This is one of the best, if not the unchallenged best, product of the Alan Parsons Project in the 1970s. Beginning with the “Voyager” instrumental – sonically far ahead of its time – which segues into the bleak mortal pangs of “What Goes Up…” and then to the utter devotion of “The Eagle Will Rise Again”, this album kicks off with – to use a phrase which is now an entry in the dictionary of clichè – an emotional roller coaster ride through the Valley of Death. The Parsons Heartbreaker for this album is “The Shadow Of A Lonely Man”, a long and pitiful summation of the entire album’s theme –
that all attempts at permanence are futile, resistance is irrelevant, and even attempting to create something as mighty as a pyramid is pointless, for all those who see and remember it will pass on. Not a good choice of listening for those prone to bouts of suicidal depression, but for those wishing to rise above the banality of bubble gum pop, this is it.
- Voyager (2:15)
- What Goes Up… (3:57)
- The Eagle Will Rise Again (4:04)
- One More River (4:17)
- Can’t Take It With You (5:03)
- In the Lap of the Gods (5:30)
- Pyramania (2:43)
- Hyper-Gamma-Spaces (4:20)
- The Shadow of a Lonely Man (5:35)
Released by: Arista
Release date: 1978
Total running time: 37:44