EVE

After three excellent productions, no one should be disappointed that The ALAN PARSONS PROJECT (TAPP)'s fourth album has not reached such high levels of quality and inspiration. Without being really bad, by comparison, it shines very little ... although, honestly, I've heard dozens of worse records that have sold more copies than this one! After exploring the future and the past on the two previous albums, creative duet PARSONS/WOOLFSON embarked on a concept as fascinating as it is problematic: women, and more specifically, relationships between men and women, with songs sung by (more) men and (less) women. Following the exact same recipe that worked so well on "Pyramid," pop songs are interspersed with a couple of instrumentals, all tied by the central concept. The album starts with an instrumental theme that would soon become a classic: 'Lucifer,' which immediately sets the tone for the entire first part of the album. There is little point in trying to make controversial with what TAPP meant by naming the opening track of an album dedicated to women with such a name, right? Two very memorable songs follow 'Lucifer': 'You Lie Down With Dogs' which is by far the most misogynistic song Eric WOOLFSON has ever written, and 'I'd Rather Be A Man' which it barely lags a little behind. But these compositions do not impress me because of the violence of the lyrics, nor because of the hate contained in their message, but because of the atmosphere so well achieved that it is created with music, ominous and perverse; the playful rhythm with which Lenny ZAKATEK and David PATON sing (I personally like Lenny's timbre in the first one more than David's in the second), and the instrumental solos, which lead to a terrifying climax: not even in moments. Darker than "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," the Project had sounded so poisonous ... The album continues with other songs less interesting than those two, armed with the typical warm and monotonous melodies, and the well-known vocal harmonies that TAPP quickly accustomed us to. The apparent intention is to face the feelings of men and women in the typical battle of the sexes; for example, in 'You Won't Be There,' sung melodramatically by Dave TOWNSEND, it talks about male insecurities, while the theme in 'Winding Me Up' is the female ability to dominate your partner (interesting detail: notice at the initial sound of the music box mechanism breaking?) The bitter 'Damned If I Do' is a more traditional song, with a style that anticipates the pop music of the next decade, with its synthesizer arrangements and catchy choruses. The bitter 'Damned If I Do' is a more traditional song, with a style that anticipates the pop music of the next decade, with its synthesizer arrangements and catchy choruses, although more emotional than much of the New Wave music later produced in England. The female point of view appears until the end of the album: Clare TORRY sings 'Don't Hold Back,' about the malice and intellectual ability of the erroneously called "weak sex." At the same time, Lesley DUNCAN takes over 'If I Could Change Your Mind,' which does not need further clarification, as the title is quite eloquent. - Martín HERNÁNDEZ