GAUDI

The final Alan Parsons Project album is something of a return to form, after three albums in a row of prog-light art pop which got well into diminishing returns. Inspired by the titular architect, it's propped up by two more progressive pieces at the start and end - La Sagrada Familia and Paseo De Gracia - and some lighter, poppy numbers in between. The pop numbers are of the sort of quality of the better tracks from Ammonia Avenue, Vulture Culture, or Stereotomy, whilst the more ambitious numbers are a return to the band's pre-Eye In the Sky magic.

In particular, La Sagrada Familia works in elements of traditional Spanish music and bombastic opera, offering a richer range of sounds than the band had offered since at least as far back as Turn of a Friendly Card. Paseo De Gracia, likewise, incorporates Spanish guitar to add an air of drama to proceedings.

It's the pop numbers in the middle which are shakier. Too Late has a bit of bite to it, Closer To Heaven is fine, but Standing on Higher Ground, Money Talks, and Inside Looking Out are lacklustre and overlong.

As such, I'm inclined to say that whilst Gaudi is an improvement over Stereotomy - in my view their weakest album of the 1980s - it's not a radical one. It may be that, starting and finishing strong as it does, it leaves the listener with a better impression than it perhaps deserves, since thinking back on it you'll remember the good moments and overlook the weaker patches. Call it three and a half stars, rather than a return to the four star standards of their better works.