It’s always fun to see an artist experiment. Sometimes it falls
\nflat, sometimes it works, but knowing that someone is going outside
\nthe envelope of their past work is worth a few bonus points in my
\nbook. Alan Parsons’ post-Project career has been a lot of
\nexperimentation. Some of it worked, some of it didn’t, but it’s all
\nbeen different, varied, daring, while still keeping the layered
\nsound that his production is known for. His new CD,
\nThe Time Machine,<\/i> is no different.<\/p>\n
Once again, the central core of Parsons’ post-Project work
\nremains the same. Guitarist Ian Bairnson and drummer Stuart Elliot
\nhave been with Parsons since the mid ’70s. Bassist John Giblin and
\nvocalist Neil Lockwood return for their second go-round. In a
\npleasant surprise, former Project vocalists Colin Blunstone and
\nChris Rainbow return after many years’ absence. The vocalist corps
\nis rounded out by Parsons semi-regular Graham Dye, and three new
\nguest vocalists, all of whom are an interesting variance from
\nParsons’ normal sound: Tony Hadley, formerly of Spandau Ballet,
\nEnglish singer-songwriter Beverly Craven, and in a very strange
\ntwist, Maire Brennan, formerly of Clannad.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, this
\nis<\/i> a departure for Parsons. But it works; it may work, in
\nfact, better than anything he’s done since the 1987 breakup of the
\nProject. Brennan’s vocal work on “Call Of The Wild” is delicate,
\nbreathy, and the full undertones of her ethereal voice are brought
\nout by Parsons’ production. Tony Hadley slides into the Parsons
\nsound as easy as if he’d been bred for it on “Out Of The Blue,” and
\nCraven’s “The Very Last Time” is minimally produced and arranged,
\nwith brilliant piano by new keyboardist Robyn Smith. Craven’s voice
\nis not at all what you expect on a Parsons CD; it’s bluesy,
\nexpressive, and the song itself is acoustic. It’s a long way from
\n“Sirius\/Eye In The Sky”, but it works.<\/p>\n
The regulars respond as well. In the instrumental department,
\n“H.G. Force Part I & II” is a brilliant piece of work, the
\nJarre-like synthesizer and drums sandwiching the album neatly.
\n“Rubber Universe” may be the catchiest vocal-free piece on a
\nParsons CD since “Hawkeye” on 1985’s
\nVulture Culture<\/i>. Both of these show the excellent writing
\nability of Bairnson and Elliot, performers who are heavily
\nunderappreciated both as composers and as guitarist and drummer.
\n(Ian Bairnson, for example, got bored a few years ago, so he
\nlearned how to play saxophone — well enough he provides all the
\nsax lines on this CD. This is what the guy does when he’s
\nbored<\/i>.)<\/p>\n
And in vocals, “No Future In The Past,” the Beatlesque “Press
\nRewind,” and Blunstone’s “Ignorance Is Bliss” all excel. Special
\nnote should be given to the first two; both are unusual for
\nParsons, the first hard rock, the second an almost guitar-band
\nsound. Only on “Call Up” does the sound falter, and that a minor
\nconsideration. (Another guitar line or a bit more musical
\ncomplexity would have solved it nicely.)<\/p>\n
In short, Parsons has deviated from his standard sound, taken
\nsome chances, and come out a winner. Parsons is still trying to
\nsecure an American label for this release; meanwhile, go break your
\npiggy bank and order the Japanese import (with English liner notes)
\nfrom Thoughtscape Records. It’s worth every penny.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":25051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5965],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-36256","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-alan-parsons","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36256"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36256"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}