Essential Alan Parsons

Alan Parsons Project | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 6, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Arista
• ASIN: B000LXH11C
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,341 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #30 in Music > Rock > Progressive > Progressive Rock
  • #78 in Music > Pop > Soft Rock

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Parsons in Perspective, April 22, 2008

By 

Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Essential Alan Parsons (Audio CD)

Following his own peculiar career path, Alan Parsons became an unlikely star by recording a series of conceptual albums featuring a wide variety of singers and musicians, making rich and complicated music that still managed to cruise onto radio and beak the Top 40. Be they topically based on literature (Tales of Mystery and Imagination, I Robot), art (Gaudi) relationships with the opposite sex (Eve, God and mysticism (Pyramid) or our own foibles (Stereotomy and Turn of a Friendly Card), he managed to create sonic tapestries that few others could match.

This album switches a few tracks from The Definitive Collection, mainly adding the "Turn of a Friendly Card" suite. Dropping "Pyramania" shorts the "Pyramid" album, and offers a few different picks from "I Robot."

Parsons and his creative partner in the APP, Eric Woolfson managed a nifty trick though out their heyday, which was to create complex music and make it sound simple. There were no ELP gymnastics here, no Yes-like side long odes to alternate universes, and no musical condescension that often plagued prog-rock collectives. Just memorable hooks attached to beautifully structured ballads ("Time, "Days Are Numbers") pop (the Phil Spector style "Don't Answer Me," "Eye In The Sky") and Album rockers ("Stereotomy," "Dr Tarr and Professor Feather"). He also had a knack for immaculate instrumentals, some became almost as well known as the hit singles. "Sirius" in particular became a heavily used Sports theme.

Listening to these songs (remastered and sounding amazing) is a reminder of just how beautiful high-fidelity can be in the age of computerized compression and MP3's. Don't get me wrong; I love my I-pod. But in the race to replace fidelity with convenience, artists with a style like the Alan Parsons Project or the equally idiosyncratic Steely Dan find their music less likely to be heard in the manner it is created. And that's a shame. Get this CD now (and others like it, like Parson's work on Dark Side of the Moon) before the CD meets in inevitable doom.

The remastered albums of Tales, Robot and EitS are all worth picking up. One can only hope for the rest of the albums to follow.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Anthology Of The Alan Parsons Project, May 28, 2007

By 

The Footpath Cowboy "rockerusa2002" (Kingston, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Essential Alan Parsons (Audio CD)

THE ESSENTIAL ALAN PARSONS PROJECT, unlike THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION, covers only the years that Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson worked together, and thus includes many great songs not on the earlier set, including the entire title suite from THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD. Even so, some great songs, including "Breakdown" and "May Be A Price To Pay", are left off. As a result, to complete your Alan Parsons library, you need both anthologies, I, ROBOT, THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD, TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION, EYE IN THE SKY, and the work Parsons did for such artists as Al Stewart, the Beatles, and many others.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a top-notch anthology of the Alan Parsons Project to be sure, but..., March 23, 2009

By 

Alan Holyoak (The Shadow of the Tetons) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essential Alan Parsons (Audio CD)

...if you are truly interested in the real Alan Parsons Project (APP) experience, then skip the anthologies and buy their other complete concept albums.

Before that, though, I need to say that this collection provides the listener with the majority of the most popular APP singles. It is notable for that reason, and it is therefore worth a listen for the person who may be trying APP out for the first time.

That said...

...APP does the concept album better than just about anyone else. They are able to take a concept or idea and expand it to fill an entire album. So if you want to experience a deeper, richer listening experience listen to entire APP albums, not to just the popular tracks.

Try these albums on for size (I recommend listening to them in this order...the original order they were released):

Tales of Mystery and Imagination
I Robot
Pyramid
Eve
The Turn of a Friendly Card
Eye in the Sky
Ammonia Avenue
Vulture Culture
Stereotomy
Gaudi

So, I assigned this anthology 4 stars not because the experience is particularly lacking, but because you could have a more complete and enjoyable experience by listening to the original list of APP discs.

From a 30+ year APP fan. I hope this was helpful!