The Secret Deluxe

'The secret' by Alan Parsons is a consistently good disc;not one bad song on it.It has occasional orchestral background(strings and horns) with various fine vocalists and the soft/progressive rock sound consisting of acoustic/electric guitars, piano and synthesizers,drums,percussion,some saxophone,bass,etc.One song even has an accordion in it in the background and another song has a zither in the background.This is a well produced,well engineered disc.There's a couple of great ballads as well as a fine sounding,well arranged instrumental consisting of orchestra/rock rhythm sections combined, along with some moderate and upbeat tracks.This disc has a great feel,tempo,pace and rhythm to it.The various instrumentation makes this a very enjoyable,open minded CD.Very interesting music indeed! The music grows on you.The more you listen to it,the more you like it.I highly recommend this CD. It has a lot of nice tunes. Alan Parsons is a technical genius having engineered 'the dark side of the moon' album for Pink Floyd which was one of the best selling rock albums of all time and Pink Floyd gave a lot of credit to Mr.Parsons for the success of the album which came out in 1973.The sound on that album is incredible.Parsons is way ahead of his time in audio recording and he is arguably the best rock music recording engineer on the planet.At the age of 19,he was assistant engineer for the 'Abbey road' album by the Beatles in 1967.Of course,Parsons and the late great Eric Woolfson were very successful as 'The Alan Parsons Project' from 1976 to 1991 with their various well selling progressive rock albums.After that,he made several good solo albums. Alan parsons has also been a very successful producer and of course engineer for various other rock groups such as the Hollies,Pilot,Al Stuart,Paul McCartney,Ambrosia,John Miles,Lichtmond, and others.Alan also is a talented musician.He plays acoustic guitar,keyboards,sings,writes,arranges,etc.Currently,he and his fine band have been touring world wide as ,'The Alan Parsons live project' and their concerts received very good reviews.'The secret' is Alan's best solo CD thus far. God willing,he will make another great one soon.'The Secret' CD is a breath of fresh air among all the mainstream trash music that's out there.If you want real music, then add this disc to your collection.It's a gem.You won't be disappointed.Enjoy.

I don’t often do reviews of much content, most have already said what needed to be said and said it well, but I was very motivated and excited to want to share my views and impressions on what I found, also hoping to help others not miss out on this opportunity. I really felt with one song, that I was listening to the main soundtrack of an intense and well done SciFi movie (Tron 3?), I could feel a movie was playing, sort of jonesing there was one, it deserves it! Same with another where I felt a popular Broadway play by some of the greats (not the music, just the level of presentation it had, very moving!!). Different vocalists, all perfectly matched to the songs and the words and the musical accompaniment, elegant and perfectly honed as AP has always done. I have not been this excited (after spin 4) about a new album from our times (we know who we are ;-), and was anxious to test it out more, and hear it on different systems, large listening area of my living room makes good use of the big sound with all the instruments in play, can’t stop cranking it! Driver’s seat in my vehicle with high-end aftermarket gear and a truly awesome front row seat and goosebumps with each movement of the music, I was even trying different listening levels to reveal more and was always throughout every listen, a big smile stuck on my face! No skimping on the booklet included, 16 page sides, big name players and many involved in doing these song, no wonder there is so much to each song, but to make it all work; that’s the secret of a talented artist. Not at all easy to make a part 2 or part 3 movie, or music album, harder still when the 1st ones were listened to over and over and part of your history growing up and you expect them to be the same right away. You got used to listening to them often, which you really have to do when such a song is so much more than a quickie pop tune as often the radio does, but not these, layered and complex like a orchestral performance, you need time/at least 3 spins to have it unfold in your mind, then the turbo kicks on and blows you away! Sound quality for sure a 10, never less with this guy. And if you have subs, there are a few that make good use of them. Mix of songs as well a 10, intimate to roaring, solo to orchestral, blends of each, all there with the AP signature sound at his best. Songs and words excellent with a great diversity of emotions portrayed in each, another 10. No copying of what’s been popular of late with sounds and studio tweaks, all original and pure AP. Once again hold off on your first impressions, its not junk food yummy, no fast burning pop tune here, this is a full 8 course gourmet meal, take time to let all the flavors sink in. Cheers and I hope others are as moved.

Been an Alan Parsons Project fan for years. This solo album by Alan Parsons is a worthy successor. I enjoyed all the songs, but my favorites are "As Lights Fall", "The Limelight Fades Away", and "I Can't Get There From Here". I only bought this CD about a month ago, and already have listened to it dozens of times. If I listen to a new CD more than three times in three days, it's a keeper!!! Although I do have my favorite songs, I most often listen to the whole album as it is fairly evenly done -- even the songs that I don't consider "hits" are very well done and easy to listen to. I'd say this is a must have for Alan Parsons Project fans, and a very high recommendation for music lovers everywhere.

Très belle album

I totally overlooked this record when it came out. Has there been any marketing? Well, Alan Parsons has brought me a nice surprise here - a pleasant and unexpected return to form. His latest studio albums had gone a bit astray but with "The Secret" he takes a step backwards in time. This record could have easily been the successor to "Eye in the Sky" or some other earlier work. Songs are fine, the whole album has a consistent topic (making it another of his concept albums) and the sound is great.

Sin duda Alan Parsons es un excepcional creativo, y este disco es un prueba, esas baladas con el toque melancólico nostálgico están, si considero que debe tenerse físico aunque puede claro, escucharse vía Internet, no se compara a la sensación de esa "ceremonia" al abrirlo, tomar tu bebida favorita y escucharlo por primera vez en la quietud de la noche. Esta versión de dos discos que incluye el audio DVD en 5.1 que es una maravilla, elegante, sin exagerar en los audios envolventes, los instrumentos, coros y ciertos audios complementan la excelente música. Incluye el CD y el DVD de audio, el "libro" con las letras y fotografías, el único detalle es la caja de cartón, se debe cuidar mucho para no dañar las esquinas., por lo demás buen disco, completo con buenos invitados y grandes músicos, con el sello de AP, recomendado ampliamente.

Fiquei muito impressionado com a velocidade no processo de entrega. Comprei em uma quinta à noite e, na segunda pela manhã, havia recebido a encomenda. Sobre o LP, um maravilhoso produto. Arte gráfica impecável e disco de excelente qualidade, como tudo que Alan Parsons costuma fazer. Recomendo a compra.

Alan Parsons è ritornato con pezzi di alto valore artistico. L'album ben si amalgama nel filo conduttore della magia e della prestidigitazione. Dalla rivisitazione di "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" all'amarcord di "As LIghts Fall" (nostalgica, in parte dedicata all'indimenticabile Eric Woolfson, in cui non si possono non scorgere volute similitudini a "Sooner or Later" da "Vulture Culture"). Notevole "Fly To Me" che in alcuni passaggi fa pensare ai Beatles e John Lennon, "Soirèe Fantastique" e la poetica "I Can't Get There From Here". Assolutamente di valore anche "Requiem" e "Sometimes". In poche parole di questo album non si butta via niente. Ritorno al passato, ai bei tempi degli APP ma anche uno sguardo alle produzioni degli anni successivi (vedi album come "Time Machine" e "On Air"). Ottimo, piacevolissimo, da ascoltare e riascoltare più volte! Un vero fan di Alan Parsons non può non apprezzare questi 11 brani nella loro interezza.