Classical Composer Reaction/Analysis of Sirius & Eye in the Sky (Alan Parsons Project) | Ep. 621
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- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
- #alanparsonsproject #eyeinthesky #sirius
In this edition of #thedailydoug, I'm listening to music from the Alan Parsons Project for the first time on the channel. And, we're starting things off right by getting to two of their most notable compositions: Sirius & Eye in the Sky. I have heard both of these tracks previously, and in the video I give some insights to how the music works and why it sounds so enticing. I hope you enjoy!
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Eye in the sky is a masterpiece
Tales of mystery and imagination by Edgar Allen Poe, is the album to go for.
I robot
Pyramid
The turn of a friendly card
These are also great albums.
Incredible album.
Fascinating album. I Robot and The Turn of a Friendly Card are at least as great.
Yes! "The case of amontillado" for starters
Live from Colombia just put the best parts of all in together in a new form. Fantastic.
@@bookhouseboy280Card is simply Devine..
Great song(s), great band. Engineer, Producer, Musician, Singer, Songwriter, former EMI Vice President, 13-time Grammy nominated, (One win). How is he not in the R&R HOF?
Careful! That is not Doug!
He’s not woke enough.
He did not tour enough. He does not have enough Top 40 tracks. Those 2 are the PC reasons.
So glad to have Alan Parsons on the channel! Love his work!
if Pink Floyd never existed we'd all be Parson heads.
Don't forget his contributions to Let It Be and Abbey Road. @@johnhouse9983
"Sirius" and the Chicago Bulls are absolutely inseparable in my mind.
And from North Carolina...
@@princeofpcos9804 Right? Forever in that Ray Clay growly announcer voice...
Was looking for this comment
Even the 96 Bulls beating my team in the finals couldn't make me dislike that song.
Absolutely
Tune of A Friendly Card is an incredible album-one of my favorites. Criminally underrated.
One of the top 5 albums ever by anyone!
Yep, that one is a masterpiece
My personal favourite of APP.
Alan Parsons Project has been my go to music to chill and wind down to since I was like 15. I don't know how to explain, there is this rare tastefulness, subtlety and delicacy in their approach, which you don't often find in music, if you think about it. It's pleasant without being sugary or overly dramatic, approachable but not simplistic. It's the kind of music that you can find interesting to pay attention to and focus on, but at the same time it's perfectly fine as a background for whatever you do. My favorite are their earlier albums up until Eye in the Sky.
If you are lookgin for the same tastefull vibe then do check out Alan Parsons 2nd album after the Project stopped .. that album is On Air and he worked with all the regular musicians and had some amazing vocalist like Eric Stewart (10cc) and Christopher Cross. I rate On Air at least as good as Eye In The Sky if not even a bit better. Highly underrated album.
Indeed. I'm 62 now and still remember buying Turn of a Friendly Card. Their music is relaxing. I can't explain why I like them. Back then I also loved Abba Cab (likely spelled wrong). Peace.
He worked with Al Stewart on 3 classic albums - most importantly, Year of the Cat.
Wow, no wonder Al Stewart's songs were composed so well.
@@davidvoisin5118 Not just composition wise, but sonically, pretty much everything Parsons touches is gold
This takes me back to Saturday mornings as a kid. My dad would take me out running errands with him and we'd listen to Alan Parsons. It doesn't sound glamorous, but I cherish those times than I got to hang out with my dad and listen to great tunes.
At one time, I was an avid hang glider pilot. I incorporated my Walkman headphones into my helmet, and used to listen to music while I flew. I can recall one day, I was thousands of feet above Lookout Mountain in Tennessee, and “Eye in the Sky” came on the radio. I never forgot that flight, or how appropriate it was. I was fortunate to have heard Alan Parsons play those two songs a few years ago, and brought back some great memories.
Ian Bairnson and David Paton (guitars and bass) were in the band Pilot that had a few hits produced by Alan Parsons in early seventies (Magic, January). Stuart Elliott played drums in Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, a band that also had some big hits that were produced by Alan Parsons (Judy Teen, Make Me Smile). DIrector Andrew Powell also worked on orchestrating Psychomodo, the second album of Cockney Rebel. Clearly many of these people have been working together for many years.
