Customer Reviews

Pyramid

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While I Robot and Eye in the Sky generally enjoy their fair share of accolades, The Project's third release has always struggled for the recognition it so richly deserves. Given its cohesion both conceptually and musically, that somewhat low regard seems every bit as mysterious as the theme of the album itself. But, then, if ever there was a complex theme cleverly shrouded in nuance and subtlety, it would be that of Pyramid!

The opening instrumental staggers the listener with an atmospheric ambience one would hope is destined for a proper quadraphonic presentation while the following "What Goes Up..." asks why, if nothing is lasting, even build a pyramid at all. Colin Blunstone of The Zombies made his first appearance with The Project singing "The Eagle Will Rise Again" - a stunning ballad where a very young Pharaoh struggles to reconcile the deity he is proclaimed to be with the gnawing insecurities from which every child suffers. (Curiously, this thought-provoking ballad was a favorite of the prodigious Kate Bush who would listen to it repeatedly in the late seventies.) Of One More River Alan, himself, has gone on written record saying, "this was better than anything we did on I Robot." Wow...that's a tall order for a shuffle to achieve, but "One More River" more than lives up to that assessment with its ambient bridge alone. The radio hit Can't Take It With You explains, in stark terms, how all the earthly treasures Tutankhamen accumulated throughout his short life won't be joining him in the next. In The Lap Of The Gods is arguably the finest piece of experimental music that Parsons and Woolfson ever composed, not the least of which is due to some of the best orchestral arrangements Andrew Powell has ever crafted, but it also marks a turning point on the album where the deceased pharoah lay entombed in his singular mausoleum while the multitudes who built it rejoice over the fruits of their life's singular task. Given all the heaviness of melancholy thought throughout PYRAMID, Woolfson and Parsons wisely saw the need for bit of humor. At the much deserved expense of G. Patrick Flanagan and his, shall we say, questionable claims of pyramid power, Pyramania is a send-up in the proud tradition Rodgers & Hammerstein. Hyper-Gamma-Spaces is another ambient instrumental by Alan Parsons that makes me pine for a quadraphonic surround mix on Sony's SACD. Lastly, Shadow Of A Lonely Man closes in epic, albeit somber, proportions with the spirit of the dead pharoah hovering quietly over his earthly treasures in a museum exhibit as passersby examine them with varying degrees of interest.

Ardent fans will revel in the bonus material. I was particularly intrigued with What Goes Up/Little Voice (Early Version Demo) and the two demo versions of "In The Lap Of The Gods." The vast improvement in sound quality from the original Arista disc is directly attributed to Sony's Direct Stream Digital sampling from the best source tapes available. My only complaint is that this masterpiece is not available in surround on SACD. I am pleased with this remaster for moderate volume listenings, but find myself wishing I could crank the volume from time to time without the subsequent signal clipping from my receiver.

In any case, I do hope this missive helps to elucidate Pyramid's elusive liner note:

"From the rise and fall of an ancient dynasty, to the quest for a key to unlock the secrets of the universe, this album seeks to amplify the haunting echoes of the past and explore the unsolved mysteries of the present. Pyramid...the last remaining wonder of the ancient world."

Pyramid is nothing short of a masterpiece.
But the Egyptian overtones and pyramid motif is just a surface, a tangible stage set, if you will. What this album really seems to be about, lyricaly and intellectualy, is man and his quest for eternal life and coming to grips (or not) with one's own inevitable mortality. Just look at the song titles... "In the lap of the Gods", "Can't take it with you", "The Eagle will rise again" "One more river" you get the idea.
Hammer dulcimers, timpanis, Egyptian flutes, a heavy choir, and other exotic instruments blend with rock instrumentation and the result is one of the greatest recording projects ever captured on tape. Recorded at Alan's home away from home, EMI Abbey Road studios London, it sounds like is was recorded in and around the pyramids with echo, atmosphere and grandiosity.
Colin Blunstone's sole vocal contribution on "Eagle will rise" is beautiful, un forced and sorrowful beyond description. One of the greatest vocal performances ever, to my ears.
The instrumental "In the lap of the Gods" is bold, dynamic, exotic, powerful and damn near overwhelming...Wow! turn up and test your audio system's abilities with that one my friend.
Pyramid is a complete (theme) album and I prefer to listen to it it's entirety from start to finish when possible.

