Pyramid
	Produced by Alan Parsons
	Released on May 1978
	US CHART POSITION #26 . . . GOLD RECORD
	Find it at GEMM
AB 4180 cover [high resolution photo]

A lushly produced album and I wouldn’t get too hung up over the pyramid references. These Parsons albums grow on me over time, and after giving Crisis the invisible nod I couldn’t bequeath any less to Pyramid. At least this time I’ve got a handle on the concept: musician wonders whether his music will stand the test of time, faces his own mortality and winds up another lonely and empty man. A regular laugh riot these APP albums, but then nobody picked on Pink for being blue. This gets an extra star for being musically ambitious: nearly no two songs try the same trick twice. It’s also wonderfully produced; should have won an Engineering Grammy, which I’m guessing is a smaller version of the Best Album Grammy. “Can’t Take It With You” and “Pyramania” remain two of my favorite tracks from the band, while “Hyper-Gamma-Spaces” stands with their best instrumentals (of course, I really liked the Dr. Who theme too). The album reminds me a lot of Beach Boys, 10cc and Pink Floyd swirled together (tell me that guitar solo in “Can’t Take It With You” doesn’t just reek of David Gilmour). For some reason, critics seem a little gun shy to crown Pyramania. I don’t know why. It didn’t contain a big hit, but we’ve gotten past that, haven’t we? It’s such a wonderfully well-coiffed album; no hairs out of place, everything stylish and striking. True, “Shadow of a Lonely Man” is a little weak, likewise “One More River,” but show me an Alan Parsons album that strived harder for perfection. I actually prefer this record to Robot because the disco overtones are toned down and nothing on here is as whiny as “Don’t Let It Show.” In fact, if I was plotting the three points for the APP pyramid, I’d point you to this record, Card and Eye.

AB 4180 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. VOYAGER    2:24
2. WHAT GOES UP...    3:31
3. THE EAGLE WILL RISE AGAIN    4:20
4. ONE MORE RIVER    4:15
5. CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU    5:06
6. IN THE LAP OF THE GODS    5:27
7. PYRAMANIA    2:45
8. HYPER-GAMMA-SPACES    4:19
9. SHADOW OF A LONELY MAN    5:34
   
   All songs composed by Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons

CREDITS

My elpee didn't come with any liner notes. I also paid a dollar for this album, so I can live with that. If you can't, visit The Avenue Online.
Andrew Powell -- arrangements

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