Ammonia Avenue

A friend introduced me to Alan Parsons' work some years ago. "Who?" I said? He smiled and, without saying anything, just played to me the 'Turn Of A Friendly Card' album. I was an instant and avid collector of his work.

A one-time sound engineer for The Beatles, Alan Parsons works as a producer in the London music scene. His band Alan Parsons Project is a loose association of studio musicians that get together and cut an album occasionally. The band's make-up varies but it's always first-class names you'll see on the sleeve notes.

Sleeve notes? OK, most of my collection is still vinyl, but I'm changing them to CD. I'm not one of those who believes that vinyl is superior (far from it) and the deep, rich and spacious passages that mark Alan Parsons' work sound so much better without the noise that even the best vinyl could never leave behind.

This album follows their usual style. It's thoughtful rock music performed by top-flight musicians who (it seems to me) enjoy working together and who like to produce something more than just a collection of 3-minute tracks.

I recommend it, especially if your first thought was "Who?".

After purchasing this installment in the excellent Alan Parsons Project reissue programme, I realised quite how much I'd under-rated this album when it first appeared back in 1984. The seventh Project outing was markedly different from its predecessors but, whilst I still don't think it's the Project's best album, it's an enjoyable listen and has some real high-points. Please note that four stars is a judgement relative to other APP albums - considered more broadly, all APP albums are emphatically five-star material. No one has done this sort of thing better.

The first five APP albums were innovative, leading-edge progressive rock. 'Eye in the Sky' was slightly more commercial, and this trend continued with 'Ammonia Avenue', which moved more into the pop/rock mainstream. The Project was evolving from progressive rock into a pop/rock band - and, in my opinion, did this better than anyone else.

An immediately noticeable feature of 'Ammonia Avenue' was that the nine tracks included a string of catchy, rocky cuts, any one of which could have been a hit single. 'Prime Time' was perhaps the most commercial-sounding APP track to date (which is in no way a criticism - I love it). 'Let Me Go Home' is a typically gutsy vocal performance from Project stalwart Lenny Zakatek. 'One Good Reason' packs a real punch through great percussion and Eric Woolfson's finely-crafted vocals. 'Don't Answer Me' (featuring Woolfson again) is another catchy cut. 'Dancing on a Highwire' struck me at the time (and still does) as being the best track on the album, with Colin Blunstone excellent on lead vocals. 'You Don't Believe' is another rocker, with Zakatek again belting out a great gutsy vocal. 'Pipeline' is a typically classy APP instrumental.

For me, the two slower tracks don't quite measure up to the standard set by these rockers, but no matter - 'Ammonia Avenue' is a great collection of songs.

The reissue is welcome, featuring subtle remastering and the customary fascinating set of bonus tracks which, via rough mixes, demos and guide vocals, give a great insight into the production process. A departure from the earlier albums, then, but an outstanding collection of great songs by one of rock music's all-time great acts.

'Ammonia Avenue' was the first APP album I heard. I bought it soon after release, having heard the single 'Don't Answer Me' several times on the radio. You can listen to this alongside 'Eye In The Sky' as if the pair were a double album, so similarly are they produced. While 'Eye In The Sky' seems to be far more popular, I much prefer this album. It contains catchy melodies from beginning to end. It doesn't have the gravitas of previous releases, but musically, the material is stronger, whereas 'Eye In The Sky' contains some pretty bland stuff. Even the much-praised 'Old And Wise' is eclipsed by 'Don't Answer Me' which I believe gave APP their highest single-placing, albeit outside the top 30.

'Prime Time' and 'One Good Reason' are gentle rockers sung by Eric Woolfson, whereas Lenny Zakatek's abrasive style helps to rough up 'Let Me Go Home' and the galloping 'You Don't Believe Me'. The single and the watery 'Since The Last Goodbye' are pop items, again sung by Woolfson and 'Dancing On A Highwire' a more questioning, reserved track. After the 'Pipeline' instrumental, the lengthy title track, complete with orchestra, provides a slightly overblown touch of pomp to the conclusion of the album. While I have always liked this recording, it suffers from the same drawback as the other APP albums, namely a lack of passion. This is probably down to it being the vision of the producer and his part-time vocalist Woolfson rather than the other musicians, who Parsons moulds to his own technical standards. Barclay James Harvest, another band I like, were famously saddled with a 'poor man's Moody Blues' tag and APP's music invites the same kind of remark. That's probably why I prefer 'Ammonia Avenue' to the other albums: it moves further away from the slipstream of more successful prog giants. This is entertaining, technically first-rate rock, though it doesn't threaten to push back boundaries.