was where the album's themes of addiction, risk and greed are weighed in. "Snake Eyes" is the key track, as singer Chris Rainbow urgently pleas for 'just one minute more' in anticipation that the next card will bring him the riches that he just knows await. Woolfson's sad "Nothing Left to Lose" shows the gambler realizing that rock bottom is nearer than he ever thought, with beautiful backing vocals. It's some of APP's best work, and makes "Turn of a Friendly Card" one of The Project's most cohesive albums.

Like the rest of the re-masters in this series, the sound is fantastic. Every time I've listened to this series (been on an APP jag lately), I get more and more frustrated by 'the loudness wars' that seem to be utterly destroying popular music of late. When you listen to the epic instrumental prelude to "May Be A Price to Pay," you may (like me) start wondering where the next generation of classic producer/engineers are going to come from.

RIP Eric Woolfson.