Pyramid (The Alan Parsons Project album)

Pyramid
Studio album by The Alan Parsons Project
Released 1 June 1978
Recorded September 1977 – February 1978
Studio Abbey Road Studios, London, England
Genre
Length 37:46
Label Arista
Producer Alan Parsons
The Alan Parsons Project chronology
I Robot
(1977)I Robot1977		 Pyramid
(1978)		 Eve
(1979)Eve1979
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Pyramid (stylized as Pyr△mid) is the third album by progressive rock band The Alan Parsons Project, released in 1978. It is a concept album centred on the pyramids of Giza. At the time the album was conceived, interest in pyramid power and Tutankhamun was widespread in the US and the UK. Pyramid was nominated for the 1978 Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. Liner notes read "From the rise and fall of an ancient dynasty, to the quest for a key to unlock the secrets of the universe, this album seeks to amplify the haunting echoes of the past and explore the unsolved mysteries of the present. Pyramid...the last remaining wonder of the ancient world."

The album also dabbles with new wave, a genre that was emerging in Britain around the time of the album's recording. Many progressive and soft rock artists incorporated this style into their albums during the time spanning from late 1977 to 1979. In this album, the genre is mildly evident, through rhythm, in songs such as "Can't Take it with You" and immensely so in others such as "Pyramania".

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.

Side one
No.TitleVocalsLength
1."Voyager"Instrumental2:24
2."What Goes Up..."David Paton and Dean Ford3:31
3."The Eagle Will Rise Again"Colin Blunstone4:20
4."One More River"Lenny Zakatek4:15
5."Can't Take It With You"Dean Ford5:06
Side two
No.TitleVocalsLength
1."In the Lap of the Gods"Instrumental5:27
2."Pyramania"Jack Harris2:45
3."Hyper-Gamma-Spaces"Instrumental4:19
4."Shadow of a Lonely Man"John Miles5:34

Bonus tracks

Pyramid was remastered and reissued in 2008 with the following bonus tracks:

  1. "Voyager/What Goes Up/The Eagle Will Rise Again" (instrumental) - 8:55
  2. "What Goes Up/Little Voice" (early version demo) - 4:07
  3. "Can't Take It With You" (early version demo) - 1:45
  4. "Hyper-Gamma-Spaces" (demo) - 2:21
  5. "The Eagle Will Rise Again" (alternate version – backing track) - 3:20
  6. "In the Lap of the Gods" (Part I – demo) - 3:14
  7. "In the Lap of the Gods" (Part II – backing track rough mix) - 1:56

Personnel

Charts

Year Chart Position
1978 The Billboard 200 26
1978 UK Albums Chart 49
1978 Canada 25
1978 Norway 13
1978 Spain (AFE) 4

Certifications and sales

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[2] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Germany (BVMI)[3] Platinum 500,000^
United States (RIAA)[4] Gold 500,000^
Worldwide (IFPI) N/A 2,000,000+ [5]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ DeGagne, Mike. Pyramid at AllMusic
  2. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Alan Parsons Project – Pyramids". Music Canada.
  3. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Alan Parsons Project; 'Pyramids')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  4. ↑ "American album certifications – Alan Parsons Project – Pyramids". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  5. ↑ "Top Sales - Arista Records". Billboard. 27 January 1979. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  • Pyramid, Alan Parsons Project. Arista Records AB 4180, 1978 (Vinyl LP)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.