Pyramid (The Alan Parsons Project album)

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Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Script error: No such module "Unsubst-infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters". Template:Album ratings Pyramid (stylized as Pyr△mid) is the third album by progressive rock band The Alan Parsons Project, released in May 1978.[1] 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.[2] Pyramid was nominated for the 1978 Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.[3]

The book visible in the cover design is G. Patrick Flanagan – Pyramid Power: The Millennium Science (1973).[4]

Pyramid was promoted in the United Kingdom through a nationwide cinema tour where the original master tapes were played in cinemas around the country.[5] These playbacks, described as "simulated concerts" by Music Week, took place in 30 cities across the United Kingdom. Free tickets to these album playbacks were distributed via dealers and took place at local cinemas.[6] Posters, shop displays, trade ads, and special media bios were created to provide the album with additional publicity and press advertisement was conducted in publications such as The Guardian and The Sunday Times.[5]

Critical reception

Cashbox wrote that the band "finally delivered an album which goes beyond cracker -jack production techniques and delves whole-heartedly into the realm of 'identifiable sound'".[7] Billboard said that the album "aurally interesting", with an emphasis on choirs and keyboards for a "spacey sound."[8]

Record World called Pyramid "another immaculately produced album" from The Alan Parsons Project, saying that the creative contributions of musicians and vocalists on the record resulted in a "sometimes lush but haunting accompaniment".[9] Tony Jasper of Music Week thought that the album was instrumentally varied and that the music was more likely to catch the attention of listeners than the lyrical themes, which he described as "sometimes banal".[5]

Track listing

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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

Bonus tracks details

  • What Goes Up/Little Voice – Another song called, at the time, Little Voice was included in this demo but was not used in the final album.[4]
  • Can't Take It With You (early version demo) – Alan Parsons (unusually) played all the instruments.[4]
  • Hyper-Gamma Spaces – The name came from Eric Woolfson's brother Richard, whose Mathematics Doctoral Thesis carried the title Hyper-Gamma Spaces.[4]
  • The Eagle Will Rise Again (alternative version-backing track) – Intended as a Reprise Rock Band version demo attempt. This was abandoned as there was already enough material for the album.[4]

Personnel

Charts

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Certifications and sales

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References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  4. ↑ a b c d e The Alan Parsons Project – Pyramid. CD Remaster liner notes (2008)
  5. ↑ a b c Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
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  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  • Pyramid, Alan Parsons Project. Arista Records AB 4180, 1978 (Vinyl LP)

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