Turn Of A Friendly Card, The - Alan Parsons Project (The)

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Perfect arrangement, accurate composition
Disadvantages:	-

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Four years after the legendary debut „Tales Of Mystery And Imagination“ and following some considerable albums, the two heads of the Project, Alan Parsons und Eric Woolfson, managed to release another masterpiece. Among all of their studio albums which had been released by 1980, the „Tales“ and „Turn Of A Friendly Card“ are the most comparable ones.

Parallels to the great debut
---------------------------------------------

First of all, Parsons turned back to guitar and classic keyboard rather than letting the influence of synthesizers and computers grow further. Of course he uses them, but they are less dominant than on the former albums, which creates a more solid down-to-earth atmosphere. Yet the work is never simple as compositions are consistently on a high and sophisticated level.

Then Parsons – like on „Tales“ – again closes the album with a monumental opus lasting approximately 15 minutes, and again he uses lots of orchestra elements, but this time more as a sound fundament rather than in a leading role.

And finally he gets back to the idea of the concept album. This time the thread is „games“ in the broadest sense, all songs are dealing more or less with that topic except the instrumental „Gold Bug“ – which is, by the way, a narration of Edgar Allan Poe, the thread of the „Tales“ album and thereby a nice little reminder of his successful debut.

The Songs
---------------

Parsons open with forceful fanfares and a great orchestra just to turn immediately to aggressive guitar riffs and a solid beat. „May Be A Price To Pay“ is pure mainstream rock, followed by „Games People Play“, a quite successful up-tempo song which can be found on nearly all Best-Of’s. Here the topic „games“ is varied for the first time: whereas the opening track is about gambling and loss of control, this one deals with psychological games of two people not knowing what to do with their lives. What can be bothering in this song is the repeatedly used, bustling organ sound.

After this, „Time“ is a wonderful, quiet ballad flowing along to a slow beat, symbolizing the endless flow of time. It is followed by a track about a gambler who is unable to stop („I Don’t Wanna Go Home“), a mid-tempo rock song which I personally consider to be one of Parsons‘ best though it never managed to step out of the shadow.

Next is the already mentioned melodic instrumental „Gold Bug“ – different from other instrumental pieces of Parsons, it is dominated by classic and acoustic instruments which contributes to the overall picture and style of the album.

And so we have already reached the epic title track which is divided into 5 pieces: „Turn Of A Friendly Card Part 1+2“ are beginning and closing. Many will know this very melodic ballad carried by intensive strings as a successful single version. Furthermore „Snake Eyes“ where rhythm and melody are partly adapted from „I Don’t Wanna Go Home“ – this is a special skill of Parsons, repeating motives in an adequate way to arrange a kind of framework. “The Ace Of Swords“ is another rocking instrumental, and „Nothing Left To Lose“ a nice and simple song led by acoustic guitars and sung by Eric Woolfson himself.

Track List
------------------
1. May Be A Price To Pay
2. Games People Play
3. Time
4. I Don’t Wanna Go Home
5. The GoldBug
6. The Turn Of A Friendly Card
a) Part One
b) Snake Eyes
c) The Ace Of Swords
d) Nothing Left To Lose
e) Part Two

Summary
------------

Maybe more than on any other album since his debut, Parsons consequently turned to his best skills and talents: accurate composition and arrangement, a conceptual framework, interplay of rock songs with simple back-beat and slow ballads. He introduces various lead-singers again, giving each song a different colour of voice. Parsons has become more commercial, but his eager for high chart positions is not too obvious, even though some single tracks turned out to be quite a success.

One who has already listened to Parsons‘ music and would like to hear more can be assured that the album will not be a disappointment, for fans it is a must anyway. If you attach great importance to sound and composition, this CD will be an excellent choice – but don’t expect experiments nor a revolution. Yes, it is mainstream, but in first quality.