The Alan Parsons Project

Formed in London in 1975, The Alan Parsons Project brought together Alan Parsons, a sound engineer and producer who worked at Abbey Road and was involved in the recording of The Dark Side of the Moon, and Eric Woolfson, a composer, lyricist and pianist. Conceived as a studio duo rather than a permanent band, The Alan Parsons Project relied on recurring guest musicians and singers, including Ian Bairnson, David Paton, Stuart Elliott, Lenny Zakatek, Chris Rainbow and John Miles. Their music blended progressive rock, art rock, orchestral pop and soft rock, with careful attention to arrangements, vocal textures and the concept-album format. Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976), inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, launched this approach, which continued on I Robot (1977), Pyramid (1978), Eve (1979), The Turn of a Friendly Card (1980) and Eye in the Sky (1982), and later on Ammonia Avenue (1984), Vulture Culture (1985), Stereotomy (1985) and Gaudi (1987). Themes ranged from literature and science fiction to gambling, social relations and architecture, expressed in an accessible language without sacrificing ambitious songwriting. The project was seldom active on stage under that name during its original period and ceased studio activity at the end of the 1980s, while Alan Parsons later kept the repertoire alive in concert in other formats.