Eric Woolfson Freudiana released

Freudiana Alan Parsons

Released: October 11, 1990 Peak: 13 DF Sales (in millions): -- Genre: progressive rock lite

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. The Nirvana Principle (instrumental) [3:45] Freudiana [6:21] v: Eric Woolfson I Am a Mirror [4:07] v: Leo Sayer Little Hans [3:13] v: Graham Dye Dora [3:51] v: Eric Woolfson Funny You Should Say That [4:36] v: The Flying Pickets You're on Your Own [3:54] v: Kiki Dee Far Away From Home [3:12] v: The Flying Pickets Let Yourself Go [5:26] v: Eric Woolfson Beyond the Pleasure Principle (instrumental) (Parsons/Woolfson) [3:14] The Ring [4:23] v: Eric Stewart Sects Therapy [3:40] v: Frankie Howerd No One Can Love You Better Than Me [5:41] v: Kiki Dee, Marti Webb, Gary Howard, Eric Woolfson Don't Let the Moment Pass [3:41] v: Marti Webb Upper Me [5:16] v: Eric Stewart Freudiana (instrumental) [3:43] Destiny [:51] v: Chris Rainbow There But for the Grace of God [5:56] v: John Miles All songs written by Eric Woolfson unless otherwise noted. The ‘v’ after the song listing indicates who does lead vocals. Total Running Time: 74:30 The Players: Eric Woolfson (vocals, keyboards, executive producer) Alan Parsons (engineer, producer, additional keyboards) Andrew Powell (orchestra leader, arrangements) Ian Bairnson (guitar) Stuart Elliott (drums, percussion) Laurie Cottle (bass) Richard Cottle (synthesizer, saxophone)

Rating: 3.668 out of 5.00 (average of 15 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: The Alan Parsons Project launched in 1976 with Tales of Mystery and Imagination, an album devoted to musical interpretation of the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Originally intended as a one-time project, the work led to nine more studio albums in just over a decade’s time. ”Between 1975 and 1987, ten Alan Parsons project albums…sold over 45 million copies worldwide.” PC The Project was helmed by its namesake alongside singer, keyboardist and co-writer Eric Woolfson and backed by a slew of rotating vocalists and other session musicians. When the Project split in 1987, “Woolfson was eager to write for musical theatre, and in 1990, a new career began when his first musical Freudiana, was premiered in Vienna.” PC Freudiana “offers…various interpretations of [psychiatrist Sigmund] Freud's works, studying all his most famous cases (Wolfman, Ratman, Dora, Little Hans, Schreber and the Judge).” AMG Much of the Project’s work suffered from songs with an eye for radio that were loosely tied to vague themes studying the nature of man. Woolfson’s single-minded purpose to craft a musical freed him from the burden of crafting songs that had to stand alone out of context while also tying the songs more closely to an overall theme. The result is the most focused work on Woolfson’s resume since the Project’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination. The music here also works in that it is a Project album in all but name. Not only does Woolfson enlist longtime Project players Stuart Elliot and Ian Bairnson on drums and guitar respectively, but vocalists Chris Rainbow, John Miles, and Graham Dye, all of whom had worked with the Project. Of course, the most important connection is the presence of Alan