Five Alan Parsons Project Tracks You Should Know

Formed in 1975 by its namesake, the acclaimed producer and engineer, The Alan Parsons Project released its eighth studio album, Vulture Culture in March 1985. While the album wasn’t a big hit in the U.S., it fared well on the charts across Europe and in Australia. The album followed on with APP’s established mix of personnel – a coterie of musicians including Parsons and former members of the rock-pop group Pilot – as well as the Project’s trademark approach to vocals. For Vulture Culture, Alan Parsons and his longtime musical partner Eric Woolfson enlisted the vocal talents of several singers who had appeared on previous albums. In observance of the 40th anniversary of Vulture Culture, here are five standout tracks from the early days of The Alan Parsons Project.

“(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether” from Tales of Mystery and Imagination (Edgar Allan Poe) (1976)
The debut release from The Alan Parsons Project was a concept album, with original songs built around the work of 19th century poet and author Edgar Allan Poe. An atmospheric and progressive-leaning collection, Tales wasn’t quite the commercial success that later APP albums would be. But it’s lauded today as one of the best releases – perhaps the very finest – from the Project. Sessioner John Miles provided the lead vocals on “Dr. Tarr,” and the song was released as a single. It just dented the Billboard Top 40 at #37.

“I Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You” from I Robot (1977)
Originally conceived as concept album and homage to the work of sci-fi novelist Isaac Asimov, the Alan Parsons Project’s I Robot was, in the end, simply a collection of great songs. Bookended with a pair of stirring instrumental pieces, the album showcased the vocal talents of a half dozen lead singers. Frequent APP session musician Lenny Zakatek took the mic for “I Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You,” the funky tune most in keeping with the album’s (ultimately abandoned) concept.

“The Eagle Will Rise Again” from Pyramid (1978)
The haunting vocals of Colin Blunstone are part of what made The Zombies one of pop’s great groups. His singing on “She’s Not There,” “Time of the Season” and other classics established him as one of pop’s premier singers. Alan Parsons availed himself of Colin Blunstone’s talents on several occasions, but his vocal on “The Eagle Will Rise Again” is among the most memorable of Blunstone’s APP performances.

“Don’t Hold Back” from Eve (1979)
Claire Torry is best known for her bravura – and largely improvised – wordless lead vocal on Pink Floyd’s “The Great Gig in the Sky.” That and the nine other songs on the landmark 1973 LP The Dark Side of the Moon were engineered by Alan Parsons. Parsons brought Torry into the Project for this deep album cut. While it’s not among the APP’s better-known tunes, it’s a solid number that showcases Torry’s talents applied to a song with actual lyrics.

“Time” from The Turn of a Friendly Card (1980)
Eric Woolfson had been Parsons’ collaborator and co-songwriter since the Project’s early days. And despite Arista Records’ encouragement to use him as the Project’s lead vocalist on more of its recorded output, he took the lead only occasionally on early APP releases. But his vocal on this track from The Turn of a Friendly Card gave The Alan Parsons Project its second-biggest hit single (behind “Don’t Answer Me” from 1984’s Ammonia Avenue).