Alan Parsons Project – Pyramid

This is one of the best, if not the unchallenged best, product of the Alan Parsons Project in the 1970s. Beginning with the “Voyager” instrumental – sonically far ahead of its time – which segues into the bleak mortal pangs of “What Goes Up…” and then to the utter devotion of “The Eagle Will Rise Again”, this album kicks off with – to use a phrase which is now an entry in the dictionary of clichè – an emotional roller coaster ride through the Valley of Death. The Parsons Heartbreaker for this album is “The Shadow Of A Lonely Man”, a long and pitiful summation of the entire album’s theme – that all attempts at permanence are futile, resistance is irrelevant, and even attempting to create something as mighty as a pyramid is pointless, for all those who see and remember it will pass on. Not a good choice of listening for those prone to bouts of suicidal depression, but for those wishing to rise above the banality of bubble gum pop, this is it.

1. Voyager (2:15)
2. What Goes Up… (3:57)
3. The Eagle Will Rise Again (4:04)
4. One More River (4:17)
5. Can’t Take It With You (5:03)
6. In the Lap of the Gods (5:30)
7. Pyramania (2:43)
8. Hyper-Gamma-Spaces (4:20)
9. The Shadow of a Lonely Man (5:35)

Released by: Arista
Release date: 1978
Total running time: 37:44