Ian played Wuthering Heights solo for Kate Bush - loved his tone and technique
Would love to see the entire album "Tales of Mystery & Imagination" on the channel.
Absolutely agree! ‘Tales’ is truly exceptional. The entire album is immaculately produced and the tales are wonderfully told.
Absolutely !
Still APP's best. Absolutely love it. A reaction to the whole album would be fantastic
Agreed! Then, as a follow-up to that, in a quite different area of the sound spectrum, "Return to Tunguska" with a gorgeous guitar solo by none other than David Gilmour - which closes the loop back to the Alan Parsons - Pink Floyd cooperation on "Dark Side of the Moon".
Good idea, he could do “A Dream Within a Dream” and “The Raven” the same way as this one!
One of my absolute favourite bands of all time. Alan parsons and Eric Woolfson were amazing and Eye in the Sky is a timeless album. Well worth checking out Tales of Mystery and Imagination, which has lots of orchestral work, that album is my favourite by APP. So sad we lost Eric a few years ago.
Thanks so much for reacting to this Doug.
Never forget I Robot!!!! Very sophisticated like Tales of mistery..
@@mygeneration_tv9957 Very true👍
Full album reviews of "Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edgar Alan Poe" (their debut) and "The Turn of a Friendly Card" highly recommended.
The classic, 'Old and Wise' is a track of sheer beauty with the haunting voice of Colin Blunstone.
It's a double feature actually...you have Colin Blunstone, formerly of The Zombies, on lead vocal, followed by Mel Collins, formerly of King Crimson, on solo sax 🎷
I like that one ! And if you ever read the Stephen King novel "The Stand", I felt like Eye in the Sky could have been a theme song for the book. In '84 I got the cassette of Vulture Culture to play in my car. Peace.
I bought this album in 1983 as a 15 year old. 40 years later it remains one of my favourites and still gets played on a regular basis and I now have better quality equipment to enjoy it more. Thank you for exploring APP, a truly under appreciated catalogue.
Alan Parsons also engineered Al Stewart's "Year Of The Cat" and "Time Passages" albums. Both are excellent.
I was introduced to APP as a college freshman in 1978 through "I, Robot", and was completely blown away. The title track is an instrumental with kind of a unique rhythm. That album also had "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You" which got a lot of radio play. Well worth digging into.
Their first album, "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" has some really great tracks that aren't often heard. Based on the works of Edgar Alan Poe, Arthur Brown himself sings on "The Tell-Tale Heart. Also worth the effort.
You must listen to 'Tales Of Mystery and Imagination'. The first and the best APP album.
@@nullfield Yes, 'The Fall Of The House Of Usher' sounds great! The 40th anniversary edition also came with a 5.1 surround mix.
Their song, "Damned If I Do" has wonderful French Horn parts. Take a listen.
Thank you! Reading the comments I thought I was the only person who likes Eve.
French horns are almost the signature sound of Andrew Powell (and Alan also used them again in his rearrangement of Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice").
Bought this album when it was first released (on vinyl of course!) with money from my weekend job while I was in high school (we were all big Pink Floyd fans too back then and Alan Parsons had big respect for his work with them). Wonderful memories of growing up with this music
I have goosebumps listening to The Alan Parsons Project
Great reaction Doug!! HIGHLY suggest checking the multi-part suite: The Turn Of A Friendly Card. If you like the Project's stuff, this progressive, amazing track would be totally up your alley!! Apart from that, so many great tracks to experience!
Agreed Turn of a Friendly Card is an amazing album concept. Classic Alan Parsons production 😊
Just posted the same thing - Turn of a Friendly Card is easily one of my Top albums of my lifetime.
@_Mr_Doug_Helvering ok really? 😀 You will love that LP. I wore mine out
The Turn of a Friendly Card suite is peak APP. Ace album.
Eric Woolfson (R.I.P.) is an integral part of APP that is often overlooked or unmentioned.
Yes. Eric Woolfson got the inspiration for "Eye in the Sky" specifically from casino lingo, after a behind-the-scenes look round.
