Never-produced screenplay by
Harlan Ellison.
Alan Parsons Project's second album. Textured and intricate, although less than EAP ("Tales Of Mystery and Imagination:Edgar Allen Poe", APP's first album). This album is very paranoid, repeatedly telling us that
someone is watching, looking into my mind, gonna get you, and the protagonist seems to fear that he will either lose his mind or be reviled.
Track list and commentary.
- I Robot -- instrumental, setting the tone for the album. More edgy and electronic than their previous work on EAP
- I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You -- this one still gets airplay in the midwest.
- Some Other Time -- this song is reminiscent of the William Goldman novel Control.
- Breakdown -- "When I break down..." This song prefigures track 8
- Don't Let It Show -- Don't let them know you knew me, loved me, supported me, and they will leave you alone.
- The Voice -- almost a novelty song.
- Nucleus -- instrumental
- Day After Day (The Show Must Go On) -- Parsons and Woolfson must have listened to The Wall a lot while writing this album...
- Total Eclipse -- instrumental, mostly choral.
- Genesis Ch.1 V.32 -- instrumental. Arguably the strongest song on the album. King James Bible version of Genesis Chapter 1 ends with verse 31.
This album, although good, does not come anywhere near the sublime perfection of Tales Of Mystery And Imagination. The instrumentals are the best part. Lyrically, they have not quite hit their stride yet.
Reading this commentary, it looks as if I did not enjoy this album, which is untrue! It's a great piece of classic pop music.
And a note unrelated to this w/u but important to the node:
Eando Binder is not a man, but two -- brothers Edgar and Otto Binder.