Customer Reviews

Gaudi

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While some of the earlier remasters, particularly Pyramid, suffered from a compression of dynamic range in an effort to feel out the mp3 versus redbook compact disc music buying market, the last batch of SONY/BMG remasters by The Alan Parsons Project cater exclusively to those of us concerned with audiophile quality. And that is as it should be because there were only a select few producers who could create a polished gemstone quite like Alan Parsons. While better than many others, the original 1987 Arista compact disc is sterile in comparison to this remaster. The brass section, in particular, has a transistor-like quality to it on the original whereas the remaster sounds convincingly real and full of life. Once again, a tip o' the hat to Sony's Direct Stream Digital sampling from the best source material available. This is one of the best sounding redbook compact discs I have ever heard, even rivaling many Super Audio CDs!

The album itself developed from the inspiration songwriter Eric Woolfson experienced upon seeing the singularly unique structural designs of Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi while on holiday in Barcelona. So inspired was Woolfson that he even composed an entire musical, also called GAUDI, that was successfully staged in Germany. While the crown jewel would unquestionably be the lavish La Sagrada Familia, both Closer To Heaven and Inside Looking Out/Paseo De Gracia (Instrumental) are almost equally astounding! Throw into the mix a terrific radio hit like Standing On Higher Ground and you have a worthy, albeit premature, swansong from The Project. Even Money Talks which I have been rather cool to receive over the years takes on a whole new life in remastered form.

And the bonus material is exceptional! The vocal flourishes of an alternative take on Money Talks (Chris Rainbow / Percussion Overdubs) are just fantastic. If only there could have been someway to work those into the original! From the live saxophone of Richard Cottle to the vocal overdubs of Chris Rainbow to even a glimpse of Eric Woolfson's humorous vocal stylings on Standing On Higher Ground / Losing Proposition (Vocal Experiments), the bonus material, to the delight of ardent fans, leaves no stone unturned. However, the most important bonus track would have to be La Sagrada Familia (Rough Mix) which incontrovertibly proves The Project wasn't just a studio creation; they were keenly adroit musicians who should have touted those talents with more timely touring for all the world to see!

Inspired by lengendary Spanish art nouvena architect Antonio Gaudi,this 1987 album shows the Alan Parsons Project still creating wonderful,melodic symphonic progressive rock well in its final stages,containg such gems as "La Sagrada Familia","Closer To Heaven" and "Standing On Higher Ground".The remastering(done by Dave Donnelly and Alan Parsons himself)is a tremendous improvement,sounding warmer and richer than the harsher,colder initial 80's CD.That reason alone justifies purchasing this reissue.In addition,there are seven bonus tracks that are rough mixes and "various overdubs" taken from the original album sessions,a colorful booklet featuring a good essay by Classic Rock Magazine's Jerry Ewing,photos of memorabilia,and bonus material notes by Eric Woolfson & Alan Parsons.An superb job well done!

What a finale! Every song is rich musically and lyrically...and the remastering of the album is so satisfying... thank you Alan, Eric and Co!

This is an absolute neccessity to any big APP fan. The Gaudi album remastered superbly plus a bunch of cool bonus tracks. These include demos, backing tracks, etc. The original album was very short, only 7 songs but all very good if not excellent. But now you have all the bonus tracks that more than make up for the short playing time of the original. Get this and use your original as a coaster or a frisbee, because after you hear this one you'll never play the original again. 4 stars for the album. 5 stars for the remastering and bonus tracks.

Released in 1987, this was the last "Alan Parsons Project" album, but Alan Parsons would continue to release a few more similar albums under his name only.

I found this album to relatively bland and limited. It is only 38 minutes long, including a pointless 4 minute instrumental tacked on the end (because they didn't have enough material for a full album?). I love instrumentals, but this one is bombastic and not very interesting. It kind of reminds me of an overture to a musical.

This album reminds me of others. When I first saw the cover for afar, I thought it was Steely Dan's Gaucho with a new, slightly modified cover.