Thanks for this reaction Doug. Let us please remember Ian Bairnson, APP guitarist, who passed away recently. Ian was a truly phenomenal guitarist and a lovely man whom I once had the honour of spending some time with at an APP after-show party. RIP.
Please react to more APP, Doug! Thanks!
Ian was brilliant. I was deeply saddened to hear of his passing recently.
Ian was an incredible player, so versatile. And once Eric and Alan had split, Ian took to writing much of the 90s Parsons albums and didn't do a bad job there either.
@@progmeup It may be an unpopular opinion, but I think Ian's finest work was on the album "Stereotomy". It's in my top three APP albums. It doesn't seem to be that well-regarded, for some reason, but as a showcase for Ian's talents it's pretty much unbeatable, in my opinion.
@@SpaceOdditiesLive I love Stereotomy. And I agree that it has some of Ian's finest work. In fact, a fellow fan told me that Ian wrote part of "Where's the Walrus" without getting credit!
@@progmeup now that I didn't know! Thanks! I'm glad you like the album as well!
Fascinating. Love the way you can break apart the song like a chef splitting a meal into its recipe components. Very clever! Wish I'd stuck to my music lessons when I was a kid! Best wishes from the UK😊
I think Alan Parsons music is so close to perfect that it always impresses me. There's so many songs that makes me overwhelmed and so full of different emotions when I hear them. Thank you Doug!
Awesome choice! As a long time APP fan, I always struggle to decide what songs I would recommend to channels like yours. There is so much diversity from Pyramania, The Tell Tale Heart, The Raven, The Voice and Limelight. There is a comforting-anthem feel in the similarities yet differences of Shadow of a Lonely Man, Don't Let It Show, Silence and I, and Old and Wise. Even the newer albums have 'classics' like Brother Up In Heaven, Mr. Time, and Blown By the Wind. The theme-based albums have so many different moods! Dive deep!
Such a fantastic deep dive into the APP catalogue. Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, just an amazing partnership. Have been lucky enough to see different incarnations of the Alan Parsons Live Project over the years, once while lead guitarist Ian Bairnson was still touring with them and Alan never disappoints in the group of amazing musicians that he puts together. The APP album Stereotomy was released when i was in high school and that one always hits hard for me, especially the track, "Limelight", an amazing vocal from Gary Brooker (Procol Harum), as well as "In the Real World", vocal by John Miles. It is just such a brilliant sounding record with wonderful performances all over it, though I think that can be said for every APP album. Thanks for this one Doug! RIP Ian and Eric
Alan Parsons is just a pure genius...everything he touches.
This guitar player is one of those guys that makes all the right moves when it comes to soloing
I definitly would enjoy seeing a reaction/analysis of the Edgar Allan Poe album (Tales of Mystery and Imagination).
I recall that when I heard it in my youth I was struck by how Pink Floydish it did sound, and then I discovered afterwards that, yeah, he was the sound engineer of Dark Side of the Moon. Made total sense. Both Tales of Mystery and Imaginations and Dark Side of the Moon were big favorites of mine during my later teenage years.
“Time” by Alan Parsons Project should be the next review. It’s ethereal! It’s emotional! It’s magical! It’s a perfect song in my opinion.
Very Pink Floydish.
I sang "Time" at my mother's burial last month. I chose that song precisely for what you wrote.
Add Old and Wise to that list.
@@rbkn8068 indeed, I sang that at my grandmother's burial.
I'm one of those who started buying albums from The Alan Parsons Project over 40 years ago. There's a vast treasure trove of music to dig into. So thanks for the first of what I hope will be many such analyses and reactions.
Same, always loved APP and have since the early 80’s when I found them for the first time.
Sirius was my first intro to the APP. A friend brought the cassette of the just-released Eye in the Sky to school and when that opening giant tone came on, my life was never the same. I devoured all the APP albums and fell in love with bands that embraced electronic arrangements and instrumental tracks. Side 1 of Eye in the Sky might be the best example of the APP's lite-proggy, art-rock vibe; the way the tunes flow into each other, with two super-short tracks and closing with the epic, pastoral Silence and I. It's so very English and still timeless. I love all the Project albums, except Eve; I could never click with that one.