Parsons himself. While the Project albums were fairly collaborative efforts between Woolfson and Parsons, this album is the brainchild of Woolfson. Parsons, however, still produces and engineers the album and even wrote one instrumental (Beyond the Pleasure Principle). As a result, it is no surprise how much the album serves up “obvious reminders of the Alan Parsons Project (most noticeably Dora)” AMG on which Woolfson handles the lead vocals, as he did on Project songs such as “Eye in the Sky,” “Time,” “Don’t’ Answer Me,” and “Prime Time.” The title cut, also voiced by Woolfson, is the ultimate conclusion of the Project’s years of attempting to merge a great song with a big concept. The song would have been the logical choice as a leadoff single, but in its unwavering commitment to songs that all sound the same, radio would have never given it a chance. Where this album veers most from the Project is through some more diverse vocal performances. Woolfson enlists well known singers such as Leo Sayer and Kiki Dee alongside the aforementioned Project alumni as well as singers Eric Stewart, Frankie Howerd, Marti Webb, Gary Howard, and the quirky vocals of The Flying Pickets. With such a cast, the album can’t help but have a more varied sound than anything the Project released, and this proves to be a good thing. "The strongest performances are by Leo Sayer (I Am a Mirror) and the Flying Pickets (on the strange, yet incredibly powerful, Funny You Should Say That).” AMG The latter song, along with No One Can Love You Better Than Me, show that “the rest can be progressive at times…and the whole is very creative and intelligent.” AMG "Some songs (like Little Hans) are reminiscent of the Beatles — which shouldn’t be too surprising, considering Woolfson used to be a member of Herman’s Hermits.” AMG The album concludes with John Miles singing There But for the Grace of God, a song that easily ranks amongst the best works of the Alan Parsons Project. Miles did vocal duty on Project singles “The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether,” and “Stereotomy,” as well as the fantastic album cut “La Sagrada Familia” from the Project’s final album Gaudi in 1987. Woolfson would go on to create three more musicals. “Gaudi, which premiered in 1995 and has run for over five years in several German productions,” PC was an extension of the Project’s 1987 album of the same name. “Gambler, Woolfson’s third musical also premiered in Germany in 1996 and had a first run of over 500 performances.” PC In addition, it “has had five productions in Korea, one of which also toured Japan in 2002 (the first time a Korean language production had been staged in this way).” PC In 2003, Woolfson’s career came full circle when he premiered fourth musical Poe, an extension of the same theme as the first Alan Parsons Project album. None of Woolfson’s work would come close to the success of the Project, but Freudiana was a logical progression for Woolfson and one that breathed new creative life into an already distinguished musical career.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Eric Woolfson AMG All Music Guide review by Alex S. Garcia PC Poe-cd.com WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 9/12/2009; last updated 7/20/2022.

