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Gaudi
The Alan Parsons Project
Arista Records, 1987
REVIEW BY: Duke Egbert
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 08/19/2004
Gaudi is the last actual "Alan Parsons Project" CD -- andtrue to form, they took on one last big theme. The CD is inspiredby the life and work of Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi, whoseSagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona remains unfinished despitehis death in 1926. They figure they'll get it done some time thiscentury (maybe). At any rate, it's obvious that Sagrada Familia,and Gaudi, has the making of a Big Sweeping Metaphor (tm), andParsons doesn't fail to do it justice. If you have to end one phaseof your career, might as well end it on a high note like thisone.
Unlike the previous two Project discs ( Stereotomy and Vulture Culture), Gaudi has an orchestra again, arranged by Andrew Powell, andit grabs the center stage of the CD early and refuses to let go.This results in a disc that really sounds like Parsons again: rich,sweeping, cinematic, and really, really well produced. (The horses'hooves on the title track alone send shivers down my spine.) That'snot to say that there's nothing new on Gaudi; the CD has a straight-ahead power rock piece that'sdriving and upbeat ("Standing On Higher Ground") that is probablymy favorite late Project track. There's also "Money Talks," whichis the closest to hard rock the Project ever got, and includes atleast one amusing dig at the music industry ("Billboard, Cashbox /Money talks...")
The key pieces to the puzzle, though, are the sort ofwide-screen work that harken back to The Turn Of A Friendly Card or earlier. "La Sagrada Familia"is a magnum opus with powerful vocals by John Miles, "Too Late" isan oddly bittersweet song about unfinished love, and "Paseo deGracia" is one of the best Project instrumentals ever, a lovelypiece of flamenco guitar. Only on the two Requisite EricWoolfson-Voiced Attempts At American Soft Rock Chart Success("Closer To Heaven" and "Inside Looking Out") fall somewhat flat --but only a little.
Gaudi would be the last heard from Alan Parsons (by name, atleast; more on that later) until 1993. It was an interesting way togo out, and leaves one wondering, once again, what would havehappened if Arista Records had stopped meddling. Like Gaudi'scathedral, it's a work of art that has to be experienced to beenjoyed.
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