I was one of the ones clamouring for some APP. Great stuff! From the same album 'Silence And I' is an incredible ballad with a ROLLICKING orchestrated middle eight that you would really get a kick out of and your teeth into. Important to note Eric Woolfson wrote the majority of the songs and lyrics with input from Parsons.
I love Turn of a Friendly Card. I think that's my favorite album. The title tracks is hauntingly beautiful, both part 1 and part 2.
Doug, your point at about 13:45 about sporting events and anticipation is spot on. 'Sirius' was also used, in part, in the BBC's Record Breakers programme, to introduce the segment where a record was attempted live in the television studio. I was too young at the time to know that the tune was more than just a made-for-TV riff.
Check out the 'Live in Columbia' version. Also, would love to see you do 'Time'. The chord progression/layering is phenomenal. It makes my allergies act up every time.
Yes! Time is a transcending song
Got the Blu-Ray of “the Alan Parsons Symphonic Project Live In Columbia”. Beautiful concert with great musicians and a live orchestra and choir. Did see them live a couple of years ago in my country the Netherlands. My all time favorite musician/project. Had most of his albums.
Good to see/hear this. The suite "The Turn of a Friendly Card" from the album of the same name would be a fun video as well. (Also a classical music guy would have fun with "Fall of the House of Usher" though I won't give away why.)
I'd love to see a full reaction the whole Poe album.
That perfectly tasteful guitar solo ending Eye is by Ian Bairnson who also does the extended guitar solo ending Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush. I think Paton and Powell are involved there too.
Great -video - Takes me back so many years ! Happy times. Mark.
So many amazing moments fom Alan Parsons Project. Glad you are getting to their work. You're going to enjoy them all.
Like so many others on this channel, I cannot say enough about Alan Parsons and all he has brought to the world. An awesome talent never to be forgotten.
I love APP; I often describe their music as “progressive soft-rock,” a brilliantly successful combination of prog musicianship with adult contemporary songwriting. I don’t think anyone else ever quite managed to master that compelling mixture.
Great to see APP on the channel. You should not miss the 'Turn of a Friendly Card' Suite, believe me.
Eric Woolfson (singing) was the composer/writer for most of APP.
Yes, yes yes!!! Love the harmonic analysis! 🤓 More Cow...I mean keyboard 🎹! After watching hundreds of reactions, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your theory-centric approach. This sort of stuff engages my brain. People's emotional reactions are fine, but you seem to bring the best of both worlds. Please keep doing what you are doing! By the way, this probably should be a required freshman class at Berklee.😊😊😊.
When I saw the movie "LadyHawk" I could tell immediately that it was Allan Parsons that did the music for the movie. I used to have a number of their albums on LP's. I transferred them to CD when I got my first CD burner.
Great sound track. Cool movie.
I think you’re the first channel I’ve seen to review any Parsons work. Thank you!
I like when you get on the keyboard to explain things that are going on. Makes me wish I could play and really knew what you were talking about.
Alan Parsons is, and always will be, a bloody genius!!
Yet to this day I haven't heard anything from him and his mixer board that I didn't like. They could throw me down into the ground accompanied by anything from him, and I would be perfectly happy with it.
I've got all of the Parson's Project CD's. One of my favorite artist's. Loved your breakdown of this.
I remember when I heard these two songs and the entire album on "cassette" it blew my mind. He still does it. Excellent choosing for the channel.
About time Dougie🙂 hope you take the time to discover some more of this bands masterpieces. Thanks for your reaction 👍🙏
Great reaction of one of my all time favorite Musician/Band/Project. Got the Blu-Ray of “the Alan Parsons Symphonic Project Live In Columbia”. Beautiful concert with great musicians and a live orchestra and choir. Did see them live a couple of years ago in my country the Netherlands. Had most of his albums. Thanks for this reaction.
