Izdavač: Ostalo
Žanr: Elektronska muzika, Pop, Rok
Poreklo: Strani izvođač

Original, made in Germany

Knjizica od 12 str.

knjizica 5 Cd 4+

Studio album by The Alan Parsons Project
Released 19 December 1985[1]
Recorded October 1984 – August 1985
Studio Mayfair Studios
Genre
Progressive rockpop rocknew wave
Length 41:58
Label Arista
Producer Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson
The Alan Parsons Project chronology
Vulture Culture
(1985) Stereotomy
(1985) Gaudi
(1987)
Stereotomy is the ninth studio album by the Alan Parsons Project, released in December 1985 by Arista Records.

Not as commercially successful as its predecessor Vulture Culture, the album is structured differently from earlier Project albums: containing three lengthy tracks (`Stereotomy` at over seven minutes, `Light of the World` at over six minutes, and the instrumental `Where`s the Walrus?` running over seven and a half minutes) and two minute-long songs at the end. It is a full digital production and both the LP and CD releases were encoded using the two-channel Ambisonic UHJ format. Stereotomy earned a Grammy nomination in 1987 – for Best Rock Instrumental Performance: Orchestra, Group, or Soloist – for the track `Where`s the Walrus?`[3]

Stereotomy marks the final appearance of David Paton on bass – he went on to join Elton John`s touring band – and is the first Project release since Tales of Mystery and Imagination not to feature Lenny Zakatek.

Background
The word `stereotomy` is taken from `The Murders in the Rue Morgue` by Edgar Allan Poe. It refers to the cutting of solid shapes into different forms, and is used as a metaphor for the way that famous people (singers, actors, etc.) are `shaped` by the demands of fame.[4][5] The short track `Chinese Whispers` also references `Rue Morgue` in that although an instrumental, it features Eric Woolfson’s daughters Sally and Lorna reciting a sequence of words from the story.

Prior to the recording sessions of Stereotomy, Parsons and Woolfson contacted a mutual friend who worked as a radio programmer to conduct research on what fans of the Alan Parsons Project expected from them. The radio programmer conveyed to them that fans preferred to hear less of Woolfsons` vocals and were also alienated by the band`s pivot toward more commercially friendly music. In an interview published by Knight Ridder, Woolfson said that `hit singles [were] never what we set out to do` and maintained that the band`s focus was more on making album-oriented rock music.[6]

The band retained the rhythm section of Ian Bairnson on guitars, David Paton on bass, and Stuart Elliott on drums. John Miles sang lead vocals on the title track and Gary Brooker of Procol Harum covered the lead vocals on the song `Limelight`.[7]

Recording
Whereas previous Alan Parsons Project albums had been recorded on analog tape and mastered digitally, Stereotomy was recorded digitally from the onset.[4] Parsons said that they `made a major commitment to digital format in the studio, recording Stereotomy all digital from day one.`[8] The band explained that they made this decision to retain the same level of fidelity throughout the recording process, regardless of how many overdubs and playbacks were conducted. Woolfson discussed this method with Dave Zimmer of BAM magazine in 1986.[4]

No matter how good the original tracks were, we discovered there was an actual physical deterioration of analog tapes. Just the physical process of running the tape across the heads caused a few molecules to get lost and we`d be left with something less than powerful. But with digital, we found the original excitement just never went away.[4]

— Eric Woolfson
Woolfson`s role as a lead vocalist and keyboardist was also reduced on Stereotomy. He thought that he `ended up doing too many tracks on the last couple of albums` and reckoned that his vocal contributions on Stereotomy spanned `about 30 seconds`.[9] Richard Cottle, who first worked with the Alan Parsons project on Vulture Culture, reprised his role as the band`s dedicated session synthesiser player.[10] Woolfson thought that Cottle`s role was `more dominant` on Stereotomy due to the band`s increasing reliance on a more synthesised sound rather than acoustic keyboards.[9]

Cottle`s keyboard rig consisted of a PPG Wave 2.3, Emulator II, Fairlight CMI, Yamaha DX7, and two Sequential Prophet 5 synthesisers that were retrofitted with a MIDI interface.[10] Parsons believed that the strengths of the Fairlight paled in comparison to the Emulator and the Yamaha DX7, which were his preferred keyboards on the album.[9] Cottle commented that it was `time-consuming` to operate the Fairlight and achieve sounds that were compatible with other keyboards in his setup.[10]

Cottle primarily used the PPG Wave as his master keyboard and used the Prophet and DX7 for chordal pads. Parsons`s TX Rack, which was positioned in the control room, also connected to some of Cottle`s instruments, including the DX7. The Friend Chip SRC synchronizer was used to delay the feed to various instruments to overcome latency issues associated with MIDI. Cottle`s keyboards mixes, which were treated with audio effects such as reverb, were sent directly to the mixing console.[10]

Artwork
The original vinyl packaging was different from all the reissues: it featured more elaborate artwork of the paper sleeve supplied with a special color-filter oversleeve. When inserted, the over-sleeve filtered some of the colors of the artwork, allowing four different variations.[7] In the reissues, only one variant remained. The artwork was nominated for Best Album Package at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards,[11] but lost to Miles Davis`s album Tutu, designed by art director Eiko Ishioka.[12]

All songs written and composed by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.

Side one
No. Title Lead vocals Length
1. `Stereotomy` John Miles up to 5:11, Eric Woolfson 5:11 to 5:50 7:18
2. `Beaujolais` Chris Rainbow 4:27
3. `Urbania` (Instrumental) 4:59
4. `Limelight` Gary Brooker 4:39
Side two
No. Title Lead vocals Length
1. `In the Real World` Miles 4:20
2. `Where`s the Walrus?` (Instrumental) 7:31
3. `Light of the World` Graham Dye, backing vocal Steven Dye 6:19
4. `Chinese Whispers` (Instrumental, spoken word by Sally and Lorna Woolfson) 1:01
5. `Stereotomy Two` Miles 1:21
Personnel
Eric Woolfson – DX7 Rhodes, piano, additional vocals on 1, scientist voices on 1
Alan Parsons – synth sequences on 3, scientist voices on 1, producer
Ian Bairnson – electric guitars, guitars synth, processed acoustic guitars
David Paton – bass
Stuart Elliott – drums and percussion
Richard Cottle – synths, sequencers, keyboards, sax
Tony Richards – scientist voices on 1, traffic FX on 3
Noel Rafferty – scientist voices
John Miles – vocals on 1, 5, 9
Chris Rainbow – vocals on 2
Gary Brooker – vocals on 4
Grahan Dye – vocals on 7
Sally and Lora Woolfson – voices on 8
The Philharmonia Orchestra, leader – Christoffer Warren-Green
Orchestra arranged and conducted by Andrew Powell