[Other than the last paragraph, this is nothing more than a butchered
version of the notes found in
The Best of the Alan Parsons Project.
Well, at least it saved me some typing...]
The mid 1970's was a musical era awash in the ashes of the late 60's
and early 70's progressive rock movement. The New Wave from the
American coasts and England had yet to appear and the new
generation of mainstream artists were still in their infancy, if
together at all. The musical euphoria and innovation which was so
prevalent just a few years earlier had gotten a bit stagnant... but
there were exceptions. A handful of new as well as
veteran artists managed to forge ahead with continuing high standards
of musicianship and expression. Clearly, among those exceptions was
the Alan Parsons Project with wide screen, cinematic music.
The Alan Parsons
Project was able to combine rich orchestral textures with a sense of
economy.
The key has always been in the Project's ability to deliver
a sense of balance. Complex arrangements were fitted to accessible
melodies. Their musicianship has the highest standards, yet the
frequently boring indulgences common to progressive artists were absent
from the Project's music, and the overall feel of the songs was
conducive to headphone listening as well as background listening.
The Project's first album was
"Tales of Mystery and Imagination"
which was
recorded over a two year period. It met with good, though not overwhelming,
public response. In 1977 the Project began
a new phase with a series of concept albums, such as
"I, Robot" [sic],
"Pyramid",
"Eve",
and
"Eye in the Sky".
All in all we can say that the Alan Parsons Project has
continued to take their own music higher and further through the years.
The songs in this collection belong to the best of the Alan Parsons
Project. They are performed by the Symphonic Rock Project - as
as a tribute to
Alan Parsons
and
Eric Woolfson, whose contributions
as songwriters and conceptual collaborators have been critical
to the Project's success through the years. It is refreshing to
hear this music that is based purely on sound and song rather than
on an image or obsession with the latest novelty.
