The Alan Parsons Project

Alan Parsons started work in an EMI tape duplication facility in the 60s and later become a recording engineer, working with artists such as The Beatles, The Hollies and Cockney Rebel. His engineering work on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" earned him a Grammy nomination in 1973. The Alan Parsons Project was a partnership between himself and songwriter Eric Woolfson, with each album using a variety of additional musicians and studio men.

Pyramid is probably the best album I've ever bought on a whim without knowing anything about it. Released back in 1978, it was the bands third album and was influenced by the then current fad of Pyramidology. The album itself is excellently produced (by Alan) and including a variety of musical styles and instruments. Also worth noting is the way the album works so well as a cohesive whole, with tracks linking nicely into and out of each other.

The opening pairing of "Voyager" and "What Goes Up..." (elements of both were used for the Quiet Village track "Pillow Talk") start the album wonderfully, flowing seamlessly as one. The remainder of the A side contains 3 nice pop/rock tracks; reminiscent of the Steely Dan sound of the period, but more edgy. The B side begins with the grandiose instrumental "In The Lap Of The Gods" - an epic (in style rather than length) and moody track with its choral and orchestral accompaniment. The production quality is really shown off here with the excellent balance of the many different parts playing at once. Hyper-Gamma-Spaces is another instrumental, this time very upbeat, with some excellent synthesizer and electric piano work taking a strong lead. The LP closes with the beautiful ballad "Shadow Of A Lonely Man", again featuring some wonderful orchestration. Although I find the vocalist to be a little weak in places, it really is an excellent song and a great way to close the album.

The Alan Parsons Project - In The Lap Of The Gods.mp3 (Zshare)

The Alan Parsons Project - Hyper-Gamma-Spaces.mp3 (Zshare)

Fileden alternative links:
In The Lap Of The Gods | Hyper-Gamma-Spaces