The Turn Of A Friendly Card

If much of Peter Gabriel's lasting artistic legacy will be the principled stands he has taken for the cause of human rights, then a similar legacy should linger long after Eric Woolfson for his insights into the human tragedies of gambling addiction. While many superficial songs have been written on the subject, The Turn of a Friendly Card explores the excitement and disappointment, the folly and the wisdom that can sometimes come when there is Nothing Left To Lose. That song, in particular, embodies an uplifting melody around starkly somber lyrics that together create a sense of quiet resignation, a singularly unique emotion not heard in many songs. But as deeply as this concept album delves into these themes of mental addiction and the power of choice versus the unconscious, Woolfson delves even deeper in his musical GAMBLER where additionally the primal male fantasies of heroism are turned against the hero. This album benefits from not only the stellar production and engineering of Alan Parsons, but also from two of the finest instrumentals Parsons has ever composed: The Gold Bug and The Ace Of Swords.If asked just what was The Alan Parsons Project, the simple answer would be a couple of musical geniuses who had the good sense to surround themselves with a bunch of other musical geniuses. Even a casual interest in the liner notes will reveal the unique talents of Andrew Powell who was solely responsible for all of the Project's orchestral arrangements. But far less obvious would be the tremendous contributions that guitarist Ian Bairnson made throughout the life of the Project in terms of arrangement and, all too often, extremely complicated key changes. On I Don't Wanna Go Home in particular, Bairnson places a single sheet of paper between the strings and the pickup of his guitar in order to achieve an almost unheard organic quality to his playing. Even Chris Rainbow deserves much more praise for his "rainbow effect" vocal harmonies laden throughout The Project catalog and showcased on the bonus material Nothing Left To Lose (Chris Rainbow Overdub Vocal Compilation).(Please be aware that there are three distinct versions of this album before making your purchase. There is the recent SONY/BMG remaster that I personally recommend as it sounds the best to my ear, the inferior compact disc that ARISTA released in the mid-1980s, and the HDAD released by CLASSIC RECORDS. Normally, CLASSIC RECORDS releases superior products, but I would only recommend the HDAD to those whose chief concern is dynamic range as this particular rendering has an enormous amount of tape hiss. For the money, you simply cannot beat the sound quality of the SONY's direct stream digital remaster!)While I have heard some refer to The Alan Parsons Project as a poor man's Pink Floyd, I contend strongly that The Turn of a Friendly Card stands toe to toe with the best efforts Pink Floyd ever put forth. The range of styles, tempos, and moods are as diverse as those on The Floyd's most successful album Dark Side of the Moon, but that should come as no surprise considering Parsons' substantial involvement in recording and engineering that masterpiece. While this album's influence may not go as deep and wide as Dark Side despite the success of the singles Time and Games People Play, it certainly should given the relevance of the subject matter in modern societies where gambling is more widely sanctioned than ever.

Excellent remix of this excellent album! One of my fondest memories as a young boy was the day I was home alone with my father's stereo system at my disposal. I distinctly remember putting the LP of Alan Parson's Project Turn of a Friendly Card on my father's record player and turning up the volume to levels that my mom would not have approved. When The Gold Bug began to play it transported me to another world. My own musical heaven.Fast forward nearly 35 years and I still enjoy this album tremendously. I purchased the HDAD version years ago, and there are times when I'll play it at ludicrous volume levels when I get the chance to be home alone in my own house. Pure joy! It is a very well mixed and recorded album in HDAD, which far surpasses the original cd version in sound quality/dynamics. That being said, I haven't been able to copy the HDAD version to my phone.The usual version I was listening to in my car was a copy of my original red book CD in FLAC from my phone, and that is the version I first played for my own son a few years ago who was the same age I was when I was spinning my dad's records. The Gold Bug quickly became the number one request for me to play when he was in my car, and this was without biasing his opinion prior to playing it. Alan Parsons is cross-generationally great stuff.I was reading about classic albums online recently when I came across a thread on a different remix of TOAFC which Alan Parsons helped remix himself in 2007 as part of a reissue effort for several albums. This version was supposed to be better than the old redbook cd version, and better for some than the HDAD version. In my quest to get all of my favorite albums in the best possible formats and resolutions I ordered this CD from Amazon. I can say without a doubt that even on my car stereo which is not by any means high-end, this version is much, much better than the original cd version. I still prefer the HDAD, but my home stereo probably has something to do with that.If you don't have this album yet, buy this version if you can't play or find the HDAD. If you have the original release on cd, and want a better sounding mix with some extra work-in-progress tracks thrown in, buy this album.My daughter, who is 6, is now a fan, and that makes me smile!

I once had some of the Project on cassette, but no idea where they went. Decided to add some to my vinyl collection. This was my first album. I also have the Eye, but have yet to listen to it yet.This master pressing is fantastic. Even though I channel my sound through a DBX3 and equalizer, this album comes alive with high quality response. Take the DBX and EQ out of the equation and the sound is still remarkable! A must have for your collection of 180g vinyl.Stand by for my feedback on the Eye. Spinning that album shortly.

Llego en perfecto estado , el sonido es muy bueno !!