The Alan Parsons Project Album: “Platinum & Gold Collection”

When looking at the career of the Alan Parsons Project, the credentials of its creator Alan Parsons are unquestioned. Parsons started his early career as a studio engineer working with the Beatles (on "Abbey Road") and Pink Floyd ("Dark Side of the Moon"). Working with such musicians helped Parsons shape his own musical career. This eventually inspired Parsons to develop his own sound. In 1975, Parsons assembled his own group of musicians into "The Alan Parsons Project". The Project was started as a partnership between Parsons and producer/singer/songwriter Eric Woolfson. To support the duo between Parsons and Woolfson, the duo would bring in a loose aggregation of musicians. This group of musicians would be brought in at the right time to support the musical style of a Project song. Parsons and Woolfson would take things a step further: For each album, they released they would integrate a various theme or concept that would highlight the music. Parsons and the Project would go on to release 9 studio albums. "The Alan Parsons Project: Platinum and Gold Collection" is one collection that provides a snapshot of the popular songs released by Parsons and company.

The "Platinum and Gold Collection provides 12 tracks from the Project. Six of the nine studio albums are represented on this collection. These albums and the associated tracks include: "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" ("(The System Of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Father"); "I Robot" ("I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You"); "The Turn of a Friendly Card" ("Games People Play", "Time"); "Eye in the Sky" ("Sirius", "Eye in the Sky", "You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned"); "Ammonia Avenue" ("Don't Answer Me", "You Don't Believe"); "Vulture Culture" ("Days are Numbers (The Traveller)". "Sooner or Later"); "Stereotomy" ("Limelight"). The albums not represented are "Pyramid", "Eve", and "Gaudi". Overall, its safe to say that "Platinum and Gold" provides a light sampling of the Alan Parsons Project popular songs across their entire career.

When considering a compilation of the works of the Alan Parsons Project, one must look at what compilations that are out there. Here are some of the more popular compilations out there to consider:

"The Best of the Alan Parsons Project": This 1983 collection includes material from the Alan Parsons Project through 1983 (the "Eye in the Sky" collection). This collection goes a little deeper than "Platinum and Gold" in that it focuses on the first 2/3 of the Project's career. Songs from "Pyramid" and "Eve" that were not included on "Platinum and Gold" are on this collection.

"The Best of the Alan Parsons Project Volume 2": This 1987 collection supplements the 1983 "Best of" release. It not only includes material from post-1983, but material from prior to 1983 that was not included on the first "Best of" release.

"Master Hits: The Alan Parsons Project": This includes 11 tracks. There is some overlap with the songs on "Platinum and Gold". The songs on "Master Hits" that are not on "Platinum and Gold" are: "I Robot", "Prime Time", and "Ammonia Avenue". The songs from "Platinum and Gold" not included on "Master Hits" are "Don't Answer Me", "You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned", "You Don't Believe", and "(The System Of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Father".

"The Definitive Collection": This two disc set includes 34 tracks spanning all 9 of the Project's studio albums and is the most comprehensive collection to consider. It is worth noting that the tracks "You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned","Limelight", and "Sooner or Later" - that are included on "Platinum and Gold" are absent from this collection.

"Ultimate": This collection includes 18 tracks and is not as comprehensive as "The Definitive Collection". The same three songs from "Platinum and Gold" that were missing from "The Definitive Collection" are also missing from "Ultimate". They are: "You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned", "Limelight", and "Sooner or Later".

From a musical standpoint, I can't complain too much about "Platinum and Gold". The music is very enjoyable and it will serve as a good primer to someone wishing to get a taste of Alan Parsons. There are three problems I did find with this collection:

1) Chronological Ordering: In a greatest hits collection, I normally prefer the songs to be ordered chronologically. This allows me to see how an artist has progressed over time. On "Platinum and Gold" the songs are shuffled chronologically. Therefore, you don't get to see how the band has progressed over time.

2) Loss of Concepts: One thing that has always been a real strength is how the Alan Parsons Project has been able to build a common concept and theme around each of their studio albums. In the case of any of the greatest hits albums by the Project, it is going to be very difficult to preserve the concept theme. The lack of the tracks being ordered chronologically hurts this collection even more. Namely, if the songs were arranged chronologically, you could get a taste and feel for some of the concepts. On "Platinum and Gold", the concept themes that were on each of the studio albums are completely lost.

3) Not Deep Enough: When I compared "Platinum and Gold" to collections such as "Best of" (Volumes 1 and 2), "Ultimate", and "The Definitive Collection", I found this collection to come up on the light side. (Even though these collections exclude some tracks that were found on "Platinum and Gold")

The liner notes contain a terrific three panel write up by Bill Pitznova chronicling the history of the project. I also thought the discography that was included for the tracks was solid - it included songwriting information, US and UK chart rankings, the album title from which the song is from, and who provided lead vocals for the tracks. Overall, I did enjoy the music included on "Platinum and Gold", however overall, I wouldn't recommend this as the first choice for an Alan Parsons collection. My recommendation would be to start with the more comprehensive "The Definitive Collection".