Great collection, but missing anything from "Tales Of Myster
R. Gorham | 01/23/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"THE BAND: Alan Parsons (keyboards, production, engineering), Eric Woolfson (keyboards, executive production), Andrew Powell (keyboards, orchestral arrangements), Ian Bairnson (guitar), Richard Cottle (keyboards, saxophone), Stuart Tosh (drums), Stuart Elliot (drums). A long list of guest artists (and regulars) were standard on most of their albums.
THE DISC(S): (2002) 32 tracks on 2-discs clocking in at approximately 140 total minutes (67+ minutes on disc-1, and 73+ minutes on disc-2). Included with the disc is a minimal 2 page foldout containing song titles/times and a brief one page intro to the band. The technology used is 20-bit Super Bit Mapping on "gold" discs. Label - A.D.D. / BMG Belgium... made in Holland (now an import?).
ALBUM REPRESENTATION: I Robot (4 songs), Pyramid (5), Eve (3), The Turn Of A Friendly Card (4), Eye In The Sky (5), Ammonia Avenue (3), Vulture Culture (2), Try Anything Once (2), Stereotomy (2), Gaudi (2).
COMMENTS: Much of the Alan Parsons Project early music reflects upon Parsons' time spent as audio engineer on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon (1973). Landscape after landscape of beautiful flowing music... some more pop than others, some to fall asleep to. Parsons' was also master of the concept album - and as good as this collection is, the ideal listen comes from the entire album. Concepts included Egypt (Pyramid), the world of tomorrow (I Robot), women (Eve), gambling (The Turn Of A Friendly Card), surveillance (Eye In The Sky), Edgar Allen Poe (Tales Of Mystery & Imagination - no songs here), etc. Parsons had 17 'Top 100' hits and they are all included on "Works" - including "Breakdown", "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You", "Damn If I Do", "Games People Play", "Sirius", "Eye In The Sky", "Old & Wise", "Don't Answer Me", etc. This compilation also includes all the tracks from "Best Of Alan Parsens Project" (1983)... as well as a majority of the songs from "Best of - Volume 2". A great mix of songs, however it's not without fault. I find two things drastically wrong with "Works". 1. - there are no songs from "Tales Of Mystery & Imagination" (1976) included here, and 2. - a surprisingly thin two pages of liner notes. My recommendation - if you're in the market for an Alan Parsons Project compilation disc(s), I would recommend their "Definitive Collection" (1997), also a 2-disc set. All the same tracks (in the same order even), but it gives you two addition songs - "The Raven" and "Dr. Tarr & Professor Fether" from "Tales". Overall "Works" is a nice package with outstanding sound and unique gold discs (4 stars)."
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1