THE VERY BEST OF LIVE

I never consider Alan Parsons Project / Band in prog category. Though, I never complain about many people categorize it under this box. It's okay with me because some of the music can be categorized that way. I usually call this kind of APP music sort of "ear candy" prog. I have only some albums of APP and recently just purchased this the Very Best LIVE. I love live album as - in my opinion - produces true dynamic music even though with the trade-off on sonic quality. But, it does not seem applicable with this album because I find that the sonic quality is really excellent - very audible to my ears, I would say. The first spin when the album opens with an audience crowd and "Sirius" starts to play, I was stunned with the audio quality. I then turned my amplifier loud and it provided me with great satisfaction to me, audio-wise. Great record!

Whenever I sometime listen to any album of APP ("Tales .." and "The Turn" are my favorite albums) I don't know why I always associate with Pink Floyd "The Dark Side of The Moon" where he sound engineered. I admire his recording capacity. No wonder, all of his albums were produced excellently! When I say "associate" does not necessarily mean that the APP music is of similar vein with Pink Floyd - rather the ways sound produced look like in the same style.

Let me continue with my listening pleasure when I spin this CD. After ambient and atmospheric opening with "Sirius" the music brings me to a medium tempo from APP classic hit "Eye In The Sky" in a happy mood. Excellent album opening. It continues to "Psychobabble" which in a way has a nice combination of rock, pop and a little bit avant-garde. Great composition! "The Raven" continuous the music stream in medium tempo track with some touches of space rock and Mike Oldfield-like music. You know, it's another famous tune from APP. Again, I like to turn my amplifier's volume high because the music is nice and recorded excellently. The piano and guitar solo are stunning. "Never more Never more Never!" uuughh .. Excellent man!

"Time" brings the audience into a slower tempo. "Luciferama" moves the tempo up in more upbeat music with excellent music nuance that stimulates me to keep my amplifier at high level. It's a spacey and energetic tune with excellent usage of musical instrument sounds. Even though the rhythm sounds repetitive but it does not make me boring with the song. The music turns melancholic under "Old and Wise" - my favorite APP song - opened with a nice light orchestration. No human being does not like this melodic composition! (I'm sure!). The melody is really killing. The use of woodwind instrument and sax have enriched the song. The band then brings the music in rock'n'roll style with "You're gonna Get You Fingers Burned".

"Prime Time" is another classic hit performed excellently by the band. I also like "Take The Money and Run" that has a wonderful composition with some flavor of Floyd and pop music. The concluding track "You're The Voice" is another classic hit. Overall, I find this CD is accessible and very enjoyable. I actually regret the band does not include "Ammonia Avenue" in this live act. Oh .. I like the tune very well! Keep on progging!!

Progressively yours,

GW - Indonesia.