The Alan Parsons Project “The Turn Of A Friendly Card” 3CD/Blu Ray Limited Edition Box Set Released February 24, 2023

by | Feb 6, 2023 | News

**LIMITED EDITION POSTCARDS AVAILABLE WITH PRE-ORDERS WHILE STOCKS LAST!**

• A DELUXE LIMITED EDITION BOXED SET OF THE CLASSIC ALBUM BY THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT.

• THREE CDs AND ONE BLU-RAY DISC (REGION FREE), REMASTERED AND REMIXED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES BY ALAN PARSONS.

• FEATURING AN ADDITIONAL 42 BONUS TRACKS DRAWN FROM ERIC WOOLFSON’S SONGWRITING DIARIES, STUDIO SESSION OUT-TAKES AND A STUNNING NEW 5.1 SURROUND SOUND FROM THE ORIGINAL MULTI-TRACK MASTER TAPES BY ALAN PARSONS AND FOUR PROMOTIONAL VIDEOS.

• INCLUDES A LAVISHLY ILLUSTRATED BOOK WITH NEW ESSAY AND A REPLICA POSTER.

First released in November 1980, “The Turn Of A Friendly Card” was the fifth album by The Alan Parsons Project, the brainchild of composer, musician and manager Eric Woolfson and celebrated producer and engineer Alan Parsons.

Inspired by the period in which both Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons had resided in Monte Carlo, this legendary album was recorded in Paris. The album sessions featured the contribution of musicians such as Ian Bairnson (guitars), David Paton (bass), Stuart Elliott (drums) with Eric Woolfson playing keyboards and providing lead vocals, along with Elmer Gantry, Chris Rainbow and Lenny Zakatek. “The Turn Of A Friendly Card” would become one of the biggest selling albums for The Alan Parsons Project, attaining gold status in many European countries and the USA. The album featured such classic compositions as “Games People Play,” “Time,” “The Gold Bug” and “The Turn Of A Friendly” suite which dominated the album’s second side.

This new deluxe edition comprises 3CDs and a Blu-Ray disc (Region Free) with an additional 42 tracks drawn from Eric Woolfson’s song-writing diaries, studio session out-takes and a stunning new 5.1 surround sound mix by Alan Parsons and a high resolution remastered original stereo mix, along with the promotional videos of “Games People Play,” “The Gold Bug” and “The Turn Of A Friendly Card” plus a promotional television advertisement. This stunning set also features a lavish illustrated book with a new essay with photos, memorabilia and features recollections from Alan Parsons and Sally Woolfson. It also includes a reproduction poster.

DISC ONE

THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD’ REMASTERED

1 MAY BE A PRICE TO PAY

2 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY

3 TIME

4 I DON’T WANNA GO HOME

5 THE GOLD BUG

6 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD (PART ONE)

7 SNAKE EYES

8 THE ACE OF SWORDS

9 NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE

10 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD (PART TWO)

BONUS TRACKS

11 MAY BE A PRICE TO PAY (INTRO DEMO)

12 NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE (BASIC BACKING TRACK)

13 NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE (CHRIS RAINBOW OVERDUB VOCAL COMPILATION)

14 TIME (EARLY STUDIO ATTEMPT)

15 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY (ROUGH MIX)

16 THE GOLD BUG (DEMO)

DISC TWO

ERIC WOOLFSON’S SONGWRITING DIARIES

1 MAY BE A PRICE TO PAY

2 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY

3 TIME

4 I DON’T WANNA GO HOME

5 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD

6 SNAKE EYES

7 NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE

8 TOFC / SNAKE EYES / I DON’T WANNA GO HOME

9 LA LA LA LAH

10 NEXT YEAR

11 SOMEONE ELSE

12 TAKING IT ALL AWAY

13 TO THOSE OF YOU OUT THERE

DISC THREE

RECORDING SESSIONS BONUS TRACKS

1 MAY BE A PRICE TO PAY (EARLY VERSION – ERIC GUIDE VOCAL AND UNUSED GUITAR SOLO)

2 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY (EARLY VERSION – ERIC GUIDE VOCAL)

3 TIME (ORCHESTRA AND CHRIS RAINBOW BACKING VOCALS)

4 THE GOLD BUG (EARLY REFERENCE VERSION)

5 THE GOLD BUG (CHRIS RAINBOW BACKING VOCALS)

6 THE GOLD BUG (CLAVINET WITH NO DELAY)

7 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD – Part One (EARLY BACKING TRACK)