Alan Parsons Project Gaudi released

Gaudi Alan Parsons Project

Released: February 7, 1987 Peak: 57 US, 66 UK, 53 CN, 61 AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: progressive rock lite

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. La Sagrada Familia [8:44] v: John Miles Too Late [4:34] v: Lenny Zakatek Closer to Heaven [5:54] v: Eric Woolfson Standing on Higher Ground [5:02] v: Geoff Barradale (1/24/87, 3 AR) Money Talks [4:23] v: John Miles Inside Looking Out [6:19] v: Eric Woolfson Paseo De Gracia (instrumental) [3:43] All tracks written by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson. The ‘v’ after the song listing indicates who does lead vocals. Total Running Time: 38:39 The Players: Alan Parsons (production, engineering, assorted instruments) Eric Woolfson (vocals, keyboards, piano) Ian Bairson (guitar) Stuart Elliott (drums, percussion) Laurie Cottle (bass) John Miles, Chris Rainbow, Lenny Zakatek, Geoff Barradale (vocals) Andrew Powell (orchestral arrangements)

Rating: 3.273 out of 5.00 (average of 14 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: This was the last Alan Parsons Project studio album, although Parsons would continue to work with Eric Woolfson and release albums under his own name. “True to form, they took on one last big theme;” DV this time the album draws inspiration from the unfinished Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona which was designed by Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi, who died in 1926. Unfortunately, the album “lack[s] the assertiveness or the instrumental endowments that usually occur within the Alan Parsons Project's work.” AMG “The songs…have difficulty supporting any imagery or symbolism concerning the album’s main character, which was done masterfully more than ten years earlier with Tales of Mystery and Imagination, a musical voyage through Edgar Allen Poe’s work. Here, the songs stand up well individually, but Parsons is a conceptual virtuoso who usually ties together his main idea through the use of each separate song. Although Gaudi isn't without some minor merit, its lasting impression doesn’t leave much regard for its central character.” AMG One plus: “unlike the previous two Project discs (Stereotomy and Vulture Culture), Gaudi has an orchestra again, arranged by Andrew Powell, and it grabs the center stage…early and refuses to let go. This results in a disc that really sounds like Parsons again: rich, sweeping, cinematic, and really, really well produced.” DV “The usual lineup of Miles, Woolfson, Zakatek, and Rainbow share the singing duties, with Geoff Barradale taking over on Standing on Higher Ground.” AMG “With a leaner, edgier sound” AMG this “straight-ahead power rock piece [is] driving and upbeat” DV and the best representation of “the easiness and touch that should have enveloped this album.” AMG “La Sagrada Familia is a magnum opus with powerful vocals by John Miles.” DV The song ranks as one of the Project’s best non-singles ever crafted. “Too Late is an oddly bittersweet song about unfinished love.” DV Money Talks “is the closest to hard rock the Project ever got, and includes at least one amusing dig at the music industry (‘Billboard, Cashbox / Money talks...’).” DV Like “In the Real World” on 1986’s Stereotomy, this song has the feel of a shoulda-been-album-rock hit. “The two Requisite Eric Woolfson-Voiced Attempts At American Soft Rock Chart Success (Closer to Heaven and Inside Looking Out) fall somewhat flat.” DV “The album does reveal some passion with the last track, Paseo de Gracia, a finely orchestrated instrumental done exquisitely in full Parsons style” AMG and featuring “a lovely piece of flamenco guitar.” DV “Gaudi would be the last heard from Alan Parsons…until 1993. It was an interesting way to go out, and leaves one wondering, once again, what would have happened if Arista Records had stopped meddling. Like Gaudi’s cathedral, it’s a work of art that has to be experienced to be enjoyed.” DV Notes: The 2008 remaster included alternate versions of “Too Late,” “Standing on Higher Ground,” “Money Talks,” “Closer to Heaven,” “Paseo de Gracia,” and “La Sagrada Familia.”

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Alan Parsons AMG All Music Guide review by Mike DeGagne DV DailyVault.com review by Duke Egbert WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 9/23/2021.

Alan Parsons Project Stereotomy released

Stereotomy Alan Parsons Project

Charted: February 1, 1986 Peak: 43 US, -- UK, 32 CN, 50 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Genre: progressive rock lite

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Stereotomy [7:15] Beaujolais [4:27] Urbania [4:34] Limelight [4:39] In the Real World [4:17] Where’s the Walrus? [7:34] Light of the World [ 6:22] Chinese Whispers [1:02] Stereotomy Two [1:18] Total Running Time: 41:58 Also from This Era: Rumour Goin’ Round [4:39] The Players: Alan Parsons (production, engineering, assorted instruments) Eric Woolfson (vocals, keyboards, piano) Ian Bairson (guitar) Stuart Elliott (drums, percussion) David Paton (bass) Richard Cottle (keyboards, synthesizer, saxophone) Gary Brooker, Graham Dye, Steven Dye, John Miles, Chris Rainbow (vocals) The Philharmonia Orchestra, arranged and conducted by Andrew Powell

