THE BEST OF THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT VOL. II

Having spent the best part of the last couple of weeks converting a pile of old vinyl into digital, and also going on a ridiculous spending spree for new stuff, I dug out this old curiosity this evening.

This is the second of a compilation of tracks from the project started by Alan Parsons, of Pink Floyd engineering fame, and the late, great Eric Woolfson, and if the purpose of such compilations is to goad the listener into exploring more fully the deeper annals of such bands, then I think that this one succeeds admirably. I, for one, will be expanding my collection with originals from this band.

A variety of artists were used on the project, and Chris Rainbow's vocals are standout on a couple of tracks here, most especially Since The Last Goodbye, although, to these ears, the emotional intensity of Woolfson's vocals are the true hallmark.

The title track, Limelight, is a standout ballad, with vocals dripping with intensity.

Another standout for me is Ammonia Avenue, with exceptional Woolfson vocals, this is the title track from the album of the same name which generated good commercial success. It is reminiscent of what many would call American AOR, but is no worse for that.

The instrumentals show the proggier side of a band who, in fairness, just qualify as Crossover prog on this site. Mammagamma and I Robot are especially enjoyable, the latter basically a simple keyboard riff overlaid with an almost disco type of rhythm.

There are a couple of tracks here which I would describe as throwaway, and certainly make this good, but non essential. Hawkeye is one such track. Pleasant enough as an instrumental, with saxophone and light keyboards dominating, but it never really grabs enough. Light fare, basically, which I believe is the main criticism of many contributors on this site to the Project as a whole.

This is a good selection of tracks, and if you enjoy, as I do, the simpler side of prog in terms of composition and instrumentation, melded with some quite exquisite vocal performances, then you could do a lot worse than to check this out.

A strong three stars for a very worthy compilation.