Pyramid is like buried, forgotten (Egyptian) treasure. I bought the original vinyl album on a gamble as a curious teenager on it's first release back in 1978. Good move. I've never come across Pyramid in anyone else's record/cd collection since then(?)
Most people are duly impressed and curious when I slyly slip it into the car/home stereo. Personaly I never tire of hearing Pryamid and never will.
Even the un-remastered CD sounds incredible.
One of the greatest recordings of all time. A desert island disc without question.

"If all things must pass even a Pyramid won't last"

The Alan Parsons Project's "Pyramid" is one of those magical albums that just keeps finding its way back into my CD player! I have had this CD since 1987, and still get the "craving" to hear it on a regular basis. This is just one of those albums with a perfect "flow", where every track just blends together to create a complete musical picture of the artist. But the songs on "Pyramid" will also stand up well on their own. Tracks like "What Goes Up", "Shadow of a Lonely Man", "Can't Take it With You", and "One More River" will stick with you long after the album has finished playing. "The Eagle Will Rise Again" - with its lush production and light airy vocals from The Zombies' Colin Blunstone - is certainly one of Parsons finest moments ever. I would rate "Pyramid" right alongside Parsons finest works, such as "Gaudi", "Eye In the Sky", "Try Anything Once" and "On Air". There are not as many straight-out "rock-n-roll" songs here as you would find on most other Parsons albums, the music on "Pyramid" is definitely a bit more on the "orchestral rock" side, with its occassional string inturledes, and subtle-symphonic accompanyment. I think that this album would have a great appeal to fans of British "art rock" bands like The Moody Blues and Barclay James Harvest, it certainly has many of the same musical strong points. As you would expect from one of rocks most important record producers, this album is sonically (as well as musically) excellent, and the CD format only enhances its clarity. It sounds like Parsons had a grip a that clean "90's" production sound all the way back in 1979! Also, in the same way that Parsons incorperated some influences of Spanish-music into 1987's "Gaudi", here he plays on the influence of Eastern music on a handful of tracks. This is an album not to be missed! Take the "voyage", discover the genius of Alan Parsons!

Released in 1978, the Pyramid album more or less follows the formula of the very good I Robot album (1977), although it does not seem quite as inspired - to me at any rate. There are however, some very nice and heavily orchestrated pop songs and atmospheric synthesizer pieces that make this a very listenable and enjoyable album. Conceptually, the album (and I quote from the liner notes) "seeks to amplify the haunting echoes of the past and explore the unsolved mysteries of the present" - hence, the Pyramid theme. The musicians on Pyramid include Alan Parsons (acoustic guitar); David Paton (bass guitar and acoustic guitar); Stuart Elliott (drums); Ian Bairnson (electric and acoustic guitars); and Eric Woolfson (synthesizers and additional vocals). The vocalists (and there are several, including Colin Blunstone) are pretty good and their voices work well with the track they were selected for. With respect to the orchestration, string and brass parts are scattered across the album, in addition to passages that feature a choir. Both the orchestra and the choir were directed by Andrew Powell. Finally, although there are saxophone parts on the album, they are not credited. The nine tracks on the album are in the 2-6 minute range and alternate atmospheric and interesting instrumentals (Voyager, Hyper Gamma Spaces, and In the Lap of the Gods), with some very well-written and heavily orchestrated pop songs. Of the nine tracks, Pyramania is the weakest (it is "quirky" in a contrived new-wave manner) and contributes absolutely nothing to the recording, although it does not reduce the overall quality. Alan Parsons not only produced this album, but engineered extremely well-recorded albums including two by Pink Floyd (Atom Heart Mother (1970) and Dark Side of the Moon (1973)) and as such, the recording quality of this album is very high. All in all, this is a good album of British symphonic pop and is recommended along with Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976) and I Robot (1977). This trilogy of albums comprises the most interesting music the entire late 1970's British symphonic pop genre had to offer.

The Alan Parsons Project's third album, 1978's "Pyramid," is a heavenly delight. With a theme of mysticism, and once again spearheaded by Alan Parsons & his partner Eric Woolfson, this album is progressive pop/rock at it's very best. Dreamy, melodic songs are littered all over this one: the classic prog-pop instrumentals "Voyager," "In The Lap Of The Gods," & "Hyper-Gamma Spaces," the powerful "What Goes Up," the beautiful "The Eagle Will Rise Again," the great rockers "One More River" and the stunning "Can't Take It With You," the deliciously quirky "Pyramania," and the gorgeous finale, "Shadow Of A Lonely Man." Outstanding songwriting, production & performances, great orchestrations by Andrew Powell (can't have a Project album without him!), and great vocals throughout by the likes of Colin Blunstone, David Paton, Lenny Zakatek, John Miles, and others. With "Pyramid," the Alan Parsons Project deliver another terrific disc.

