The Alan Parson Project - Stereotomy (1985) (LP) - €10,00

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Stereotomy is the ninth studio album by the Alan Parsons Project, released in 1985.

Not as commercially successful as its predecessor Vulture Culture, the album is structured differently from earlier Project albums: containing three lengthy tracks ("Stereotomy" at over seven minutes, "Light of the World" at over six minutes, and the instrumental "Where's the Walrus?" running over seven and a half minutes) and two minute-long songs at the end. 

On this album, the theme circles around the way in which the modern world molds the personality, the character, and the livelihood of the human being. 

People are but a slave to their lifestyle and their environment, and they are destined to be thrown into this situation at birth, with tolerance as an inevitability. 

One must really pay attention to the profound lyrics and loose structuring of the music to attain the concept that Parsons metaphorically dances around. John Miles' angriness on the title track kicks things off, and his forceful voice makes for a passable rock tune. 

Aside from this song, the only other vocal standout is "In the Real World," again with the help of Miles' assertiveness. 

Two of the album's instrumentals, "Where's the Walrus?" and "Urbania," conjure up mood and keep the listener slightly poised, causing some musical buoyancy among the blandness of the other tracks. Stereotomy's main theme remains stagnant, ever so slightly regaining consciousness across the nine songs laid out here. Parsons' genius can be better investigated on numerous past releases, as this album comes up short.

It is a full digital production and both the LP and CD releases were encoded using the two-channel Ambisonic UHJ format. Stereotomy earned a Grammy nomination in 1987 – for Best Rock Instrumental Performance: Orchestra, Group, or Soloist – for the track "Where's the Walrus?"

Stereotomy marks the final appearance of David Paton on bass – he went on to join Elton John's touring band – and is the first Project release since Tales of Mystery and Imagination not to feature Lenny Zakatek. 

The track "Chinese Whispers" is based on the game of Chinese whispers. It has some snippets of dialogue heavily overlaid on top of each other. The words are taken from Edgar Allan Poe's work Murders in the Rue Morgue:

"...The larger links of the chain run thus – Chantilly, Orion, Dr. Nichol, Epicurus, Stereotomy, the street stones, the fruiterer."

The titles of "Urbania" and "Where's the Walrus?" can be attributed to Lee Abrams, a (then) radio programmer for WLUP Radio (Chicago, IL) and friend of Parsons and Woolfson. Eric Woolfson remembers:

"He was really quite inspirational in this album [Stereotomy] in telling us what we'd been doing wrong, in his view, on the previous albums... 'Urbania' was one of the words he came out with during the course of a long conversation. Another title he's responsible for... is 'Where's the Walrus,' the other instrumental, 'cause he was really giving us a hard time, I must tell you: 'Your guitar sounds are too soft, and your whole approach is, you know, slack, and your lyrics—there’s no great lyrics anymore! I mean, where's the walrus? I don't hear the walrus!' Referring, of course, to John Lennon's `I am the Walrus’..."

Side A

A1.  Stereotomy - 7:15  

        Lead Vocals – John Miles

A2.  Beaujolais - 4:27  

        Lead Vocals – Chris Rainbow

A3.  Urbania (Instrumental) - 4:34  

A4.  Limelight - 4:39  

        Lead Vocals – Gary Brooker

Side B

B1.  In The Real World - 4:17  

        Lead Vocals – John Miles

B2.  Where’s The Walrus? (Instrumental) - 7:34  

B3.  Light Of The World - 6:22  

        Lead Vocals – Graham Dye

B4.  Chinese Whispers (Instrumental) - 1:02  

B5.  Stereotomy Two - 1:18 

        Lead Vocals – John Miles

Companies, etc.

• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Arista Records, Inc.
• Copyright © – Arista Records, Inc.
• Copyright © – Woolfsongs Ltd.
• Copyright © – Careers Music, Inc.
• Recorded At – Mayfair Studios
• Recorded At – Abbey Road Studios
• Mixed At – Mayfair Studios
• Copyright © – Icon Ltd.
• Published By – Woolfsongs Ltd.

Credits

• Bass – David Paton
• Conductor – Andrew Powell
• Design, Art Direction – Andrew Ellis, Colin Chambers
• Drums, Percussion – Stuart Elliott
• Engineer – Alan Parsons, Noel Rafferty, Tony Richards
• Guitar – Ian Bairnson
• Orchestra – Philharmonia Orchestra
• Synthesizer, Saxophone – Richard Cottle
• Vocals – Chris Rainbow, Gary Brooker, Graham Dye, John Miles, Steve Dye
• Written-By, Keyboards, Producer – Alan Parsons
• Written-By, Vocals, Piano, Keyboards, Executive-Producer – Eric Woolfson

Notes

Release:  1985

Format:  LP, Vinyl

Genre:  Progressive Rock

Label:  Arista Records

Catalog#  207463

Vinyl:  Goed (VG)

Cover:  Goed (VG)

Prijs: €10,00