Rating: 3.190 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “’Stereotomy’ is the scientific term for enclosing scientific samples in wax and then cutting them into fine shavings. The word was used by Edgar Allan Poe in his work The Murders in the Rue Morgue which was the first detective novel.” APP The album, the ninth by the Alan Parsons Project, uses “stereotomy” as “a metaphor for the way that famous people…are often ‘shaped’ by the demands of fame.” WK This allows for the exploration of themes about how ‘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.” AM "The Alan Parsons Project’s conceptual grandeur began to lose its potency right around the mid-‘80's.” AM On Stereotomy, "one must really pay attention to the profound lyrics and loose structuring of the music to attain the concept that Parsons metaphorically dances around.” AM “The lack of unity and cohesion means that [this] is merely a collection of good songs and not a work in its own right.” DV Commercially, the Project were on the downside as well. They had top 20 hits like “Games People Play” and “Don’t Answer Me” as well as the top-10 “Eye in the Sky,” but now they were lucky to grace the Billboard Hot 100 at all. The title cut peaked at a lowly #82. “The elegant, Appolonian keyboard-based sound of albums like Eye in the Sky and Vulture Culture was gone, replaced with a drum and bass-heavy throb on the opening track. The production was still crisp and clean, the engineering exquisite,” DV but “in many ways this was the end of any pretensions that Alan Parsons’ was progressive rock…this was a stripped down and…almost…funky?…Project.” DV While the Project’s instrumentals may be a selling point to many fans, the presence of three of them, not to mention a very unnecessary reprise of the title cut, make the album feel lazy. Coupling that with Parsons’ growing weakness in presenting readily apparent concepts well supported by the songs makes for a mediocre effort. “Parsons’ genius can be better investigated on numerous past releases, as this album proves to come up short.” AM Notes: A 2008 reissue included alternate versions of “Stereotomy” and “Light of the World” along with a demo of the unreleased “Rumour Goin’ Round.” The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Stereotomy Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson (see lyrics here) Vocals: John Miles Released: 1/18/1986 (single), Stereotomy (1986), The Best of, Volume 2 (compilation, 1988), The Definitive Collection (compilation, 1997), The Essential (compilation, 2007) Peak: 82 BB, 5 AR, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.83 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: The Project used a myriad of singers over the years and in this case, they turned to John Miles for most of the vocal, although Eric Woolfson, the only mainstay in the group other than Parsons, does come in toward the end. Miles wasn’t well known in the United States, but his song “Music” hit #3 on the UK charts in 1976. The “angriness” of his “forceful voice” makes “Stereotomy “a passable rock tune.” AMG “Stereotomy” notched a fitting place on the album rock tracks (#5), but once again was shunned by pop radio, peaking at a mere #82 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Beaujolais Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: Chris Rainbow Released: Stereotomy (1986) Peak: 31 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.65 streaming About the Song: The “new wave-tinged dance of Beajolais” DV is a decent, but not overly memorable song.

Urbania Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: NA (instrumental) Released: Stereotomy (1986), Instrumental Works (1988) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.66 streaming About the Song: “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.” AM

Limelight Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: Gary Brooker Released: April 1986 (single),Stereotomy (1986), The Best of, Volume 2 (compilation, 1988), The Very Best Live (live, 1995), The Essential (compilation, 2007), The Never Ending Show (live, 2021) Peak: 14 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.65 streaming About the Song: “Limelight is almost Broadway in its sheer power.” DV It is a beautiful song and one of the rare highlights on the album.

In the Real World Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: John Miles Released: Stereotomy (1986), The Definitive Collection (compilation, 1997) Peak: 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.64 streaming About the Song: “With the help of [vocalist John] Miles’ assertiveness,” AM In the Real World is a “vocal standout” AM and "one of the greatest rock songs you've never heard.” DV This song should have followed “Stereotomy” on to the album rock charts.

Where’s the Walrus? Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: NA (instrumental) Released: Stereotomy (1986), Instrumental Works (1988) Peak: 28 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.89 streaming About the Song: “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.” AM

Light of the World Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: Graham Dye Released: Stereotomy (1986) Peak: 11 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.58 streaming About the Song: “Light of the World is a passionate, powerful ballad about spiritual seeking and longing.” DV

Chinese Whispers Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: NA (instrumental) Released: Stereotomy (1986) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.36 streaming About the Song: “The synth-laden wistfulness of Chinese Whispers” DV makes for the third (!) instrumental on the Stereotomy album.