La Sagrada Familia sounds like it could have come from the French band Mona Lisa.

Much of the music sounds like Camel during its phase when it was trying to be the Alan Parsons Project. Chris Rainbow and David Paton played and sang on Camel's 1982 Single Factor and 1984 Stationary Traveler albums. Those album sounded a lot like Alan Parsons Project. Guadi sounds more like Camel before Rainbow and Paten joined (1979 I Can See Your House From Here and 1981 Nude).

Then there is the end of Inside Looking Out, which sounds like it was pulled right out Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. I guess that's OK, since Parsons was the engineer on that album (was that talking part his idea?).

Standing on Higher Ground and Money Talks are the kind of rockers that usually are the hits from other Parsons albums. I like these songs and think they are the best things on the album (and I usually don't prefer the rockers). The rest is bland artsy type of music.

Another album that I had on cassette. I needed to bring my music collection up into the 21st century.

If you are a fan of Alan Parsons, this continues the trend of using one central idea through out the album. In this case, it was on the architect/visionary Gaudi, and the continuing building of a cathedral in Spain.

Great music.

The late Eric Woolfson states that it was his fascination with architect Antonio Gaudi that led to 1987's "Gaudi," the 11th and final proper Alan Parsons Project album. And like Gaudi's famous La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral that remains under construction to this day despite Gaudi's death in 1926. Gaudi designed and built colorful, spiraling and imaginative buildings throughout Spain, but it is his cathedral that remains the best known of his works.

It is that cathedral that provides the best moments on "Gaudi." The opening track is a near nine minute epic, "La Sagrada Familia." Then the finale, the instrumental "Paseo De Gracia" (Path of Grace), with Spanish guitar over lush orchestration, is vintage APP. Other than "Closer To Heaven, though, the remaining tracks do not seem to have much to tie them together thematically. The production values are still flawless, and the sound of this remaster is fantastic, but the album itself is weak.

The usual team provides highlights, with Wolfson, John Miles and Lenny Zakatek giving the solid vocals. On the rockier song, "Standing On Higher Ground," it's Geoff Barradale (who was the lead singer in cult faves Vitamin Z) who gives "Gaudi" its punchiest moment. The rough version of "Standing On Higher Ground" shows up as a bonus track with Wolfson showing an uncharacteristic silliness, along with a demo of "Too Late," where the vocal is just the melody song in la la la and do do do. Not exactly essential, but interesting. "Gaudi" also lacks the in-depth liner notes that the earlier re-issues had, like Parsons and Wolfson commenting on the demos and bonus material. Which makes this, the last of the Alan Parsons Project re-issues, one of the lesser in the pack.

I'm not sure how I missed this recording the first time around. Remastered it's genius. Even my cockatiels are dancing along to the music. There are just too many good songs to mention them all, but La Sagrada Familia, Standing on Higher Ground, and Closer to Heaven are all pristine. If you're going to buy one AP recording, this is certainly one to consider.

I am a huge APP fan. I own every APP CD and have several of their albums. Remember those big black vinyl things? Like most APP CD's almost every song on it is a treasure. I enjoy this one in particular. I went to Barcelona Spain several years after owning this CD and saw the Sagrada Familia and other Gaudi works and they were even more special after listening to this CD and loving it for years. If you're an Alan Parson's Project fan or just love good music this one is a "Must Have".

For years I listened almost exclusively to what I consider the very best of the Alan Parsons Project's albums ~ Pyramid, Eye in the Sky, Eve, Turn of a Friendly Card, I Robot ~ so I purchased Gaudi expecting more of the same. I have to say I'm highly disappointed in it. In fact, after listening to it just once or twice when I first bought it, 6 or 7 years ago, it sat on my shelf until just this past week. After listening again, I found only one track good enough to write home about, the rest mostly a jumble. Definitely NOT the theme-based set from start to finish, which is what I came to expect from APP after all those wonderful earlier albums. I disliked Gaudi so much that I've given it away to a thrift shop. If you loved their earlier work, don't bother with this one.