Search - Artist/Band: Alan Parsons

• Name: Alan Parsons
• Birthday: 12/20/1948
• Birth Place: London, England
• Decades Active: 1960,1970,1980,1990,2000
• Genre: Rock
• Styles: Album Rock, Prog-Rock, Soft Rock, Contemporary Pop/Rock
• Moods: Ambitious, Refined/Mannered, Cerebral, Dramatic, Elaborate, Laid-Back/Mellow, Literate, Sophisticated, Spacey, Bittersweet, Hypnotic, Lush, Quirky, Theatrical, Searching, Complex, Slick, Smooth

Title	Release
The Very Best of the Alan Parsons Project WA	01/13/2009
The Best of the Alan Parsons Project [Arista 1983]	01/15/2008
Essential Alan Parsons Project [2-CD] WA	02/06/2007
Essential Alan Parsons Project [3-CD] WA	01/29/2007
Dutch Collection WA	10/09/2006
The Best of Alan Parsons	03/08/2005
A Valid Path WA	08/24/2004
Ultimate	03/23/2004
The Best of the Alan Parsons Project [Japanese Import] WA	03/09/2004
Platinum & Gold Collection WA	06/17/2003
Silence & I: The Very Best of the Alan Parsons Project WA	04/15/2003
Hits	04/07/2003
Music of the Alan Parsons Project	01/23/2003
Love Songs	02/04/2002
Works WA	2002
Gold Collection WA	05/09/2000
The Time Machine WA	09/28/1999
Eye in the Sky: Encore Collection	08/03/1999
Master Hits: The Alan Parsons Project WA	07/27/1999
Sound Check 2 WA	04/15/1999
Best of the Alan Parsons Project [Zounds]	1999
The Definitive Collection WA	07/15/1997
On Air WA	09/24/1996
Anthology [#1]	05/28/1996
Hits in the Sky	05/23/1994
Try Anything Once	10/26/1993
Anthology [#2]	1991
Pop Classics WA	10/09/1989
The Best of the Alan Parsons Project, Vol. 2	1988
The Instrumental Works WA	1988
Gaudi WA	1987
Limelight: The Best of the Alan Parsons Project, Vol. 2	1987
Stereotomy	11/1985
Vulture Culture WA	03/1985
Ammonia Avenue	02/1984
Eye in the Sky	06/1982
The Turn of a Friendly Card WA	11/1980
Eve	09/1979
Pyramid WA	06/1978
I Robot WA	06/1977
Tales of Mystery and Imagination WA	1975

As indicated by its name, the Alan Parsons Project was not a band so much as a concept overseen by the titular Parsons, a successful producer and engineer. Born in Britain on December 20, 1949, he began his musical career as a staff engineer at EMI Studios, and first garnered significant industry exposure via his work on the Beatles' 1969 masterpiece, Abbey Road. Parsons subsequently worked with Paul McCartney on several of Wings' earliest albums; he also oversaw recordings from Al Stewart, Cockney Rebel, and Pilot, but solidified his reputation by working on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

Influenced by his work on Stewart's concept album Time Passages, Parsons decided to begin creating his own thematic records; along with songwriter Eric Woolfson, he soon founded the Alan Parsons Project. Although Parsons played keyboards and infrequently sang on his records, the Project was designed primarily as a forum for a revolving collection of vocalists and session players -- among them Arthur Brown, ex-Zombie Colin Blunstone, Cockney Rebel's Steve Harley, the Hollies' Allan Clarke, and guitarist Ian Bairnson -- to interpret and perform Parsons and Woolfson's conceptually linked, lushly synthesized music.

The Project debuted in 1975 with Tales of Mystery and Imagination, a collection inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe; similarly, the science fiction of Isaac Asimov served as the raw material for 1977's follow-up, I Robot. With 1980's The Turn of a Friendly Card, a meditation on gambling, the Alan Parsons Project scored a Top 20 hit, "Games People Play"; 1982's Eye in the Sky was the Project's most successful effort, and notched a Top Three hit with its title track. While 1984's Ammonia Avenue went gold, the Project's subsequent LPs earned little notice, although records like 1985's Vulture Culture, 1987's Gaudi, and 1996's On Air found favor with longtime fans. Time Machine followed in 1999. After taking a five-year hiatus, Parsons returned in 2004 with A Valid Path. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide