ALAN PARSONS

Eye in the Sky
$7.99
Released just two years prior to George Orwell's fateful 1984, themes of surveillance and intrusion pervade the hit single Eye In The Sky. But do those themes really extend into the rest of the album? It would be a little difficult to make the argument that they do. Because even Alan Parsons was not immune to the corrosive effects of an unenlightened, I daresay vacuous, music press of the time, he decided to steer his songwriting partner Eric Woolfson away from the conceptual approach both had taken with each of their previous releases.

But what was sacrificed in the form of conceptual cohesion was more than compensated for with Woolfson's songcraft, Andrew Powell's lush orchestral arrangements, and a myriad of outstanding vocal performances. Arguably the best example of all three coming together in a single song would be the album's closing epic Old And Wise which was inspired by the tragic news of a good friend's diagnosis of an incurable form of cancer. Other standout tracks include Sirius, Children Of The Moon, and Psychobabble, but my personal favorite has always been the introvert's anthem Silence And I which has the distinction of having the single largest orchestral accompaniment, ninety pieces in all, that Andrew Powell ever composed for any Project song.

While I do prefer the sonic performance, particularly the dynamic range, of the High Definition Audio Disc (HDAD) release by Classic Records Eye in the Sky, this has some of the most intriguing bonus material of all of The Project remasters. Even if you are an audiophile of discriminating tastes and standards, I would still whole-heartedly recommend listening to bonus tracks like Eye Pieces (Classical Naked Eye), The Naked Eye, and Silence & I (Early version; Eric Woolfson guide vocal) from the recent SONY remaster since not every piece of music that deserves a high-definition format has yet to receive it. All in all, this remaster is best suited for those who listen to their music on a smaller, even portable, system or headphones and, generally, at more modest volumes.

The Turn of a Friendly Card
$23.49
Boy does this album bring back memories. I was a teenager when this album came out. Since they have remastered and expanded the Alan Parsons Project catalog I jumped on the opprotunity to get all of them! This album is great.

I Robot
$9.99
Loved the CD's, but all the jewel cases came broken. Amazon doesn't pack them well at all. They just put all my disc's in a box that was way too big and didn't use any bubble wrap or styrofoam peanuts. After letting them know about this, I didn't even get a response, not even an automated one. I will not use Amazon again, and I will not recommend them to anyone.

Essential Alan Parsons Project
$15.93
The service I received was prompt. I feel like the price was more than fair, and I am enjoying the product immensely.