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Alan Parsons: The Turn of a friendly Card

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Arista Records
Released: 1980.11.24
Time:
 64:13
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Alan Parsons
Rating: ******.... (6/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.alanparsons.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2009.11.30
Price in €: 9,99





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] May Be a Price to Pay (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 4:52
[2] Games People Play (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 4:17
[3] Time (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 5:05
[4] I Don't Wanna Go Home (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 4:54
[5] The Gold Bug (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 4:28
       The Turn of a Friendly Card:
[6] The Turn of a Friendly Card, Pt. 1 (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 2:39
[7] Snake Eyes (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 3:17
[8] The Ace of Swords (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 2:58
[9] Nothing Left to Lose (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 4:03
[10] The Turn of a Friendly Card, Pt. 2 (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 3:12

Bonus Tracks:
[11] May Be A Price To Pay (Intro - Demo)(A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 1:30
[12] Nothing Left To Lose (Basic Backing Track) (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 4:33
[13] Nothing Left To Lose (Chris Rainbow Overdub Vocal Compilation) (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 2:00
[14] Nothing Left To Lose (Early Studio Version with Eric's Guide Vocal) (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 3:09
[15] Time (Early Studio Attempt) (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 4:40
[16] Games People Play (Rough Mix) (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 4:31
[17] The Gold Bug (Demo) (A.Parsons/E.Woolfson) - 2:49

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Alan Parsons - Keyboards, Vocals, Background Vocals, Producer, Engineer
Eric Woolfson - Keyboards, Vocals, Executive Producer
David Paton - Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Stuart Elliott - Percussion, Drums
Ian Bairnson - Acoustic & Electric Guitar

Elmer Gantry - Vocals
Chris Rainbow - Vocals, Background Vocals
Lenny Zakatek - Vocals, Background Vocals

Orchestra of the Munich Chamber Orchestra - Orchestra
Andrew Powell - Arranger, Conductor
Sandor Farcas - Leader

Chris Blair - Mastering
Lol Creme - Design
Kevin Godley - Design
 

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1988 CD Arista 25898
1990 CD Arista 8226
2005 LP Classics 8226
2008 LP Classic Records 8226180
2008 CD Arista ARCD-8226
2008 CD BMG 34457
2009 LP Classic Records 8226200

Recorded at Acusti Studio, Paris. Orchestra Recorded at Arco Studio, Munich.

With TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD, Alan Parsons has furthered his bid for mainstream success by combining his lush, synthesized art rock with memorable melodies. In fact, two of the album's songs--the infectious, pulsing "Games People Play" andthe dreamily drifting "Time"-- became durable radio singles. Like all of Parsons's efforts, however, this album is far more than just a collection of singles.

TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD continues Parsons's penchant for concept albums: every song centers on gambling and its literal and metaphorical implications. While this is intriguing, the album's more seductive qualities lie in its densely layered arrangements andpristine production, which create a spacey, expansive, highly detailed effect that nearly cries out to be played on a high-end stereo. While a well-assembled compilation like the double-disc DEFINITIVE COLLECTION is a better place to get acquainted with the scope of Parsons's solo work, this effortfrom 1980 is one of his best.



With two of the Alan Parsons Project's best songs, the lovely ballad "Time" and the wavy-sounding "Games People Play," The Turn of a Friendly Card remains one of this group's most enjoyable albums. Parsons' idea, the subject of the album's six tracks, centers around the age-old temptation of gambling and its stranglehold on the human psyche. On "Games People Play," vocalist Lenny Zakatek sounds compelling and focused, giving the song a seriousness that aids in realization of the album's concept. With "Time," it is Eric Woolfson who carries this luxurious-sounding ode to life's passing to a place above and beyond any of this band's other slower material. The breakdown of human willpower and our greedy tendencies are highlighted in the last track, entitled "The Turn of a Friendly Card," which is broken into five separate parts. "Snake Eyes," sung by Chris Rainbow, is the most compelling of the five pieces, and ties together the whole of the recording. As in every Parsons album, an instrumental is included, in this case an interesting number aptly titled "The Gold Bug." Like most of the band's instrumentals, its flow and rhythm simulate the overall tempo and concept of the album, acting as a welcome interlude. Although short, The Turn of a Friendly Card is to the point and doesn't let down when it comes to carrying out its idea.

