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Ammonia Avenue

Alan Parsons Project - Ammonia Avenue Audio CD

A fair review of the Alan Parsons Project "Ammonia Avenue" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Alan Parsons Project reviews here, or go back to the Alan Parsons Project tabs.

Band: Alan Parsons Project
Title: Ammonia Avenue
Rating:

Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Prime Time 2: Let Me Go Home 3: One Good Reason 4: Since the Last Goodbye 5: Don't Answer Me 6: Dancing on a High Wire 7: You Don't Believe 8: Pipeline 9: Ammonia Avenue

My Favourite Alan Parsons Project Album Has Just Gotten Better!
All the tracks are musically interesting and while not true of most of their other albums there are no fillers on this album. Although few people may admit it themselves but to me this is Alan Parsons Project's best album and is certainly my favourite of the lot. Everyone knows "Prime Time" and "Don't Answer Me" but to me these are not even the strongest tracks on this album. "Dancing On A High Wire" is my vote for best track here while the title track is also very strong. "Pipeline" is also my favourite of all their instrumental pieces. If I had to name the weakest track here it would be "You Don't Believe".

This mini-lp replica sleeve (mlps) version of the album has also been remastered very well by Alan Parsons himself for a very good sound quality and is the way Parsons himself wants it to sound to you given his own personal involvement in the process even though it has nothing to do with the SHM process more of which I have covered in an earlier review. The sound quality due to the remastering is first class making this the best sounding version of the album that I've ever heard.

This mlps (mini-lp replica sleeve) version though is a mixed bag. First the great news: this album has been very well remastered for an excellent sound and has a 12-page colour booklet with an essay by Jerry Ewing of Classic Rock Magazine and liner notes on the bonus tracks written by Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons themselves. The 8 bonus tracks are:

Track 10: Don't Answer Me (Early Rough Mix)
Track 11: You Don't Believe (Demo)
Track 12: Since The Last Goodbye (Chris Rainbow Vocal Overdubs)
Track 13: Since the Last Goodbye (Eric Guide Vocal-Rough Mix)
Track 14: You Don't Believe (Instrumental Tribute To The Shadows)
Track 15: Dancing On A High Wire/Spotlight (Work In Progress)
Track 16: Ammonia Avenue Part 1 (Eric Demo Vocal-Rough Mix)
Track 17: Ammonia Avenue (Orchestral Overdub)

Also included are another 16-page booklet with all the lyrics in both English and Japanese. The inner jacket sleeve faithfully replicates the original lp with all the tiny lyrics on it.

The only beef I have with this and is why I only gave it 4 stars is the actual assembly of the mlps itself which is so disappointingly poor given the quality of the rest of the package. The cardboard is of thin poor quality and looks as if it will fall apart once the glue gets old. For examples of very well assembled mlps designs go see the ones done for the entire Hall & Oates reissue as well as those done for Queen and The Band which are simply works of art which showed those concerned had great pride in their work.

Overall, this mlps version of what I believe to be their best album has very good sound quality given the remastering done by Alan Parsons himself but it is rather pricey and the mlps itself is shabbily put together and poorly assembled with thin and poor quality cardboard. If you already have the remastered cd, it would be difficult to justify paying so much more to get this poor mlps version.

Ammonia Avenue
It peaked at #15 on the charts & was the last Project album that cracked the Top 20. Ammonia Avenue was the Project's seventh studio album. It had more charting singles than any other Project album. The songs that charted: "You Don't Believe" (#54 Hot 100), "Ammonia Avenue" (#15 Top 200), "Don't Answer Me" (#15 Hot 100) & "Prime Time" (#34 Hot 100). Ammonia Avenue could be considered the last album of Parsons early or classic era or it could be considered the transitional album before the late era. It's certainly the dividing line for the Project's impact on album or singles charts. Most of the usual suspects are here as lead vocalists: Eric Woolfson, Lenny Zakatek, Chris Rainbow & Colin Blunstone. surprisingly, there isn't a lead vocal by the bassist, David Paton.

