Alan Parsons

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.

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.

The Turn of a Friendly Card
$7.99
What I really love about this album, is just how strong the theme is throughout it. Some of APP's albums, like "Eve", "Gaudi", and "Ammonia Avenue", are only loosely held together by some points of commonality. And of course, "Tale of Mystery and Imagination" has a "theme of inspiration" as opposed to a "theme of content". But "Turn of a Friendly Card" not only adheres as closely to its theme as "Tales..." does, but the basis of it is so well executed. The only other APP album which comes as close to telling a full story is "Eve".

There is something about the album which appeals to me at a deep emotional level. I've never had a gambling problem (which is the theme of the album), but the recurring line of the album, "the game never ends/ when your whole world depends/on the turn of a friendly card" just feels like so much of my life. I think anyone who lives life not accepting what they have, but wanting more, or who has ambition, or has taken risks can identify with that feeling, the feeling of being on the rollercoaster and just not being able to get off of it. And the album captures that so well.

I have yet to meet the APP album I didn't like. I was introduced to them via "Vulture Culture" and then "Stereotomy", eventually I got the "Best of..." discs, but didn't listen to them for years. After emerging from a decade of Metalica and Marilyn Manson, and rediscovering the music I grew up on, I pucked up "Turn of a Friendly Card". I now own all of their albums, and I like something about each one of them, but "Turn of a Friendly Card" gets heard more than the others put together.

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.