THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT

So yeah I Robot, how does it hold up to their other classics?

It's pretty good, I still really enjoyed it. It's vibey, Alan Parsons ambient themes are timeless and it's just a very good listen overall. They never fail to create absolutely immaculate vibes. I'd say this is their most progressive record out of all of them, I Robot definitely holds up against other APP classics.

There are not a lot of like absolutely mindblowing individual tracks, but overall as an album, this thing flows together perfectly and has nothing but quality on it. Definitely, their third-best record that I've heard so far. Tracks like The Voice really remind me of Pink Floyd, which makes a lot of sense, because I mean Alan Parsons produced it after all. Then you have a song like Nucleus which is almost an Ambient song, sounds awesome. Then the intro, which is a very progressive piece, that opens up the album perfectly.

A pretty forward-thinking quality piece from one of the most underrated, especially from one of the best sound engineers of all time. 4 stars i'm glad I have the vinyl :)

Having the least inspiring beginning of all the classis APP releases, the music on 'Pyramid' gets progressively better as the albums moves towards the middle, yet the sounds on here are quite mellow, often melancholic and soft, occasionally anticipating some of the new wave explorations about to enter the world of rock just a few years later, at times exhibiting jazz-inspired rhythms. The cast of vocalists this time around is rather good, the layers of synths do provide for a spacey atmosphere and even if there is no technical playing, the production of 'Pyramid' is actually stellar. Songs like 'One More River', 'In the Lap of the Gods', 'Hyper-Gamma-Spaces' and 'Shadow of a Lonely Man' reveal the textured and tranquilizing nature of the album, which remains a fine but less engaging entry of this catalogue, an album that could have been more intriguing had it had some of the versatility of 'I Robot' or the experimental nuances of 'Tales'.

We have Eric Woolfson covering a tremendous array of keyboards, including the Fender Rhodes, the Wurlitzer and the clavinet, while Alan Parsons is busier with production, sound engineering, ambience, the use of effects, tape loops and sequences, all aspects that contribute to the futuristic, artsy sounds of 'I Robot', undoubtedly one of the signature progressive albums of the late 70s. Relying upon an instrumental intro once more, APP offer the iconic title track, a tune so quirky and memorable, a great introduction to a lush journey. 'I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You' with its uplifting guitars and swaying rhythms is another essential entry, while the moodier side of the band is explored on 'Some Other Time', 'Don't Let It Show', and 'Day After Day', all very mellow, these tracks focus on the songwriting aspect as well as the forging of a particular feel rather than the technical, instrumental side, which is to be heard on songs like 'The Voice' with its enigmatic and modernist middle section, 'Nucleus', 'Total Eclipse' and album closer. Obviously 'I Robot' is a classic album by the Alan Parsons Project, one that offers a fine balance between radio-friendly pop-prog tunes and spacey, instrumental ventures.

Featuring a cast of collaborators alongside the duo of Parsons and Woolfson, The Alan Parsons Project would continue to operate in this manner for future releases as well, even if the duo is responsible for writing the music. The presence of several vocalists is what makes this debut album by the band quite distinguishable from other releases by the Project - on an album that features two inherently different sides of music. Side one is comprised of five great songs, one of which is the instrumental intro track, through which we notice the use of various synths and keyboards, all adding up layers of music. The songs on side one have a stylistic range that can easily be attributed to progressive rock, although one might notice that there is really mellow, occasionally melancholic feel to some of them, while others might be more pertinent to soft rock and even progressive pop. Ideally, the band would develop its musical identity on later albums, but a tendency of writing radio-friendly material is present on here as well. Side two features a 15-minute classical crossover piece with rock instrumentation reinterpreting one of Debussy's signature works and a closing track, and while it might be difficult to say which side of the two caries the album, the record nevertheless remains a fascinating, enjoyable and delightful listen, offering a tasty piece of progressive pop with classical influences, one that is a little rare to find nowadays. And of course, this album features classic tracks like 'The Raven', 'The Tell-Tale Heart' with the vocals of Arthur Brown, and the funky '(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether', essential songs for The Alan Parsons Project.