Stereotomy Two Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: John Miles Released: Stereotomy (1986) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.61 streaming About the Song: This is a very unnecessary reprise of the title cut which, especially in light of the album’s three instrumentals, feels like filler.

Resources/References: APP The-Alan-Parsons-Project.com AM AllMusic.com review by Mike DeGagne DV DailyVault.com review by Duke Egbert WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 4/26/2026.

Alan Parsons Project “Stereotomy” charted

Stereotomy The Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson (see lyrics here) First Charted: January 18, 1986 Peak: 82 US, 5 AR, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.52 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “’Stereotomy’ is the scientific term for enclosing scientific samples in wax and then cutting them into fine shavings. The word was used by Edgar Allan Poe in his work The Murders in the Rue Morgue which was the first detective novel.” APP The album, the ninth by the Alan Parsons Project, uses “stereotomy” as “a metaphor for the way that famous people…are often ‘shaped’ by the demands of fame.” WK This allows for the exploration of themes about how ‘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.” AMG While the group had experienced success with top 20 hits like “Games People Play” and “Don’t Answer Me” as well as the top-10 “Eye in the Sky,” their commercial peak was clearly behind them at this point. They only had one album left in them before they split up. While not their strongest album, this isn’t a phone-it-in album either. The title cut is a strong rocker deserving of far more attention than it received. It reached #5 on the album rock chart, but stalled at a lowly #82 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Project used a myriad of singers over they years and in this case, they turned to John Miles for most of the vocal, although Eric Woolfson, the only mainstay in the group other than Parsons, does come in toward the end. Miles wasn’t well known in the United States, but his song “Music” did hit #3 on the UK charts in 1976. The “angriness” of his “forceful voice” makes “Stereotomy “a passable rock tune.” AMG Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Alan Parsons DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Eric Woolfson APP The-Alan-Parsons-Project.com AMG All Music Guide WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/6/2022.

Alan Parsons Project Pyramid released

Pyramid Alan Parsons Project

Released: June 1978 Peak: 26 US, 40 UK, 25 CN, 16 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Genre: progressive rock lite

Tracks: Click on a song title for more details. Voyager [2:24] What Goes Up… [3:31] The Eagle Will Rise Again [4:20] One More River [4:15] Can’t Take It with You [5:06] In the Lap of the Gods [5:27] Pyramania [2:45] Hyper-Gamma-Spaces [4:19] Shadow of a Lonely Man [5:34] Total Running Time: 37:46 The Players: Alan Parsons (producing, engineering) Eric Woolfson (keyboards, executive producing) Ian Bairnson (guitar, backing vocals) David Paton (bass, acoustic guitar, backing vocals) Stuart Elliott (drums, percussion, backing vocals) Colin Blunstone, Dea Ford, Jack Harris, John Miles, Lenny Zakatek (vocals) Andrew Powell (orchestral arrangements) Duncan Mackay (keyboards)

Rating: 3.709 out of 5.00 (average of 18 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “The theme of this album deals, as the title suggests, with the remaining wonder of the ancient world” DV and “man's fascination with superstition and its powers,” AM specifically “the ‘pyramid power’ fad that was around in the mid-'70s (the pet rock having proven to be a bust by then). DV “Lacking the wit and melodic appeal of…I Robot, the Alan Parsons Project's third studio-rock oratorio” RS is “an average bit of material.” AM “Where I Robot was constructed on a nifty riddle – it's cinematic space rock flaunted the technology its scenario cautioned against – Pyramid uses the mystery of the pyramids as a jumping-off point for some bombastic musings on the vanity of human wishes and the passing of all things.” RS “While not a stellar album, Pyramid completes the task of musically explaining its concept. Its short but slightly compelling nature grows after a few listens, but the album…isn’t a necessity.” AM Notes: A 2008 reissue added demos and alternate versions.