Great songs I remember hearing the tune on the radio while driving on holidays when i was a kid ,great memories for me 😊
"Silence and I" is another great one I'd like to hear your take on.
you have my vote
Actually seen Alan Parsons as a speaker at a technology conference. He was the lead on a team which ended up inventing Dolby Stereo for Sony. He explained how it was done by trying to solve a problem. He also explained how working with Pink Floyd, they learned how to record by recording pieces and then overlapping them on an album. This had not been done before. So Alan Parsons is full of ingenuity for the craft. If you have a chance to see the APP live, go see it. They have many pieces which are well known.
Outstanding one Doug. Towards the end when you were plying the keys, it made a similar sound to Van Halens opening on the song Right Now live when they made a comeback. Worth a listen sir.👍😎
Doug, He was also Recording Engineer on Ambrosia's first album, which is quite progressive compared to the other albums.
A very underrated album is this one by Alan Parson's Project "Tales of Mystery and Imagination (Edgar Allan Poe) ". 300K congratulations Doug!!!
If you do a full album reaction on Tales of Mystery and Imagination, you'll have a very pleasant surprise that I won't ruin for you. Great album all the way through.
APP has so many deep thought provoking lyrics in their songs that is often overlooked by their great music.
GOBIGRED!!!! I didn't know you were a Husker!
And Alan Parsons is a genius engineer, but so many of the Alan Parsons Project music and lyrics were written by Eric Woolfson, another musical genius.
I would say their most well-known tunes are "Don't Answer Me" and "Old and Wise"
Thanks for the great video on these two pieces. I like what you said about the music being more of the focus than the lyrics. Having said that, these lyrics were very suggestive to me of the themes in Orwell's 1984. Parsons has a way of taking a riff and building layer upon layer (upon layer ....) reaching a climax where you can still hear every detail if you listen for it. One of my favorites that uses this layering to the extreme is In the Lap of the Gods from the Pyramid album.
Nailed it. Delay and that compressed, inorganically clean guitar that was such a part of the '80s.
The Hi-Fi enthusiasts favorite band - every single album just sounds sonically perfect both in good headphones and even better if you have a good Hi-Fi system. Most albums have a specific theme like all good prog rock. Can't wait for more 🙂
Finally Alan Parsons. His importance in the music industry can't be overrated. Eye in the Sky is good but far from his best album. Although hearing it on the Blu Ray audio disc in 5.1 is great. You really need to do I Robot, Pyramid or Turn Of A Friendly Card. I Robot especially would be great as an all album reaction.
My favorite song by Alan Parsons Project is the title track on I Robot. It is a masterful feat of engineering. I'm not sure if the vinyl version is better than CD or MP3 but I first heard it on vinyl and it blew my mind. That whole album though features amazing orchestral and choir pieces.
The strength of the Project relied in Eric Woolfson's song crafting and Parsons ' wizardry on the engineering.
This album, and specially side one was the very first time I heard of APP and I got hooked into prog rock thanks to them.
Of course, they were crossover prog, pop prog, whatever. Not hard prog, of course, but they were the perfect place to start.
The debut album might be right your alley. You should listen to it, specially The Fall of the House of Usher.
For more dynamic compositions in the Alan Parsons catalog, I recommend:
• The Raven, which has orchestral and art-rock influences. This is from the debut album which was based on Edgar Allen Poe writings.
• The Turn of a Friendly Card suite, which is 16 minutes and has 5 movements. A wonderful variety of feels, held together nicely by melodies and such.
YES! Alan Parsons at last! So much great material to pick from.
You should do the song that first brought them radio airplay and notoriety "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether"
Hey Doug - so glad you took the time to react to Alan Parsons - he’s an icon in the music industry. It brought to mind another track by another artist - Aja by Steeley Dan. Of course, they are iconic in their own right. But this particular track includes one of the most wonderful piano parts by another “behind the scenes” icon, Michael Omartian. You’ll find Michael in the credits for numerous well-known artists. And, the legendary Steve Gadd gives an amazing performance on drums. I hope you’ll consider analyzing and reacting to this track. It’s quite a masterpiece.
'turn it up' from Try Anything Once is one of my favorite APP songs. Thanks for sharing your musical knowledge. Peace, all 💕
I had all of Alan Parsons albums. Know then all by heart, and still sing to them.
