Albums Engineered by Alan Parsons

TWO TOP-NOTCH A+++ SIDES and QUIET VINYL on this Arista two-pack pressing, the first Alan Parsons Project White Hot Stamper to hit the site! Alan Parsons is the engineering guru behind Dark Side Of The Moon, Year Of The Cat and Ambrosia’s debut, among many others, so suffice it to say the man knows a thing or two about audiophile-quality recording techniques. That talent is on full display here, with two sides that give you the kind of sound you want for this music — big and lively with excellent presence and real weight to the bottom.  

We played a ton of these recently and this one was of just a few that had Hot Stampers and quiet vinyl on both sides. This 2-pack gives you the best sound we heard for either side, each on separate copies. That lets you compare and contrast the two copies in your own shootout to see just what White Hot Stampers give you. (As always, I’ll mention that you of course have the option of only playing the A+++ sides and leave the dirty work of critical evaluation to us. After all, we play mediocre records so that you don’t have to!)

The sound is super dynamic with tight punchy pass and nice extension up top. The vocals are rich, full-bodied and smooth with excellent presence. The clarity and transparency are superb. Not too many records from 1982 sound this analog and natural, that’s for sure. (Most copies of this one don’t either, but these White Hot sides sure do!)

Bottom line: these guys may not be the greatest band of all time, but they sure knew how to get audiophile sound on a pop-rock recording. We’re keeping the price way low since I doubt there are too many APP die-hards out there, so you’ll be getting excellent White Hot Stamper sound at a low-dollar entrance fee. If you want to hear what a good early ’80s recording can sound like, there ain’t many better choices than this one.

TRACK LISTING

Side One

Sirius – Instrumental
Eye in the Sky
Children of the Moon
Gemini
Silence and I

Side Two

You’re Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned
Psychobabble
Mammagamma – Instrumental
Step by Step
Old and Wise

AMG 4 1/2 Star Rave Review

Eye in the Sky provided the Alan Parsons Project with their first Top Ten hit since 1977’s I Robot, and it’s hard not to feel that crossover success was one of the driving forces behind this album… What does dominate is the lushness of sound, the sweetness of melody: this is a soft rock album through and through, one that’s about melodic hooks and texture… It all adds up to arguably the most consistent Alan Parsons Project album — perhaps not in terms of concept, but in terms of music they never were as satisfying as they were here.