Mike DeGagne - All Music Guide
 

 L y r i c s


May Be A Price To Pay

Something's wrong in this house today
While the master was riding the servants decided to play
Something's wrong in this house today
Something's been going on there may be a price to pay

There's evil brewing, getting out of control
And i'm helpless i can't put it right
Something's unrighteous is possessing my soul
And it's cold in the heat of the night

Something's wrong in this house today
While the sorcerer slept the apprentice decided to play
While the master was hiding the servants decided to play
Might be too much sun or too much of something in the air
Whatever's happening nobody else is aware

There's evil brewing, getting out of control
And i'm helpless i can't put it right
Something's unrighteous is possessing my soul
And it's cold in the heat of the night

Something's wrong in this house today
Something's been going on there may be a price to pay


Games People Play

Where do we go from here now that all other children are growin' up
And how do we spend our lives if there's noone to lend us a hand

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

Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say, honor brite
If i promise you the moon and the stars, would you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night

Where do we go from here now that all of the children have grown up
and how do we spend our TIME knowing nobody gives us a damn

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

Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say, just don't make it right
If i'm telling you the truth right now, do you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night

Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say, honor brite
If i promise you the moon and the stars, would you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night

Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say, just don't make it right
If i'm telling you the truth right now, do you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night


Time

Time
Flowing like a river
Time
Beckoning me
Who knows when we shall meet again
If ever
But time
Keeps flowing like a river
To the sea

Goodbye my love
Maybe for forever
Goodbye my love
The tide waits for me
Who knows when we shall meet again
If ever
But time
Keeps flowing like a river (on and on)
To the sea, to the sea

Till it's gone forever
Gone forever
Gone forevermore

Goodbye my friends (goodbye my love)
Maybe for forever
Goodbye my friends (who knows when we shall meet again)
The stars wait for me
Who knows when we shall meet again
If ever
But time
Keeps flowing like a river (on and on)
To the sea, to the sea

Till it's gone forever
Gone forever
Gone forevermore

Forevermore
Forevermore


I Don't Wanna Go Home

Go back home you damn fool
Surely you know you can't win
You should never have come near this place
You should have stayed outside, lookin' in

It's too late to turn back
Nobody asked you to try
But they blinded you with diamonds
And all the money that money can buy

And i'm so afraid of being on my own
But i don't wanna go home

You can't win you damn fool
You drank all the wine from the cup
And your painted lady's gone now
And you're way back on the downside, lookin' up

You can't catch the monkey on your back
Nobody asked you to try
But for every heart they held a spade
And you lost more than money can buy

And i'm so afraid of being on my own
But i don't wanna go home

I'm like a washed up rag
Tattered and torn
I wish i'd never been born

And i'm so afraid of being on my own
But i don't wanna go home
I'm like a down and out just blowin' my horn
Oh i don't wanna go home

I'm like a washed up rag
Tattered and torn
Oh i don't wanna go home


The Gold Bug

Instrumental.


The Turn Of A Friendly Card (Part 1)

There are unsmiling faces and bright plastic chains
And a wheel in perpetual motion
And they follow the races and pay out the gains
With no show of outward emotion

And they think it will make their lives easier
For god knows up till now it's been hard
But the game never ends when your whole world depends
On the turn of a friendly card
No the game never ends when your whole world depends
On the turn of a friendly card

There's a sign in the desert that lies to the west
Where you can't tell the night from the sunrise
And not all's the king's horse and all the king's men
Have prevented the fall of the unwise

For they think it will make their lives easier
And god knows it's been hard
But the game never ends when your whole world depends
On the turn of a friendly card
No the game never ends when your whole world depends
On the turn of a friendly card

But a pilgrim must follow in search of a shrine
As he enters inside the cathedral...


Snake Eyes

Snake eyes
Seven eleven
Don't let me down boys
Gimme
Snake eyes
Seven eleven
Don't let me down tonight
No don't let me down tonight

Just one minute more, give me just one minute more
It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright

Just one minute more, then i'll walk right through that door
It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright
If ya gimme

Snake eyes
Seven eleven
Don't let me down boys
Snake eyes
Seven eleven
Don't let me down tonight
No don't let me down tonight

Just one minute more, then i'll walk right through that door
It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright
But'cha gotta
Gimme one more marker more
Then i'll walk right through that door
Gimme one more, don't let me down
It's gonna be alright, alright, alright


The Ace Of Swords

Instrumental.


Nothing Left To Lose

Nothing's good the news is bad
The heat goes on and it drives you mad
Scornful thoughts that fly your way
You should turn away cause there's nothing more to say

You gave the best you had to give
You only had one life to live
You fought so hard you were a slave
After all you gave there was nothing left to save

You've got nothing left to lose (you've got nothing left to lose)
No you've got nothing left to lose (who'd wanna be standing in your shoes)

Nothing ventured nothing gained
No more lingering doubt remained
Nothing sacred or profane
Everything to gain
Cause you've nothing left


The Turn Of A Friendly Card (Part 2)

There are unsmiling faces in fetters and chains
On a wheel of perpetual motion
Who belong to all races and answer all names
With no show of outward emotion

And they think it will make their lives easier
But the doorway before them is barred
And the game never ends when your whole world depends
On the turn of a friendly card
No the game never ends when your whole world depends
On the turn of a friendly card

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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