THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD

With the turn Of A Friendly Card The Alan Parson Project reached its peak as a commercial band. It sold far more than its previous works followuing the success fo such hit singles Time and Games People Play. There were some subtle changes (as every APP album had): keyboards player Duncan Mckay left the band and the list of singers now was restricted to three: Chris Rainbow, Lenny Zatek and, for the first time, Eric Woolfson. There would be always a guest vocalist on each album, but from now on for just one track only. Also the group's intrumentals were reduced to a single track (I don't count Ace of Swords as a n independent song).

Having said that I should point out the fact that this album is very good too. There are still enough of Andrew Powell orchestrations, clever and varied arrangements and excellent musicanship to keep this project from being discarted as too pop. As one should expect the engineering and production are superb. The songwriting team of Woolfson and Parsons should also be mentioned for their versatility and knack for the great melodic tune. The basic band is as tight as ever (maybe even more so now). But the most interesting aspect of this LP was the fact that Woolfson was a very good singer and hasn't sang lead in any previous APP record (reasons unknown). He does a fine job and became one of the house' singers from then on.

This concept album about gambling has some fine moments, like the title track, the very interesting instrumental The gold Bug, the delicate, folkish Nothing Left To Lose (great harmony vocals on this one) and the strong opener May Be The Price To Pay. Ok, the first three APP albums are more progressive but the project was releasing very good, conceptual, prog influenced music steadily in the early 80's, something few 70's acts were daring to do at the time. The fact that their music still sounds fresh and exciting after all these years only enhance the feeling that this project was something more than most critics thought, then and now. Sophisticated melodic crossover prog with tasteful arrangements. 3,5 stars.