Stereotomy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Stereotomy | ||
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| Studio album by The Alan Parsons Project | ||
| Released | November 1985 | |
| Recorded | October 1984 - August 1985 | |
| Genre | Progressive rock | |
| Length | 41:58 | |
| Label | Arista Records | |
| Producer(s) | Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| The Alan Parsons Project chronology | ||
| Vulture Culture (1985) |
Stereotomy (1985) |
Gaudi (1987) |
| Alternate cover | ||
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| Re-release cover | ||
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| Original cover with red filter | ||
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| Original cover with blue filter | ||
Stereotomy is the penultimate regular album by The Alan Parsons Project. Although generally considered better musically than its predecessor, Vulture Culture, it was not as successful commercially, perhaps due to much fewer vocals from Eric Woolfson (he only appears on a small section of the title track). The album is a break from Project tradition, containing three lengthy tracks (one the longest instrumental the Project ever made) and two minute-long songs at the end. It is a full digital production.
The original vinyl packaging of the album was different from all the reissues: it featured somewhat more elaborate artwork of the paper sleeve supplied with a special color-filter oversleeve. When inserted, the oversleeve filtered some of the colors of the sleeve artwork, allowing four different variations (2 per side) of it. That was supposed to symbolize visual stereotomy. In the reissues, only one variant remained.
The word 'stereotomy' is taken from the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. It refers to the cutting of existing solid shapes into different forms; it is used as a metaphor for the way that famous people (singers, actors. etc.) are often 'shaped' by the demands of fame.
[edit] Track listing
- "Stereotomy" – 7:18
- "Beaujolais" – 4:27
- "Urbania" (instrumental) – 4:59
- "Limelight" – 4:39
- "In The Real World" – 4:20
- "Where's The Walrus?" (instrumental) – 7:31
- "Light Of The World" – 6:19
- "Chinese Whispers" (instrumental) – 1:01
- "Stereotomy Two" – 1:21
[edit] Miscellanea
- The track "Chinese Whispers" is based on the game of Chinese Whispers. It has some snippets of dialogue, but they are in English and heavily overlaid on top of each other. The words are taken from Edgar Allan Poe's work Murders in the Rue Morgue:
- "...The larger links of the chain run thus -- Chantilly, Orion, Dr. Nichols, Epicurus, Stereotomy, the street stones, the fruiterer."
- "Where's the walrus?" is a line attributed to Lee Abrams, a friend of Parsons and Woolfson. Once, while listening to the recording process, Abrams commented "Where's the walrus? I don't hear the walrus!" (meaning the punch of a tune). Abrams is frequently credited on Project recordings as "Mr. Laser Beam" ('laser beam' being an anagram of Lee Abrams).
