14.01.2008.
Alan Parsons Project - Turn of a Friendly Card (1980) (@256)
(Review from progarchives.com, wikipedia, allmusic.com)
Project's fifth album "Turn of a Friendly Card" focuses on gambling, and loosely tells the tale of a middle-aged man who grows restless and takes a chance by going to a casino and betting all he has, only to lose it all.
This time the album doesn't lead off with a spacey instrumental. Instead "May Be a Price to Pay" introduces the notion of playing as an exercise in trangression with an air of symphonic solemnity in the opening bars, leading us to a lighter, somewhat poppier further development, always keeping a symphonic twist.
On "Games People Play", vocalist Lenny Zakatek sounds compelling and focused, giving the song a seriousness that aids in realization of the album's concept. Zakatek returns a short while later on the similar "I don't want to go home".
The ballad-like "Time" is a typical Project mellow mood piece, and also marks the first time Eric Woolfson was given the microphone for the lead vocals. Woolfson often recorded vocals in the studio during early recording sessions, but was usually replaced with a featured singer in the final cuts. This album was recorded in France and they didn't have anyone else available at the time, so Woolfson laid down the final cut. The success of "Time" led to many other lead vocals of Woolfson in their next albums.
Side two opens with what effectively serves as a prelude to the title suite. "The gold bug" is a typical Project instrumental featuring some fine saxophone and melodic vocalisation.
The minute "The turn of friendly card" starts, it is clear that the quality control has suddenly been turned up significantly. This is due in no small part to the distinctive vocals of Chris Rainbow (one time of Camel, but also a notable solo artist). Rainbow sings on all but one of the sections, "Nothing left to lose" which sees Eric Woolfson make his second vocal contribution to the album. The theme of the piece looks at the futility of gambling, although it has to be said that any examination of this heavy topic here is very superficial.
The orchestration which features throughout the suite comes to the fore on "The ace of swords", an effective instrumental passage. The following "Nothing left to lose" has some of the strongest melodies on the album. Eric Woolfson offers a wonderful vocal performance to complement the reflective lyrics. The track develops through a brief reprise of the "Snake eyes" theme into one Ian Bairnson's most aggressive guitar solos and a reprise of the title song to close the album. The final instrumental passage provides a wonderful coda to this superb piece.
Line-up :
- Eric Woolfson, Alan Parsons / keyboards
- David Paton / bass
- Stuart Elliott / drums & percussions
- Ian Bairnson / guitars
- Andrew Powell / orchestra & choir arrangements and conduction
Track List :
01. May Be A Price To Pay (4:52)
02. Games People Play (4:17)
03. Time (5:05)
04. I Don't Wanna Go Home (4:54)
05. The Gold Bug (4:28)
06. The Turn Of A Friendly Card
- Part One (2:39)
- Snake Eyes (3:17)
- The Ace Of Swords (2:58)
- Nothing Left To Lose (4:03)
- Part Two (3:12)
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Original Post Date : 6 Sep 2007 | 5:21 AM
