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The Alan Parsons Project - Pyramid CD (album) cover

PYRAMID

The Alan Parsons Project

 

Crossover Prog

3.46 | 439 ratings

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Mspy1
3 stars Alan Parsons Project / Alan Parsons Project

Pyramid, The Project's third album, was released in 1978 and went on to chart at #26 on Billboard, building on the popularity of I Robot.

Starting with the meditative ambient instrumental 'Voyager,' the album moves smoothly (segues) into their single 'What Goes Up,' which features David Paton and Dean Ford on lead vocals. Even though the segue builds up a strong opening, the single being insistently repetitive makes some listeners flee. Especially those who are familiar with metronomes can easily guess where the album is going. Furthermore, this album is declared by many as a formulaic pop/rock album.

Considering their repeating themes of the Middle East, Egypt, and the Pyramids themselves, the following three songs can indeed be thought of as a trilogy. Moreover, the introduction to 'In The Lap Of The Gods,' a grandiose and bombastic instrumental that bursts into life with an orchestra and choir at the finish, kind of kicks things off.

Exquisite production is still in place, in addition to; superb musicianship, and mediocre tunes, as one would expect from Alan Parsons' production, and it is no surprise. Issue with this album is that it has a few bad songs in it. These bad songs are in my opinion are literally formulaic fillers, and they have no progressive value even though they are well produced. This album has the onerous task of following up on what was undoubtedly a career high with the magnificent "I Robot," and the standards are unmet in many respects, which is upsetting. Pyramid has a few treasures, a bevy of nice pop songs, and sadly, it also has garbage in it.

Mspy1 | 3/5 |

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