{"id":47876,"date":"2020-02-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/genesis-ch-1-v-32\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T07:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T07:31:33","slug":"genesis-ch-1-v-32","status":"publish","type":"feature","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/genesis-ch-1-v-32\/","title":{"rendered":"Genesis Ch 1 V 32"},"content":{"rendered":"

In which reviewer Duke Egbert, returning from a nine-year writing hiatus, breaks all the rules previously set for these collections by including a live album and mashing an artist\u2019s group and solo career together (sort of).<\/p>\n

\"alanparsons_secret_150\"16. The Secret<\/i> (2019)<\/b><\/p>\n

The Paul Dukas And Lou Gramm? Really? Album. A disjointed, flat effort, despite its star-spangled guest list. The only track worthy to be on a Project CD is the soaring, heartbreaking \u201cI Can\u2019t Get There From Here.\u201d Sad, but true. <\/p>\n

15. Vulture Culture<\/i> (1985)\"alanparsons_vulture\"<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

The Where\u2019s The Orchestra? Album. The widescreen, cinematic grandeur of the early CDs is completely gone by this time; Andrew Powell is nowhere to be seen, and there\u2019s a guitar machine (eek!) on a couple of tracks. Only \u201cDays Are Numbers (The Traveller)\u201d saves this one from the bottom of the heap. <\/p>\n

\"alanparsons_timemachine\"<\/a> 14. The Time Machine<\/i> (1999)<\/b><\/p>\n

The I Was Much Too Kind To This CD On My Initial Review Album; that or it just hasn\u2019t aged well. Once you get past the instrumentals, the songs are mostly trite \u2013 and the vocalists just don\u2019t match Parsons\u2019 style (especially Maire Brennan of Clannad). The return of Colin Blunstone and Chris Rainbow is nice, but wasted on poor songwriting. <\/p>\n

13. Eve<\/i> (1979)\"alanparsons_eve\"<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

The Borderline Misogyny Album. Also the Worst Production Ever On A Parsons Album album. The Project\u2019s view of women seems to be skewed towards the negative. When you put an instrumental named \u201cLucifer\u201d on that CD, it might be viewed as a strong social statement. \u201cWinding Me Up,\u201d a surprisingly Beatlesesque bouncer, helps, as does \u201cIf Only I Could Change Your Mind,\u201d but then you have stinkers like \u201cI\u2019d Rather Be A Man\u201d sitting, in the words of the late great Bill Hicks, like \u2018a turd in my drink\u2019. <\/p>\n

\"alanparsons_ammoniaave\"<\/a> 12. Ammonia Avenue<\/i> (1984)<\/b><\/p>\n

The All A&R People Must Die Album. Under pressure from Arista Records to produce another Top Ten hit, the Project delivered a CD that had two Top Forty hits (\u201cDon\u2019t Answer Me\u201d and \u201cPrime Time,\u201d both solid), the driving \u201cYou Don\u2019t Believe,\u201d and the haunting \u201cDancing On A High Wire\u201d. However, NH3AVE also included \u201cOne Good Reason\u201d and \u201cLet Me Go Home,\u201d two of the worst Project songs ever. A mixed bag.
<\/p>\n

11. On Air<\/i> (1996)\"alanparsons_onair\"<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

The Ian Bairnson Gets Serious Album. Longtime Project guitarist Bairnson was the driving force behind this CD, with its plaintive and moving \u201cBlue Blue Sky\u201d (a tribute to Bairnson\u2019s cousin, killed in a friendly fire incident in Iraq), Bairnson\u2019s blistering, pristine guitar on \u201cCloudbreak\u201d and its focus on air and space exploration. \u201cFall Free\u201d has thundering, massive drums, \u201cI Can\u2019t Look Down\u201d is wickedly funny, and \u201cApollo\u201d has John F Kennedy. However, the overly soft pop sound raises its ugly head again on \u201cToo Close To The Sun\u201d \u2013 and Christopher Cross (?!?) is wasted on \u201cSo Far Away.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"alanparsons_pyramid\"<\/a> 10. Pyramid<\/i> (1978)<\/b><\/p>\n

The Hard To Follow The Robot Album. The first release after the groundbreaking I Robot<\/i>, Pyramid<\/i> has a lot of good songs, but no great songs \u2013 and one song (\u201cPyramania\u201d) that you will either find cute and catchy or that will make you run screaming. I have found that in my experience, there\u2019s no middle ground. \u201cOne More River,\u201d \u201cCan\u2019t Take It With You,\u201d and \u201cIn The Lap Of The Gods\u201d are the highlights. <\/p>\n

9. A Valid Path<\/i> (2004)\"alanparsons_avalidpath\"<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

The Moby Parsons Album. On A Valid Path<\/i>, Parsons teams up with folks like The Crystal Method and Shpongle to produce an electronica album. \u201cTijuaniac\u201d still makes my head hurt, but \u201cChomolungma,\u201d \u201cReturn To Tunguska,\u201d and \u201cWe Play The Game\u201d are stellar, as is Parsons\u2019 revisit to his earlier work, \u201cMammagamma 04.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"alanparsons_gaudi\"<\/a> 8. Gaudi<\/i> (1987)<\/b><\/p>\n

