Blue Yonder [Extra tracks, Import]

Pilot | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 19, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Import
• Label: Vivid Sound
• ASIN: B00007LZZ6
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,059,012 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Get Up And Go

2. Library Door

3. Creeping 'Round At Midnight

4. One Good Reason Why

5. There's A Place

6. I Wonder

7. Monday Tuesday

8. Ten Feet Tall

9. Evil Eye

10. When The Sun Comes

11. Lovely Lady Smile

12. Hold Me

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Picking up where they left off. Very nicely done., February 18, 2005

By 

Nicolas S. Martin (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blue Yonder (Audio CD)

During the 1970s, Pilot crafted some very artful pop albums, replete with lovely harmonies and catchy, if dangerously sweet, songs. Their final group album, released in 1977, has been nearly impossible to find in the U.S., so group members Paton and Bairnson, have taken matters into their own hands and rerecorded much of the original album, with several additional cuts. I admit to having been suspicious of this approach. How likely would it be that the pair could recapture of the sound and spirit of a quarter-century ago? And how would their voices have aged?

Having the disc in hand, I can happily report that the sound is very good and the voices indistinguishable from the group at zenith. This is a solid album, very much consistent with the Pilot of old. The production is a bit more cushy, less sharp than the old albums; more like the ride of a Caddy than a BMW. But this will be noticeable only to the most demanding Pilot fan.

I can think of no reason at all why someone who liked the "old" Pilot would not be pleased with this album. it's almost as if time has stood still, or that this was the original album. For fans of pure pop, this is a welcome surprise.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pilot's Finest Hour, September 13, 2009

By 

Parrish A. Highley "the_projectron" (Somewhere I've Never Travelled) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blue Yonder (Audio CD)

Despite ardent attempts our "Crowd of Two" were unable to get Two's a Crowd released as a compact disc, so David Paton and Ian Bairnson were forced to completely reconstruct it from scratch in 2002. That probably wasn't plan A, but the end result actually rivals the original album in terms of more modern recording techniques and overall artistic demeanor. And although the original Two's a Crowd is available now, I strongly recommend purchasing BLUE YONDER as well.

"The Library Door" is about as close to a compositional and performance Nirvana as a song can get. When it ended upon that first listening, I was still totally immersed in this other world that it created. After pushing the back button three or four times just to hear it again, I finally just put "The Library Door" on continuous repeat. I also made a point of listening to it through a quadraphonic matrix. The imaging of Ian's guitar playing in the beginning of the song startled me in the way every individually plucked note seemed to occupy at distinct place within the surround field. It was like being inside his guitar as he played the melody (with the four speakers at ear level). The audiophile quality of the disc came as no surprise, but distinct imaging of that caliber really blew me away. It totally exploited every phantom center between the four corners!

David Paton delivered vocal performances that lived up to Alan Parsons' high standards on What Goes Up (Digitally Remastered, 1997), I'd Rather Be A Man, Children Of The Moon, and Let's Talk About Me as well as a plethora of backing harmony throughout The Project catalog. I had no doubt I would enjoy the sound of his voice, but there is something just a bit more compelling when hearing the writer of a song sing his own words. So many of these songs are every bit the caliber of what we've come to expect from The Project, but with that added element of Paton expressing his own sentiments.

Ian Bairnson mentioned how gratifying On Air was in that he was finally writing songs that were meaningful. Well, I, for one, would like to add "One Good Reason Why" to the list of meaningful songs Ian has written. It opens by relating a very specific incident of the random but accidental death of a young woman, and, then, struggles to make sense of that tragedy. "One Good Reason Why" is a beautifully languid and poignantly thought-provoking song that ultimately seems to turn to The One able to make some sort of sense of that which is hopelessly senseless.

"There's A Place" features the harmony vocals of daughter Sara Paton and spouse Leila Bairnson who both do an excellent job adding lushness to this very infectious and upbeat song. "I Wonder" has this dream-like quality that is wonderfully disarming and soothing to hear while the bonus track on the Japanese release "Lovely Lady Smile" is the one and only collaboration on Blue Yonder between David Paton and the deceased Billy Lyall who used to play keyboards and flute as well as backing vocals for Pilot. (Lyall succumbed to an AIDS-related illness on 1 December 1989.)

The album closes with a live performance of "Hold Me" by all of the original members of Pilot from 1975. In spite of the fact that I was only four or five years old at the time, hearing it really made me regret never seeing these guys live. Their ability to interact with and respond to one another in a live jam session was simply stunning. When all is said and done, I do not think I can recommend this album enough. While it may be just a little pricey due to the currency exchange, I would have a difficult time trying to imagine any real fan of Pilot or The Alan Parsons Project being disappointed by the listening experience that Blue Yonder dutifully offers.