8 SNAKE EYES (EARLY VERSION – ERIC GUIDE VOCAL)

9 THE ACE OF SWORDS (EARLY VERSION WITH SYNTH ORCHESTRATION)

10 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD – Part Two (ERIC GUIDE VOCAL AND EXTENDED GUITAR SOLO)

SINGLE EDITS

11 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY (SINGLE EDIT)

12 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD (SINGLE EDIT)

13 SNAKE EYES (SINGLE EDIT)

DISC FOUR – BLU RAY

5.1 SURROUND SOUND MIX (2019) AND HIGH- RESOLUTION ORIGINAL STEREO MIX BY ALAN PARSONS

1 MAY BE A PRICE TO PAY

2 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY

3 TIME

4 I DON’T WANNA GO HOME

5 THE GOLD BUG

6 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD (PART ONE)

7 SNAKE EYES

8 THE ACE OF SWORDS

9 NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE

10 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD (PART TWO)

VISUAL CONTENT

1 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD (ALBUM AD)

2 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY (PROMOTIONAL VIDEO)

3 THE GOLD BUG (PROMOTIONAL VIDEO)

4 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD (PROMOTIONAL VIDEO)

To pre-order: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/the-alan-parsons-project-the-turn-of-a-friendly-card-3cd-blu-ray-limited-edition-box-set/

Pattern-Seeking Animals Debut Album Review

by | Jun 3, 2019 | News, Reviews

I have loved Art-Rock and what many now call Prog or Progressive Rock since the late ’60s. I can still recall the day and place I discovered my first Art-rock band it was the summer of 69 I was listening to a pocket-sized AM radio while visiting relatives when I heard a song called White Bird by San Fransico based band “Its a Beautiful Day”.

Soon I would discover many other Art, Prog or Psychedelic bands such as Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, Traffic, Procol Harum and Jethro Tull, by the ’70s it was Electric Light Orchestra, Barclay James Harvest, Supertramp, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and in the 80s I was into all styles of music from The Art of Noise, Alan Parsons Project, Tears For Fears, Kansas, Marillion, IQ, It Bites and the story continues today. Yes, I was a fan of the staple bands: Yes, Rush, Genesis, however, I seemed to have gravitated to and built a strong love for all things Melodic.

Which leads me to Pattern-Seeking Animals a fantastic new US melodic Art-rock band formed in 2018 by John Boegehold songwriter and guest musician on many Spock’s Beard albums. Starting with Feel Euphoria (2003) and including Octane (2005) Spock’s Beard (2006) and finally X (2010). Spock’s Beard not only is one of the most important US prog bands, but also one of my favorites. Pattern-Seeking Animals is rounded out by Ted Leonard, Jimmy Keegan & Dave Meros all of whom have been involved with Spock’s Beard or still are.

Boegehold comments: 
“My goal was to produce music that’s progressive and intricate while keeping things immediate and melodic. Whether a song is four minutes or ten minutes long, I didn’t want more than a few bars go by without some kind of instrumental or vocal hook.”

So what’s in a name? According to my wife and a google search “Humans are pattern-seeking animals and we are adept at finding patterns whether they exist or not”  I have to say this seems to fit the debut very well indeed.

I will not give you a play by play of each track, but I can tell you there are no fillers on this album, the album is filled with brilliant fretwork and tasty hooks, stunning Vocals & Harmonies that remind me of the heyday of Styx, ELO as well as Flying Colors, and Spock’s Beard, the album is chalk full of memorable lyrics that you will want to sing along with: and if that’s not enough the album is rounded out by lush and majestic keyboards and a top-notch rhythm section.

As I said before, there are no fillers on this album but there a few tracks that really sealed the deal for me like; Orphans Of The Universe, These Are My Things, No One Ever Died And Made Me King, or We Write Ghost Stories

1 – No Burden Left to Carry (9:38)
2 – The Same Mistakes Again (5:10)
3 – Orphans of the Universe (10:28)
4 – No One Ever Died and Made Me King (3:54) 5 – Fall Away (4:47)
6 – These Are My Things (4:52)
7 – We Write the Ghost Stories (3:22)
8 – No Land’s Man (5:35)
9 – Stars Along the Way (10:20)

Line-up:
John Boegehold (synths, keyboards)
Ted Leonard (vocals & guitar)
Dave Meros (bass)
Jimmy Keegan (drums & vocals)

Pattern-Seeking Animals On The Web
Official Website: http://psanimals1.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/psanimals1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/psanimals1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/psanimals1/

I listen to a lot of music nowadays so its sensory overload, that said… it’s refreshing when something comes across the desk that makes me go OMG what is this? P-SA is a must-have for any respectable music collection.
★★★★★ Un-qualified-Kritic