Songwriting partner Eric Woolfson has moved onto other pursuits, and "Project" is suddenly missing from the new album's cover, but the latest creation from Alan Parsons and company, "Try Anything Once," is nevertheless a committee effort.
And a typically grand one at that, with all the sonic ambience, progressive-rock dramatics and psychobabble ponderings fans have enjoyed on albums since 1976, such as "I Robot," "Eye in the Sky" and, most recently, "Gaudi" (if "recently" can be used in reference to an album recorded six years ago).Parsons rose to fame in the early- and mid-'70s after working with the Beatles, and then Paul McCartney, engineering the durable Pink Floyd classic "Dark Side of the Moon" and producing break-through albums like Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat" and Ambrosia's rewarding debut. He and Woolfson met at the Abbey Road Studios and decided, with a cohort of musician friends, to experiment with the concept of the "concept" album.
Maybe the Alan Parsons Project wasn't intended to last beyond even that first symphonic-rock effort, "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," based on stories of Edgar Allan Poe. But it survived - and thrived, spinning out 10 semi-conceptual albums in 11 years and a string of moderately successful singles featuring capable vocalists like John Miles, Lenny Zakatek and David Paton. Soft-voiced Woolfson, who gave every indication at first of preferring to have others sing his lyrics, emerged as the most prominent voice of all on the biggest early-'80s hits, "Eye in the Sky," "Time" and "Don't Answer Me." Proven hitmakers like Allan Clarke (of the Hollies), Colin Blunstone (of the Zombies) and Arthur Brown ("Fire") added distinctive touches to album cuts.
Parsons himself has never sung a lead. But his aural fingerprints are once again all over "Try Anything Once," from the rich production to the graceful pop-rock flow from track to track. Several performers stepped up to fill Woolf-son's shoes. Ian Bairnson - a versatile guitarist featured on every Project album - is back in a much more substantial role, having written or co-written four of the dozen new tracks. Arranger-orchestra leader Andrew Powell, who had a hand in all but one of the earlier albums, is more a member of the band now and added ambitious orchestrations here and there, just as in former days.
But fans of the American progressive-rock band Ambrosia have gained the most: David Pack has rejoined the team (he contributed to the Poe album), adding four songs, vocals and guitar. His impact is substantial enough, for those who remember his earlier band's style, to consider subtitling this album "The Alan Parsons Project Meets Ambrosia."
Pack and Powell's "The Three of Me" opens "Try Anything Once" with a dramatic, even Beatlesque flourish before exploring multiple mindsets. "I'm Talkin' to You" is even more Ambrosian. And the closing Richard Marx-like "Oh Life (There Must Be More)" punctuates Pack's role; the song carries an emotional wallop, as a depressed woman by the seashore questions the purpose of life, with a mix of despair and hope.
So, you may ask, is there a concept to "Try Anything Once," amorphous as some of the idea-umbrellas were on the earlier albums, from womanhood ("Eve") to life-and-luck ("Turn of a Friendly Card") to the inspirations of Catalonian architect Antonio Gaudi ("Gaudi")?
Yes . . . and no. There is a get off your duff/get into gear/go for the gold subtext (in "Turn It Up" and "I'm Talkin' to You"), which can also be read into the album's title. But more often the set returns to familiar Project themes like the mystery of time ("Mr. Time," with the refreshing voice of a woman vocalist, Jacqui Copland, and Pink Floydish guitar by Bairnson) and good fortune and bad ("Back Against the Wall"). Eric Stewart adds airy vocals that sound not unlike Woolfson's on the escapist "Siren Song" and on "Wine from Water," which could be a remembrance of magician Henry Houdini - and which contributes images culled for the cover and booklet art (models hanging by ropes upside-down in various locations).
Parsons has, of course, included several instrumentals - the rhythmic "Breakaway," an amorphous "Dreamscape" and the twins "Jigue" and "Re-Jigue," the former a new age-friendly folk dance through the musical ages, the latter a movie-soundtrack expansion of the theme.
All the familiar elements are included. The cover's credit may say "Alan Parsons," but those who enjoyed the "Project" will feel right at home with "Try Anything Once."