The Tapas and Xerez In Parc Guell Album. The last album released under the Alan Parsons Project name, this ode to Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi never fails, but never quite blows the doors off, either. \u201cLa Sagrada Familia\u201d is an almost nine-minute piece of magnificent orchestral bombast, \u201cToo Late\u201d is the second-best breakup song Parsons ever did, and \u201cStanding On Higher Ground\u201d is my choice to blast on a car stereo while driving ninety. If the Arista money folks hadn\u2019t keep trying to recapture chart success by adding two more wimpy ballads (\u201cInside Looking Out\u201d and \u201cCloser To Heaven\u201d) this would be much higher on the list. <\/p>\n

7. Stereotomy<\/i> (1985)\"alanparsons_stereotomy\"<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

The John Miles Sings Rock And Roll Album. The opening track, \u201cStereotomy,\u201d with John Miles on vocals, is about cutting things into shapes \u2013 and this CD is all about the shapes and changes people have to make to survive fame. \u201cLimelight\u201d (with Procol Harum\u2019s Gary Brooker on vocals) and \u201cIn The Real World\u201d (Miles again) serve as the yin and yang on that subject, and both are excellent. \u201cLight Of The World\u201d is a soaring examination of\u00a0 spiritual searching. The only weak track is \u201cBeaujolais;\u201d the gravity of escaping into the bottle clashes with the light, poppy bounciness.<\/p>\n

\"alanparsons_live\"<\/a> 6. The Very Best Live<\/i> (1995)<\/b><\/p>\n

The Why Didn\u2019t We Do This Years Ago? Album. Recorded during a 1994 European tour (Woolfson never wanted to tour; once he and Parsons parted ways, Parsons and the rest of the Project began touring). There\u2019s a lot to like here, including a version of \u201cYou\u2019re Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned\u201d that has all the enthusiasm and passion the album track lacks. \u201cPsychobabble\u201d makes the audience crazy, and \u201cLuciferama\u201d puts \u201cLucifer\u201d and \u201cMammagamma\u201d into a blender and improves them both. Add to that three studio tracks, of which one is the best thing in my opinion Parsons ever did (the Stuart Elliot-voiced \u201cTake The Money And Run,\u201d and no, it\u2019s not the Steve Miller Song). A whole lot of fun. <\/p>\n

5. Tales Of Mystery and Imagination<\/i> (1976)\"alanparsons_tales\"<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

The Where It All Started Album. The iconic beginning of the Project, with \u201cThe Raven\u201d and all that. Check out \u201c(The System Of) Dr Tarr And Professor Fether\u201d \u2013 underappreciated. The prelude to side two (a post-rock work based on \u201cThe Fall Of The House Of Usher\u201d) is uncredited DeBussy. GET THE 1987 REMASTER WITH THE ORSON WELLES SPOKEN INTRO. Trust me. <\/p>\n

\"alanparsons_anything_199\"<\/b><\/a> 4. Try Anything Once<\/i> (1993)<\/b><\/p>\n

The I\u2019m Back, Bitches Album. Fierce. Intricate. The album the Project wish they\u2019d put out in the mid-eighties. \u201cMr Time,\u201d \u201cTurn It Up,\u201d \u201cBack Against The Wall,\u201d \u201cOh Life (There Must Be More)\u201d \u2013 this is where the rarified air starts. <\/p>\n

3. Eye In The Sky<\/i> (1982)\"alanparsons_eye\"<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

The Bleakness Of Greatness Album. Depressing, true. That\u2019s what happens when Parsons and Woolfson turn their gaze to the cold sterility of the early \u201880s. They\u2019re songs about death and madness, true, but they\u2019re great<\/u> songs; \u201cOld And Wise,\u201d \u201cPsychobabble,\u201d \u201cChildren Of The Moon,\u201d and of course that Chicago Bulls song. <\/p>\n

\"alanparsons_irobot\"<\/a> 1 (tie). I Robot<\/i> (1977)<\/b><\/p>\n

The Nominate This For A Hugo Album. Parsons and Woolfson decided to look at artificial intelligence, even getting Isaac Asimov\u2019s blessing on I Robot. <\/i>(The comma came out to avoid a contractual issue.) I\u2019m not going to pick on an individual track \u2013 just listen to it. Enjoy it. Embrace it. Tied with ToaFC because\u2026 <\/p>\n

1. Turn Of A Friendly Card<\/i> (1980)\"alanparsons_toafc\"<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

The Never Draw To An Inside Straight Album.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why Turn Of A Friendly Card<\/i> is a worse album than I Robot<\/i>; I could go the rest of my life without ever hearing \u201cTime\u201d again. Also, \u201cNothing Left To Lose\u201d is kind of lame.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why Turn Of A Friendly Card<\/i> is a better album than I Robot<\/i>; the high points are higher. \u201cMay Be A Price To Pay,\u201d \u201cGames People Play,\u201d and \u201cTurn Of A Friendly Card (Parts I and II)\u201d are three of the best songs Parsons ever did.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why it doesn\u2019t matter: they both kick ass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Alan Parsons Project’s CDs Ranked Worst To Best (Oh, Yeah, And Alan’s Solo Stuff, Too)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":48824,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"tags":[],"feature_type":[32],"class_list":["post-47876","feature","type-feature","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","feature_type-feature"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/feature"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47876"},{"taxonomy":"feature_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature_type?post=47876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}