Stylistically the material on "I Robot" is synth/keyboard dominated and futuristic sounding art rock, which occassionally gets complex or structurally intriguing enough to be labelled progressive rock. It doesn´t happen often though, and it´s probably not an album for the hardcore progressive rock listener. The AOR/soft rock direction of the tracks with vocals are sure to scare away listeners like that. "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" is an example of that, and it´s a song which could well be played on regular pop/rock radio, but quite a few of the tracks fall under this catagory. All tracks with vocals feature different lead vocalists, which is fully in line with the studio status of The Alan Parsons Project. It was never a project, which was meant to tour or be considered a regular band with a permanent lineup.

"I Robot" is a well produced release, which isn´t a surprise, given the studio experience of band leader Alan Parsons, who is responsible for the sound production. And ultimately it´s the musical performances and the well sounding production which are the most interesting parts of "I Robot", because the soft rock/AOR nature of the material really isn´t that intreguing. The album simply falls between two chairs trying to cater to both an AOR audience and a progressive rock audience. It may have caught the attention of the former but I have a hard time imagining that the latter got much out of this. Still a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

In 1982, Progressive Rock wasn't the most popular and everything that was Progressive in music was read as something that made you say: "Look how good we are!". Yet "Eye In The Sky" is an album that could still be written, recorded and produced today without changing a thing. But it's a typical 80's album. Nothing to say against the songs included here... Some are close, in some parts, to Progressive POP but they are not even remotely similar to Prog. Yet "Eye In The Sky" is an album that is still perfect, as soon as it was released. I honestly prefer it to Asia's albums (which I don't know if they are Prog or AOR). In fact I prefer albums like GTR's (fantastic AOR) or 3's (another fantastic AOR album).

Today describing the songs contained in "Eye In The Sky" makes no sense. Better to discuss the production and the sound. But, after all, Alan Parsons is the man behind the console of a masterpiece like "Dark Side Of The Moon" by Pink Floyd and if that album is considered the perfection of sound why shouldn't "Eye In The Sky" be? From this point of view "Eye In The Sky" is a bit too cold and predictable. And I prefer to listen to Vangelis' albums that are equally well produced or certain AOR albums that demand this level of recording, production and mixing. However, if you look closely, this is part of the game and makes "Eye In The Sky" an immortal album.

Whether you are a fan of Progressive Rock, Progressive POP, Soft Rock or AOR (and of course Progressive Soul) you can't help but love "Eaye In The Sky". Which, however, remains a great Soft Rock album with several connections to Progressive music.

Days flowing countless like grains of sand, and all that jazz, you know. The decisive point in that sort of narrative is, I think, how infinitesimal human life appears by comparison. It's overwhelming, not for us, progressive rock listeners, but for us, tiny humans dragging our brief lives. The result is elegantly somber, and inapprehensibly distant, like the pyramid scape in the cover.

And I like it, as I like the entire side one, the monumental fixation of the percussion in Voyager, the suggestion of a cyclic tide behind every change in life in What Goes Up, the properly overwehlming part in The Eagle Will Rise Again, which is where the insignificant human implores in vain to the unreachable divinity, the insinuation of infinity necessarily overcoming mortality, in the fantastic ride of One More River (to cross), led by the terrific vocals of Lenny Zakatek, and the final meeting with The Boatman, who is restless while an insipid burocrat tells you that you Can't Take It With You (you knew it, didn't you?, not even your discs).

But not only pyramids we find in the Hipgnosis shot, there is also that guy that seems to be passing a hard time on the ominous background of the desert and, well, yes, our pyramid. Side two seems dominated by him, with his trivial obsessions in Pyramania, and his final loneliness in Shadow Of A Lonely Man. Two instrumental tracks unfold a distant and almost indifferent back courtain, with massive orchestra and choir In The Lap Of The Gods, with purely mechanical minimalism sustained by keyboards Hyper-Gamma Spaces.

Take the ride, if you haven't yet, but in any case don't wait too long, the boatman is getting restless.

I want to preface this review by stating I am looking at the 1987 remix, which I believe to be the definitive listening for this record.

For a debut album's worth, this certainly is one that feels the most peculiar within the APP discography. Many of APP's workings are based around literature, or concepts inspired by literature. This is no exception, and the inspiration goes to, well, Edgar Allan Poe, a writer that needs no introduction to those that have read at least a little bit. Each of the 7 tracks are based around one of his stories, as opposed to what their next album, I Robot, would do by having most (or the entire story) within the album. For this review I decided to go to my school's library and check out a collection of stories from Poe, and so far I have read pretty much every story that this album tells, except for The Cask Of Amontillado and To One In Paradise.

