As a fan of Alan Parsons’ work, I’ve been collecting his music.  This goes back to the early 80’s when I first heard Eye In The Sky.  I don’t have ALL of his works, yet, but I do have the classics.  As I’ve been developing this site and promoting it among friends and associates, I’ve found a small following of Alan Parsons fans.  This compilation of Alan’s classic albums is dedicated to those fans of his work I currently know and for those who may become one in the future!

I’ve put these playlists in order of their creation, along with a little history of the group.  Alan Parsons began his significant work at 19 years old, as an Assistant Recording Engineer, working at Abbey Road Studios.  At that position, he helped to produce a couple of Beatles albums.  Following those projects, he became a full-fledged recording engineer and did work for Paul McCartney, Al Stewart (Year of the Cat) and Ambrosia.  These artists are just a few of a list of many that he worked with there.  He also collaborated with Pink Floyd to produce “Dark Side of the Moon.”

***Feel free to click the play button on any of these playlists embedded in this post!***

In 1974, he met Eric Woolfson at Abby Roads.  Eric, a Scottish songwriter, lyricist, executive producer and pianist,  was working on another project with other folks at the time.  Alan asked Eric to be his manager and in 1975, a record deal was signed….

1976-The first of many albums created by Alan and Eric…Tales of Mystery and Imagination; an album theme about Edgar Alan Poe’s works.

1977-I Robot: This album highlights Isaac Asimov’s I Robot trilogy and addresses the concept of artificial intelligence.

1978-Pyramid: This album centers around the Pyramids of Giza, the power of the pyramids and the boy king, Tutankhamen.

1979-Eve; This album is about women and their role in the men’s world; with the songs portraying women’s strengths and their weaknesses, as they relate to the man’s realm. Eve received a Grammy nomination for Best Album.  Also, Pat Benatar released a cover version of “Don’t Let It Show.”

1980-Turn of a Friendly Card; The theme of this album focuses on gambling, telling a song-based story about one man’s bitter journey in the casino world. This album received a Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Recording.  At this point in time, Phillips invents the audio CD.

1982-Eye InThe Sky.  THIS was the album that got my attention.  It’s almost as if it spoke personally TO me.  It, too, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Engineering Recording.  The theme of this album is a loosely based on Eric Woolfson’s fascination with the video cameras that are installed in different places such as casinos and stores.

1983-The “Best Of” compilations came out in a CD.

1984-Ammonia Avenue was released. This album is a portrayal of industrial engineering with respect to public opinion about it and a lack of understanding of the public’s opinion by the scientific community.

1985-Vulture Culture was released.  This album is about how our society becoming a “me first” one where every person is self-serving; how altruism sadly is becoming a thing of the past.

1986-Stereotomy was created.  Received a Grammy nomination for Best Album Package and for Best Instrumental for the song, “Where’s The Walrus.” The theme of this album makes reference back to the “Tales” theme in which the word “stereotomy” actually comes from the story,”The Murders in the Rue Morgue.”  This album metaphorically talks about how the demands of a celebrity’s fame shapes their lives.

1987-Gaudi was born.  It was the music in THIS album that has inspired me to add visiting Barcelona, Spain, to my bucket list.  It is there that I want to visit and photograph the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s unfinished Catholic church.  The song, “Closer To Heaven” was played in an episode on Miami Vice.

In 1988, Limelight and The Best of Alan Parsons Project 2 were released.

Freudiana was released in 1990, and was the last collaboration between Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons.  It was supposed to be the eleventh album but is really not considered as such.  Eric went on to pursue work in the musical theater industry, while Alan hit the road to perform live on stage.  Also, during this time frame, the preamble instrumental to the song Eye In The Sky titled“Sirius” began to be used as the background introduction music for the Chicago Bulls basketball team and continues to be used at various football and baseball events around the country.

Alan Parsons dropped the word “Project” from his group’s title when the album, Try Anything Once came out.

In 1996, Alan released the double-CD album, On Air…

1999-With the release of Time Machine, Alan Parsons Live Project was born.