Voyager Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: NA (instrumental) Released: Pyramid (1978) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 10.89 streaming About the Song: “The instrumental Voyager opens things up, and its provocative style sets the tone for the album's supernatural mood.” AM The song “builds up the intensity by adding instruments as the piece progresses, then brings the mood back down in order to meld with the first vocal track,” DV “What Goes Up…”

What Goes Up… Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: David Paton Released: single (9/23/1978), Pyramid (1978) B-side: “Hyper-Gamma-Spaces” Peak: 87 BB, 20 CL, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 4.23 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: The “bright-sounding,” AM “What Goes Up...” feels like it “is sung by a pharaoh and a skeptic in the time of the building of the pyramids, and questions about whether these would truly be structures to last for the remainder of time (‘If all things must fall / Why build a miracle at all / If all things must pass / Even a pyramid won't last’).” DV

The Eagle Will Rise Again Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: Colin Blunstone, Dean Ford Released: Pyramid (1978) Peak: 40 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.99 streaming About the Song: “What Goes Up…” and “The Eagle Will Rise Again, sung by Colin Blunstone,” AM are two “of the highlights here.” AM “As the life of the pharoah begins to ebb away, as heard on [the latter] the first image of Egyptian mythology comes forth in the image of the phoenix. The gentleness [and] vocal delivery” DV “of this track impresses.” DV

One More River Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: Lenny Zakatek Released: Pyramid (1978) Peak: 36 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.36 streaming About the Song: “The religious connotations continue on the more uptempo One More River, as the pharoah makes his way towards his soul's final journey towards the river Styx.” DV

Can’t Take It with You Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: Dean Ford, Colin Blunstone Released: Pyramid (1978) Peak: 47 CL, 18 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.70 streaming About the Song: Can't Take It With You “shows our hero having second thoughts after discovering he must leave his earthly possessions behind. Too late for him, he eventually will have to board the boat for his jouney on the river Styx.” DV This “lesson-learning [song] teaches that our souls are our most important asset, in typical Parsons-type charm.” AM

In the Lap of the Gods Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: NA (instrumental) Released: B-side of “Pyramania” (UK, June 1978), Pyramid (1978) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.24 streaming About the Song: The instrumental In the Lap of the Gods “prepares us for a shift in theme…where the attention shifts from our now-deceased pharoah to a gentleman in 1978 England who is caught up - maybe a little bit too much - in ‘pyramid power.’ The belief was that anything under a pyramid would be positively affected by the pyramid's mystical power.” DV

Pyramania Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: Jack Harris Released: single (UK, June 1978), Pyramid (1978) B-Side: “In the Lap of the Gods” Peak: 45 CL, 11 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.80 streaming About the Song: “This manic belief in the unknown is the basis of” DV “the anxiety-ridden” AM Pyramania, “a cute, peppy number which is enjoyable to listen to – though, as the song lets us know, our new hero's fascination with pyramids is causing unhappiness at home with the wife.” DV This song “enhances the album's concept the best, accompanied by some excitable keyboard playing and a friendly middle.” AM

Hyper-Gamma-Spaces Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: NA (instrumental) Released: B-side of “What Goes Up…” (9/23/1978), single (EU, January 1979), Pyramid (1978) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.70 streaming About the Song: A

Shadow of a Lonely Man Alan Parsons Project

Writer(s): Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson Vocals: John Miles, Colin Blunstone Released: Pyramid (1978) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.48 streaming About the Song: “Following another instrumental (Hyper-Gamma-Spaces), our hero finds himself losing everything that mattered to him – in this case, his wife – on Shadow of a Lonely Man. Like the pharaoh looking to achieve immortality and lost everything he had accumulated, the modern-day man loses love and everything that mattered in this life and left him a shell of what he used to be.” DV

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com revew by Mike DeGagne DV DailyVault.com by Christopher Thelen RS Rolling Stone review by Stephen Holden (originally in print issue 271) WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 9/27/2025.