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Alan Parsons Project - The Turn of a Friendly Card Audio CD

A fair review of the Alan Parsons Project "The Turn of a Friendly Card" 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.

Alan Parsons Project Band: Alan Parsons Project
Title: The Turn of a Friendly Card
Rating:
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: May Be a Price to Pay 2: Games People Play 3: Time 4: I Don't Wanna Go Home 5: Gold Bug 6: Turn of a Friendly Card: The Turn of a Friendly Card, Pt. 1 7: Turn of a Friendly Card: Snake Eyes 8: Turn of a Friendly Card: The Ace of Swords 9: Turn of a Friendly Card: Nothing Left to Lose 10: Turn of a Friendly Card: The Turn of a Friendly Card, Pt. 2

Turn of a Friendly Card - A Royal Flush!
This is where the orchestra and the band begin to combine to bring sounds that are timeless and powerful. This is perhaps one of APP's best. The recording felt like being at King Henry VIII gathering. This is one Eric Wolfson's best recordings he has completed for APP. Some outstanding highlights:

I Don't Wanna Go Home
The Gold Bug - An Enticing Medieval Instrumental
The Turn Of A Friendly Card (Part 1) - A classic Wolfson's tune.
Snake Eyes - A classic APP tune.
The Ace Of Swords - A powerful and one of my favorite Instrumentals.
Nothing Left to Loose- A nice ending.

Other tunes were almost as good making the release fulfilling. Overall can't go wrong in doubling down in Turn of a Friendly Card, one of my favorites.
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A Masterpiece
The orchestration, the melodies, the lyrics, and the production are all fantastic. In 1980, the Alan Parsons Project released "The Turn of a Friendly Card," a theme album based on gambling, but easily relevant for any addiction or relational issues. This is one of APP's masterpieces, and sets the bar so high that even other APP albums are sometimes difficult to compare to this one.

Here are my song-by-song ratings.

1. May Be a Price to Pay *****
2. Games People Play *****
3. Time ****1/2
4. I Don't Wanna Go Home ****
5. The Gold Bug ****
6. The Turn of a Friendly Card, Pt. 1 ****
7. Snake Eyes ****
8. The Ace of Swords ****
9. Nothing Left to Lose ****1/2
10. The Turn of a Friendly Card, Pt. 2 ****

The opening tracks "May Be a Price to Pay," "Games People Play," and "Time" are simply phenomenal songs. I discovered the Alan Parsons Project in 1994 and 1995 at a time in my life when I needed to make some changes. This album, especially the song "Games People Play," was instrumental in that process.

Picture yourself in a dreary situation that you have let slowly engulf you, and you wake up one morning and hear the line "I don't wanna live here no more / I don't wanna stay / Ain't gonna spend the rest of my life / Quietly fading away. " I know everyone doesn't need a song to tell them what to do, but what if you don't even realize that those feelings are there until you hear someone say it? Absolutely brilliant song, especially in that context and at that particular time in my life.

If you read my other reviews of APP material, you will see that I had similar reactions to many of their albums. The Alan Parsons Project is an incredible band whose music has made a lasting impression on me. It is deep, thoughtful, and simply beautiful, and I owe many thanks to Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson, Ian Bairnson, and company for their catalog of brilliant material. Thank you, guys.

My review is for the original "Turn of a Friendly Card" album with 10 songs, not the one with the bonus material.
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Good music, great sound quality
Not a bad song on it. I think this is one of the best albums of Alan Parsons Project. The sound quality is realy great. Love it!.


Interesting and (Amazingly!) Tuneful
As with all APP albums, the lyric content is light and obvious. This is half a "concept" album, with its second half (what was Side 2 on the original LP) being a satire of Las Vegas and/or compulsive gambling. But this one is particularly strong, musically, with a number of memorable tunes. The group works best in minor keys as the title cut demonstrates, along with several other album numbers. The most beautiful song, however, is the major mode "Time," which IMO ranks among the loveliest tunes ever written.


The best of the series to my ears
The bonus tracks are enjoyable as well, in particular "games people play-the original version is interesting for the little scat like wale at the beginning that was later refined and moved closer to the end of the song.
Although the catalogue is solid all the way through Ammonia Avenue, I feel this is the most interesting, and fulfilling of the lot. The songs are great, the melodies are strong, and the lyrics are intelligent and moving. A real high point for the project, and very possibly their best!.


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.

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