Sunday Big Note — Listening Session #25
Just about anyone from my generation who became a teenager in the 1970s is going to be extremely familiar with today’s Sunday Big Note artist. Indeed, the debut solo effort by this group – Tales of Mystery and Imagination, released in 1976 – is considered to be a classic album. Of course, I’m speaking of The Alan Parsons Project.
While their subsequent releases never achieved anything close to blockbuster status, The Alan Parsons Project did develop a loyal cult following. Myself, I had many copies of their albums, first on vinyl, cassette, then compact disc, I listened to them so often (not to mention the odd theft from my collection).
What came extremely late from The Alan Parsons Project was the live album, The Very Best Live, a live compilation of highlights from their 1995 tour. While a great live compilation, for me it lacked the audience energy which performers feed from to rise to that next level of performance.
Today’s Sunday Big Note has that energy in abundance (an essential element, for me, when I choose an artist for these SBN listening sessions, followed by eclectic performances and lots of banter – otherwise, one might as well just listen to their albums, yes?). I bring you an FM soundboard broadcast of The Alan Parsons Project performing at the Court Centrale Estadio, Santiago, Chile, 29 October 1995 (with bonus tracks from Madrid, Spain, 2004):
Sirius
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Eye in the Sky
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Turn It Up
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What Goes Up
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Luciferama
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Old and Wise
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Take the Money and Run
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Tell Tale Heart
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Can’t Take It With You
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Wouldn’t Wanna Be Like You
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The Raven
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Limelight
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Time
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Money Talks/La Sagrada Familia
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Prime Time
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Standing On Higher Ground
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Games People Play
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Psychobabble
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Don’t Answer Me
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You’re The Voice
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You’re Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned
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Bonus (Plaze Mayor, Madrid, Spain, 14 May 2004)
I Robot (instrumental)
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Damned If I Do
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More Lost Without You
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Don’t Let It Show
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(The System Of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether
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Line-up (Chile):
Alan Parsons – guitar, vocal, keyboards, percussion, woodwind
Ian Bairnson – guitars
Stuart Elliott – drums
Richard Cottle – keyboards, saxophone
Peter Beckett – vocals, keyboards
Chris Thompson – vocals, percussion, guitar
Felix Krish – bass
Andrew Powell – keyboards
Line-up (Madrid):
Alan Parsons – acoustic guitar, keyboards, vocals
P.J. Olsson – acoustic guitar, vocals
Godfrey Townsend – lead guitar, vocals
Steve Murphy – drums, vocals
Manny Focarazzo – keyboards, vocals
John Montagna – bass guitar, vocals
May 1st, 2011 at 1:09 am »
I thought “I Robot” was their initial release… It was the first I purchased, anyway, before “M & M”.
May 3rd, 2011 at 7:19 am »
sorry guys, but familiar as it might be, it is pretty boring and lame: rhythm, harmonies, lyrics, overall message are about the most contrary to what zappa stood for. that’s stuff for making a weather panorama feed less somniferous.
May 3rd, 2011 at 12:20 pm »
As a youngster, I had a cassette of Pyramid and was fond of that. Alas, my interest in Alan Parson’s Project has dwindled. He used to be Pink Floyd’s sound engineer, didn’t he? Some of this reminds me of the last two Floyd albums, without Roger Waters. Pleasant enough, but without the crucial edge.
May 3rd, 2011 at 3:57 pm »
A quote from Dark Clothes:
The lack of “edge” was always my main problem with these folks. Sonically, for the time, the records have few peers — I always thought I, Robot was a great “speaker test” album. (It was one of my three “go-to” records for testing — the others were Supertramp’s Crime of the Century and Dire Straits’ Love Over Gold….) Never had any problem with Parsons’ ear for detail — in fact, I admire it greatly. The content never moved me much.
May 3rd, 2011 at 6:48 pm »
Admittedly, after 1981′s ‘Eye in the Sky’, Alan Parsons lost their critical edge, but one really cannot disagree that their first handful of albums – Tales of Mystery and Imagination, I Robot, Pyramid, Eve, and The Turn Of A Friendly Card were among the best albums Alan Parsons ever made. Just as Supertramp’s albums prior to Breakfast in America were among their best, and Dire Strait’s first few albums stand up as well today as when they were first released – particularly their 1978 self titled debut album.
May 6th, 2011 at 5:23 am »
Funny enough, after watching the “Eye In The Sky” vid, it caused a three day long earworm!
May 6th, 2011 at 8:13 pm »
A quote from Hugh:
Sorry, Hugh! That’s a mighty long earworm!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shb0_Tr5Mt4