THE BEST OF THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT VOL. II

The second "best of" compilation from the Alan Parsons Project seems more like an appendix to their first "best of" compilation that was released in 1983 rather than a continuation like most greatest hits albums that are labeled "vol. 1, vol. 2, etc." The major reason for this was probably because they did not have enough material to fill the album from what was released between 1984 and 1987. Eight of the eleven songs were from that time period, some hits, some not (at least not that I was aware of). It also includes the I Robot instrumental (which was sorely lacking from the first compilation), What Goes Up (from Pyramania), and The Turn of a Friendly Card Part II (better known as Snake Eyes). Since they took the time to add stuff that was missing from their first compilation, again nothing is represented from their debut (maybe because their debut was not released by Arista??).

These weren't the most popular singles released by APP and in many ways it pales in comparison to their first "best of" selection. After all, APP had been in a decline since their 1982 apex with the release of Eye in the Sky. The music is chiefly pop rock with a slight mixing of pop prog in places. Although the addition of the I Robot instrumental was nice, it wasn't enough to bring this album out of the "collectors only" zone. Two stars is about as high as I can go on this.