I love Doug's take on these. An outside opinion and very knowledgeable.. Love this content.
I've always wondered what gives the second verse beginning with "Don't leave false illusion behind" that magical feel. It has to be the haunting underlying sustained chords that aren't there in the first verse. I absolutely feel like I'm ascending somewhere be it higher consciousness and I get the goosebumps when listening with a good set of headphones. Alan Parsons is a musical genius.
So many people know Alan Parsons Project song yet have not heard of The Alan Parsons Project as his music has been used in so many films and nobody reads the credits. I have been listening to TAPP since the start of the 80s, and love some of the albums as a whole, others Have several tracks that I love, he rarely misses with his writing, they are a muso's band whether producers engineers or musicians, they all know the work
Great choice, I really identifed with 'Eye In The Sky' when I have been in relationships or friendships that have gone south, when you didn't know someone as well as you thought you had.
I'd highly recommend another track from the 1979 album 'Eve', "If I Could Change Your Mind" with Leslie Duncan on lead vocal, fantastic track!
I've made arrangements for Old and Wise (from this album) to be played at my memorial service. The lyrics make this song so special.
Always thought of doing the same. Good choice!
😪
Me too, long time ago.
Such a sad song.
APP was my dad's favorite band in college, and thus we had all their records growing up. It's hard to know what else to recommend from them because their whole discog is so good and varied. Each album had its own theming and kind of flavor.
Personally, I love the Turn of a Friendly Card suite that encompasses the second side of the album of the same name!
Love to see some Alan Parsons on the channel. The breakdown of Sirius of was great! Eye In the Sky, for me, was always about a relationship from the point of view of someone who's being taken advantage of/cheated on/lied to/etc but he knows it and he's quietly calling out his partner, and he's warning them that he's aware.
For more APP. Silence and I is just epic. I wouldn’t want to be like you, for a rocker. I Robot, for an instrumental.
ah i forgit this album, so thanks to your video, I just bought the CD, Thanks Doug! :) And yeah, the production is a masterclass! Where would great music be without suss chords? Really looking forward to playing it
Amazing music, Alan P is a genius!! Thanks for doing this one!
If you are not familiar with the band Tangerine Dream, just think of the Sirius type instrumental
To me, the lyrics are quite straightforward. The singer has been in a relationship where the other party has tried to play them for a fool by playing around, and then tried to blame the singer, saying that he had done the cheating (turning the tables).
The singer says he has long known what was going on, but has been willing to turn a blind eye because some aspects of the relationship ("The sun in your eyes") made it worthwhile ("made the lies worth believing").
But now he's had enough, and is calling things to an end. He tells the other person not to deny it, not to try to blame him, not to cry in order to get him to change his decision because he (the singer) knows all the tricks ... and is better at them!
Bam, you nailed it…straight forward indeed, I don’t know how there could really be any confusion at all about the lyrics.
Great analysis as always Doug!
Gotta review Alan Parsons Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Stories of Edgar Allan Poe, any track. But Cask of Amontillado is awesome
I was in a foreign exchange program and I lived in Omaha for one semester. Pretty cool to find out that you are from there, and a Huskers fan. Go Big Red!
Wow, I've heard the intro at MANY sporting events and never knew it was the Alan Parsons Project! 😮
What a delight to see Camel's third album "The Snow Goose" over your shoulder - the first 'serious' album I ever bought back in 1975 when I was 15!!
Andrew Powell, Ian Bairnson and Stuart Elliot all worked with Kate Bush on her early albums in particular The Kick Inside.
Sir, It's time you played The Alan Parson's Project "Tales of Mystery and Imagination". Epic album.
I just discovered these songs 2 weeks ago, now I cant stop to listen to that album omg
Also one of my all time favorite artists. the albums "I Robot" and "The Turn of a Friendly Card" are incredible from beginning to end and best listened to in their entirety!
Turn of a Friendly Card would be nice, haven’t heard in years...
Agreed. Top to bottom especially strong albums.
@stevehartke1331 i listen to them both weekly! I love my Amazon music service and Echos! So easy to just ask alexa to play a song, album, artist or genre!