APP is an autobuy for me. Not that I like everything (I havent spun Eye in the sky for decades) I havent seen much love for Gaudi (did I say that right? thats not a Steely Dan album is it?), But I recall it being very good. I also liked Vulture Culture. I think Of Alan Parsons as a real pioneer. I bet even some Dance/Trance people would get into some of his electronica stuff. He had a flair for Electronica before anyone knew what it was.
I got nothin' :
...avoiding any implication that I have ever entertained a cognizant thought.
live samples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwbCFGbAtFc
https://youtu.be/AEE5OZXJioE
https://soundcloud.com/yodelgoat/yod...om-a-live-show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUe3YhCjy6g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VOCJokzL_s
Absolutely sublime.Originally Posted by SteveSly
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
The opening track on "Gaudi", "La Sagrada Familia" is incredible, but the rest of the album is not really on the same level. "Vulture Culture" has it's moments. I actually thought the single "Let's Talk About Me" was one of the best tracks on the alubm. I would agree with you about the Electronica, which he really tried to explore more of with his most recent album, but it did not really go over that well with many of his old time fans. But.....yea, he did pioneer a lot of that stuff.
Steve Sly
I ROBOT is an absolute must-have, IMHO.
Tales of mystery & Imagination is pretty damn good as well.
They lost me with Pyramid and after that I lost interest as the progginess pretty much vanished from their albums.
High Vibration Go On - R.I.P. Chris Squire
Obviously I am in the minority, but I like Pyramid right up there with I-Robot as my favs. Then Tales and TOAFC. After those (4), then Eye in the Sky would be my 5th fav. Although I havent heard it in a long time, EVE was very weak and not worth bothering with. I think it had one song I liked.
Last edited by jim1961; 02-28-2013 at 01:35 PM.
There is always the funky element(s) in the Alan Parsons Project albums, which may or may not be considered progressive, depending on your personal progressive preference. "Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" is a fave rave that I always look for at karaoke bars, so I can sing it and dedicate it to my boss!
Following the replies I am defo. gonna buy 'I Robot'. I assume his catalogue have been remastered & expanded ?
I Robot is about to have an anniversary release with a bonus disc- might be worth waiting a week or two on!
Autobuy!
Isn't he doing a box set with the entire catalougue remasterd or something like that? (similar to what Blue Oyster Cult just did). Seems like I read that somewhere. Actually the original mixes of the APP albums have held up quite well to my ears. A lot of them sound better than the crap production on albums today.
Steve Sly
OK - I guess I'll have to revisit Pyramid. I only have it on vinyl and haven't owned a turntable since 1989 or so until last month. That'll be my next spin.
Here's another fan of APP. I find most, if not all of Alan's and Eric's discography great - but I must tell you about my love for the Pyramid album. It may be my absolute favourite..Yeah, I'm strange:-)
I'm down with APP.
My first album was Turn Of A Friendly Card and I worked my way up from there, eventually getting every album by the mid
'80s. I was obsessed with them up until Stereotomy. Gaudi just didn't grab me and then I done burned out.
Compact Disk brought high fidelity to the masses and audiophiles will never forgive it for that
Supertramp is far from mellow. They are very bouncy.
I've always found Wouldn't Want To Be Like You quite funky. Isn't there a Clavinet on that song?
Looked on Amazon, but found no info about it. To the person that said that they didn't like APP due to multiple vocalists on each album:just think of the albums as plays and the different vocalists representing different characters. Btw, I am currently enjoying the deluxe version of Tales Of Mystery And Imagination.
I think it was mentioned in the Innerviews interview that was posted recently. I'll see if I can find anything. Maybe I hallucinated it...
No, you're right, trurl - it was in Anil's Innerview with Mr. Parsons.
Great read, for anyone who hasn't checked it out yet.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
Yeah, here you go:
Q-This is set to be a big year for you with a series of intriguing archival Alan Parsons Project releases. Tell me about them.
A-We’ve got a box set of the entire catalog coming out in the summer, as well as a re-release of I Robot, to coincide with its 35th anniversary this year. Both are in the early stages. I just found out the label wants to do it. I’ll be handling the remastering, as well as adding some new bonus material we’ve dug out of the archives.
So nothing definite yet. Probably best not to wait on that. Sounds cool though.
The good news is that the "regular" editions should be rather cheap.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
Yeah. I bought the remasters of I Robot and Eye In The Sky at Barnes And Noble fairly cheaply when they first came out.The good news is that the "regular" editions should be rather cheap.
I have all of his releases both with the Project and solo. Some are stronger than others for sure but I truly love how they covered very different styles moving from straight ahead rock to ballad to orchestral feels. It was somewhat like theater art and a play where the pit orchestra just is on the stage for some of the songs. We just saw him this past weekend in Napa and the show was just stellar. He brings the same amazing audio engineering to their live performances and the sound was awesome. Great mix, not overly loud, everything clearly heard. Multiple vocalists in the live band as well and they really stay true to their studio arrangements.
One of the few commercial bands with a strong prog touch that I like. I think that all their albums up and including Eye in the Sky were good. Tales of Mystery and Imagination and I Robot are definitively their best with Pyramid and Turn of a Friendly Card following close. Eve is the weakest of the bunch but still half of the album holds up quite well.
If I wrote that, it would be no compliment at all ... I have on autobuy all sorts of rubbish that I don't even like any more, just because I liked what the artist did in the past!
I agree with most of what has said about the Alan Parsons Project. I got into them with Tales of Mystery and Imagination, which I'd still recommend as one of their best albums, but pretty much everything after that is well worth trying out until about Ammonia Avenue, which was the last album that was more than one good song and a load of filler. Freudiana is also very good.
Unfortunately, I've found that the albums just don't stand up as much as I'd hope after an interval of years, so I'm a lot more likely just to listen to my favourite songs off iTunes than hear the entire album as originally issued. The first sides of Tales of Mystery and Imagination and Turn Of A Friendly Card are obvious exceptions ... but I'd struggle to think of another band that has been at some time or another a major favourite of mine where there was so much addition of makeweights diluting the strongest material.
I too think PYRAMID is quite good. Very excellent opening trio of tracks and "Pyramania" is a lot of fun. Surprised they're rereleasing the albums again so soon. It was just 5 years ago or so that the remasters came out with a slew of bonus tracks. A lot of the rough mixes weren't that interesting but there were some jems. Best of the bunch and really the only "unreleased" song was on VULTURE CULTURE-a song better than just about anything on that album called "No Answers Only Questions".
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