I've waited for years for a quality digital remastering of any Alan Parons Project CD. I must ad to the other reviews that this Pyramid remaster just wipes out the US issue Arista CD. Finally, the sound is now completely fleshed out and uncompressed even beyond my best vinyl pressings more like hearing a master tape! This is one my favorite Alan Parons Project works, great production and music that stands the test of time. Now I hope Turn of a Friendly Card and I Robot gets the same level of remastering.

My favorite Alan Parsons Project recording. It is in my top 10 recordings for all artists. This release has a feeling of mystery or a theme of a mission. Recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London between September 1977 and February 1978. The theme is based on the book, Pyramid Power, by G. Patrick Flanagan, released in 1973. My favorite songs are One More River, Can't Take It With You, and The Eagle Will Rise Again. Remastered with bonus material - the bonus material is fair - mainly instrumentals, demos, and backing tracks.

The remastering of Pyramid is nothing short of excellent. Of all the early Alan Parsons Project material Pyramid's sound quality was below par. It's sound lacked dynamics & clarity. That has been rectified with this new re-release.

Though Pyramid was not his best album it nonetheless has much to recommend. There aren't any hit singles from here, the Alan Parsons Project wasn't about hit singles. Parsons albums were thematic, the songs told the story of the particular album's theme. The early or classical Parsons period covers his first six albums. Pyramid peaked at #26 on the Billboard charts. Only Tales of Mystery & Imagination fared worse (#38). Of these six albums Pyramid is my third favorite album; I Robot & Eye in the Sky precede it.

In typical Parsons fashion the album opens with an instrumental, "Voyager". Parsons has a special knack for putting instrumentals together best described as 'ear candy'. Other instrumentals include "In the Lap of Gods" which is good & "Hyper-Gamma Spaces" which is excellent. "The Eagle Will Rise Again" is a beautiful ballad. It had the potential to be a single but the lyrics didn't have a strong hook, nevertheless, they are strong. "Can't Take It With You" is reminiscent of the Beatles with it's guitar riff, a highlight of the album. Only "Pyramania" drags the album down. Pyramid doesn't have the highs or quite the consistency of I Robot or Eye in the Sky but it's still a strong album.

The reissue of Pyramid contains seven bonus tracks. Being a musician I thoroughly enjoy hearing early versions of the songs included on the album. The demos are elaborate for what they are, all of them contain multi instruments but they are definitely demos. The booklet has some nice liner notes that gives information about the album & bonus tracks.

Everyone needs this album to complete the "trilogy" of the first three Project recordings. If you never buy another Project album after these three, you've done well. Pyramid simply captures the various aspects of Pyramids in both a lyrical and musical sense, something you'll find equally strong in the first two Project albums, Tales of Mystery and Imagination and I Robot, but sometimes lacking in later works. This album has one of the best and most subtle Project instrumentals, Hyper-Gamma-Spaces, which is worth the price of the CD alone. Dust off your credit card and go order this.

I was tempted to call this their most underrated, but despite "Tales'" standing among APP fans, I still think that "honor" (?) goes to "Tales of Mystery and Imagination". I think because APP's albums after "Tales" were all on the Arista label (here in the US anyway), "Tales" got swept under the rug for many years, especially since its original version wasn't available (aside from MFSL) until just recently.

But hey!! This is supposed to be a review of "Pyramid"! Sorry, just needed to get that disclaimer out there before moving on.

"Pyramid" came out between "I Robot" (with a top 40 single in "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You", and the instrumental title track which many people know and don't realize it) and "Eve" (Top 40: "Damned If I Do").

So this one didn't have any "hits". This is a great album and if you're an APP fan, this remaster is a must if only for the better sound quality. This is a vast improvement on prior editions of this CD. The bonus material is what it's supposed to be, maybe not essential, but a glimpse into some of the blueprint versions of what ultimately was put out on the final release. Worth having if you're a fan.

The Project did enjoy some hit singles in the late 70s and early 80s, but I think most of their real fans appreciate the albums. Don't let this one get away. The three instrumentals are amazing, and all the other songs are beyond worthwhile. The opening three (especially "The Eagle Will Rise Again") are all classic Parsons.