Musically speaking, this album is just excellent. The best thing I would say about this record is certainly Alan Parsons' production, though that could be said with everything he had a hand in. Despite this, the heights I would say are the more symphonic stylings that persist within this record. They would move away with this more symphonic prog outlook in future releases, only really bringing it back up with The Turn Of A Friendly Card (which funnily enough also has a song based around a Edgar Allan Poe work). I feel like if they would do these songs, without the symphonic dramatics, they would fall a bit flat, but they certainly allow the ideas of Edgar's work to shine by adding such dramas into the mix.

This record also includes some of my favorite APP tracks yet. Of course the big 15 minute epic of The Fall Of The House Of Usher is a favorite of mine, being this vibrant and haunting classical melody, as well as (The System of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether being this groovy rock song that is both introspective in backing, but lively in front values. I would also point my attention to The Raven, which I think is just a superb song, combining funky pop sounds with magnificent prog to what I think is a very amazing and introspective jam. Certainly a highlight to what this album holds.

I believe there are no weak tracks, or at least no outright bad tracks. Perhaps maybe The Cask Of Amontillado and To One In Paradise, but even then they get quite the job done as very pretty tracks within the strong listing of songs here. Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson certainly know how to write some fantastic stuff.

However, what I do find weakening about this record is less of the music, and more of the general lyricism that is found here. I certainly do agree with Billy Altman of Rolling Stone magazine that this album does not quite capture the same darkness and gothic ideals that a lot of Poe's stories deliver, especially in lyrics. The only track to really come close is that of The Tell-Tale Heart, and even then that song is a bit too upbeat for a story about a guy killing an old man (though I guess if The Beatles made songs about murder with the same upbeat tunes then I guess APP should as well). Now, as of writing this, I think it'd be cool to hear some of these songs in a more gothic rock or dark cabaret sound. Imagine a cover of The Raven from a band like Cocteau Twins or The Cure, or a cover of The Tell- Tale Heart by someone like Will Wood. Honestly, I think that'd be pretty awesome.

Some of the lyrics feel out of place too, or even strangely obtuse to the source material. While I love Usher and Doctor Tarr, even I can admit they just feel odd in the songwriting. Doctor Tarr feels more like an ad for the services provided by Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, which I guess isn't too weird as in the original story the head of the Asylum, Monsieur Maillard, mentioned the revolutionary method of the two scientists, but merely only briefly which causes the unnamed narrator to try and find writings made by the two unknown scientists at the end, but even still lines like "You're in need of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" and "Just what you need to make you feel better" feels quite weird in context, even weirder than the stuff in the original story.

Usher is even weirder, having no lyrics, which to me seems like an odd choice. I guess the band wanted to create a track based around the vibes of the original story, but it kinda makes the epic feel out of place with the rest of the track listings, despite how great it is. I obviously do not hate these tracks, or think they are at all weak, but they certainly prove that for all their worth, I do not think Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson have what it takes to do something within the macabre.

This album is in an odd limbo in the APP discography. The sound of it is quite different from stuff like I Robot or Turn Of The Friendly Card, and it is a record that has an aura that feels out of tune with the works of Poe, but in tune within them as well oddly enough. But, no matter how you cut it, this certainly is not a bad album, far from it. Certainly not the best APP album, or the best record to come out of the 1976 prog mythos, but what you do get out of this is some great music, and a picture of the evolving progression that prog rock was taking at the time. It's mysterious, it's imaginative, and while it might not fully grasp the papers of Edgar Allan Poe's works, they certainly achieve something in spirit. I recommend this to those who enjoy a more pop prog sound, but also enjoy some symphonics as well. It is an album worth exploring if you might so desire.

Best tracks: The Raven, (The System of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, The Fall of the House of Usher

Weak tracks: The Cask of Amontillado, To One In Paradise

Starting with "A Dream Within A Dream" and "The Raven" Alan Parsons set his style for the rest of the discography. Then "The Tell-Tale Heart" breaks in (with an annoying and weird "aaaah", I always hated that haha) and the beautiful ballad "The Cask of Amontillado". Everything is what you have listened in better known albums like Eye In The Sky, the essence of Alan Parsons Project is something unique.

The most impressive part is the suite called "The Fall of the House of Usher", combining experimental art rock with orchestral sections, bringing some chaos to the record that "To One in Paradise" restore with an idyllic soft song.

If you want some accessible art rock but different and varied at the same time, this is a good choice.