Ammonia Avenue has a lot of good tracks, comes close to being the equal of Eye in the Sky. The album opens with "Prime Time", a very good song. It was unusual for the Project to open an album with a song that wasn't an instrumental. This changed with Ammonia Avenue. "Let Me Go Home" is about as close as the Project came to rocking out on a song. It's not what one would call hard rock but for the Project it is. Ian Bairnson provides an excellent solo proving, once again, he's an underrated guitarist. "One Good Reason" is another very good song. "One Good Reason" is a song that hints at the future direction the Project would embark upon. "Since the Last Goodbye" is a nice ballad but it might be the weakest song on the original album. That's not saying it's a bad song, it's not, it's just surrounded by so many good songs. "Don't Answer Me" has a pop sound, it's typical Parsons but that isn't a bad thing. There's a great sax solo in it performed by Mel Collins. "Dancing On a Highwire" is an adventurous song. Bairnson performs a very tasteful solo. "You Don't Believe" is one of the two best songs on the album, it has one of the catchiest choruses I've ever heard. "Pipeline" is the only instrumental on the original album. It's not the same "Pipeline" recorded way back in the sixties but Parsons is acknowledging a group that has been largely forgotten. But as far as instrumentals go, this isn't on the level as "I Robot" or "Sirius" but it has another great sax solo by Collins. "Ammonia Avenue" is reminiscent of "Silence & I" from Eye in the Sky. Woolfson's voice is particularly suited to this type of song.

Silken rhythms -- the musical kind
"

The usual APP themes of alienation, disbelief and loss play varying roles in most of the songs. This is probably APP's most underappreciated album, even though back in 1984 "Don't Answer Me" was a top-40 hit, and the album enjoyed some commercial success with that song and with "You Don't Believe. Production values are, as usual, impeccable, and the instrumentation imparts a silken, surreal feel. This is a great album to play at night, when you're by yourself studying, or when you're with a person you care about and with whom you want to share some intimacy.

The theme escapes me...
It came out on the heels of "Eye in the Sky", an extremely popular disc. "Ammonia Avenue" was released in Feb of 1984, and was The Alan Parsons Project's (APP) 7th album. While most of the earlier discs had strong central themes, the theme of this album escapes me, and seems more like an assortment of APP tracks that were done when it was time to release an album.

As at least a few other reviewers have commented, this album has the traditional mix of APP progressive rock, pop, and mellow music, along with one instrumental track. It differs from some earlier efforts, such as "I Robot" in that this disc has a much stronger emphasis on pop rather than progressive rock. That worked well for APP at the time, however, since this album contained one of APP's bigger singles - "Don't Answer Me. "

As for the rest of the tracks:

- If you enjoy APP mellow/melancholy tracks, then check out "Prime Time" (good), "Since the Last Goodbye" (best), and the title track "Ammonia Avenue" (good).
- If you like APP progressive rock, then try "Let Me Go Home" (pretty good, but not great) and "You Don't Believe" (also so-so).
- I guess you could call these progressive pop(?), but for more of a pop sound give "One Good Reason" (OK), "Don't Answer Me" (most commercially successful track on the CD), or "Dancing on a Highwire"(only so-so).
- For me, the highlight of this track is the only instrumental on the disc, "Pipeline" (truly excellent).

All in all I'd rate this CD about a 3 for a concept album, and the mixture of strong and so-so tracks, but I give it a 4 overall for the strong tracks that are there.

This album is a MUST for APP fans, but if you are just starting your adventures with the music of APP I recommend "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", "Turn of a Friendly Card", "Eye in the Sky", or "Vulture Culture" as better starting places.

All in all, I give this disc 4 stars.

From a 30+ year APP fan. . . happy listening!.

Alan Parsons Project - One Of Their More Underated Efforts
I have always really liked it, but sales paled in comparison to the band's previous monster hit "Eye In The Sky". "Ammonia Avenue" seems to be one of the Project's more underrated works. The album gets mixed reviews from APP fans. Some love it and some loath it. As with "Eye In The Sky" the band definitely move in a more pop oriented direction on much of this disc. For the most part the songs are all good. "Prime Time", "Let Me Go Home", "Dancing On A High wire", "You Don't Believe" and the instrumental "Pipeline" are all solid. The single "Don't Answer Me" is also a decent pop track. The real highlight of this album however, is the title track "Ammonia Avenue". For me this ranks up with the best things APP ever did. The track is orchestrated progressive rock in all it's bloated glory. I really like the lyrics to it as well. "Ammonia Avenue" would begin the decline of APP fortunes in album sales and on the charts, but the album remains one of my favorites from the band.

You can see a complete list of all Alan Parsons Project discography, or go back to the Alan Parsons Project tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.