Turn Of A Friendly Card

La reseña es para la edición en formato Blu-Ray, una delicia que contiene la mezcla en 5.1 surround y la mezcla en Stereo de alta definición. El disco en sí es uno de mis preferidos, un disco conceptual que trata sobre los juegos de azar, un disco de calidad bastante homogénea, sin altibajos y que en mí opinión ha resistido bien la prueba del tiempo. Si hubiera que destacar algún corte quizás apostaría por Time, un tema con una gran melodía y que en su momento fue bastante popular.
El sonido como digo es sobresaliente con una mención especial para la versión 5.1. Lo he comprado por veinte euros y va directo a mí colección. Si la calidad es esta, procuraré conseguir algunos más. Muy recomendable.

not spectacular but good

ich mag diese Musik, seit 70er bekleide mich diese Musik

If much of Peter Gabriel’s lasting artistic legacy will be the principled stands he has taken for the cause of human rights, then a similar legacy should linger long after Eric Woolfson for his insights into the human tragedies of gambling addiction. While many superficial songs have been written on the subject, The Turn of a Friendly Card explores the excitement and disappointment, the folly and the wisdom that can sometimes come when there is Nothing Left To Lose. That song, in particular, embodies an uplifting melody around starkly somber lyrics that together create a sense of quiet resignation, a singularly unique emotion not heard in many songs. But as deeply as this concept album delves into these themes of mental addiction and the power of choice versus the unconscious, Woolfson delves even deeper in his musical GAMBLER where additionally the primal male fantasies of heroism are turned against the hero. This album benefits from not only the stellar production and engineering of Alan Parsons, but also from two of the finest instrumentals Parsons has ever composed: The Gold Bug and The Ace Of Swords.

If asked just what was The Alan Parsons Project, the simple answer would be a couple of musical geniuses who had the good sense to surround themselves with a bunch of other musical geniuses. Even a casual interest in the liner notes will reveal the unique talents of Andrew Powell who was solely responsible for all of the Project’s orchestral arrangements. But far less obvious would be the tremendous contributions that guitarist Ian Bairnson made throughout the life of the Project in terms of arrangement and, all too often, extremely complicated key changes. On I Don’t Wanna Go Home in particular, Bairnson places a single sheet of paper between the strings and the pickup of his guitar in order to achieve an almost unheard organic quality to his playing. Even Chris Rainbow deserves much more praise for his “rainbow effect” vocal harmonies laden throughout The Project catalog and showcased on the bonus material Nothing Left To Lose (Chris Rainbow Overdub Vocal Compilation).

(Please be aware that there are three distinct versions of this album before making your purchase. There is the recent SONY/BMG remaster that I personally recommend as it sounds the best to my ear, the inferior compact disc that ARISTA released in the mid-1980s, and the HDAD released by CLASSIC RECORDS. Normally, CLASSIC RECORDS releases superior products, but I would only recommend the HDAD to those whose chief concern is dynamic range as this particular rendering has an enormous amount of tape hiss. For the money, you simply cannot beat the sound quality of the SONY’s direct stream digital remaster!)

While I have heard some refer to The Alan Parsons Project as a poor man’s Pink Floyd, I contend strongly that The Turn of a Friendly Card stands toe to toe with the best efforts Pink Floyd ever put forth. The range of styles, tempos, and moods are as diverse as those on The Floyd’s most successful album Dark Side of the Moon, but that should come as no surprise considering Parsons’ substantial involvement in recording and engineering that masterpiece. While this album’s influence may not go as deep and wide as Dark Side despite the success of the singles Time and Games People Play, it certainly should given the relevance of the subject matter in modern societies where gambling is more widely sanctioned than ever.

The Turn of a Friendly Card was Parsons fifth studio album, it peaked at #13 on the charts. The single “Snake Eyes” peaked at #47 & “Games People Play” was a Top 20 hit. The third single was “Time’, it peaked at #15. The Turn of a Friendly Card has gambling as its central theme & it does this rather well.

The album opens with “May Be a Price to Pay”, unlike most Parsons albums up to this point, it’s not an instrumental. It’s probably the weakest song a Parsons had ever opened with. The song begins with a horn fanfare then gets into the proper part of it but it never rises above the ordinary. Next is “Games People Play”, it borders on pop but nothing unique though it does have a catchy chorus. “Time” slows down the tempo, it’s one of their prettier songs. “I Don’t Wanna Go Home” has a syncopated feel but once again isn’t anything special. Bairnson does give a pretty decent lead solo. “The Gold Bug” is an instrumental & is the easily the best song on the album. On previous albums Parsons would have opened the album with this song. Its beginning reminds me of music from a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western. The sax solo is a highlight of the song. Then we get what was on the original release a five part song that was called “The Turn of a Friendly Card”, each section identified by a part, i.e., pt. 1, pt. 2, etc. The first part was entitled “The Turn of a Friendly Card, Pt. 1” , is a slow tempo song with a beautiful melody. It becomes a recurring theme through the remaining songs. Then comes the single “Snake Eyes” which has a prominent rhythm guitar. It solidifies the theme of the album. Then comes “The Ace of Swords” (a tarot reference), a harpsichord is one of the main instruments opening the song. It’s an instrumental that has a jazz-like section. “Nothing Left to Lose” is another slow tempo song that features a memorable melody. It ends with a reggae sample then goes int a heavier rendition of previous theme. Ian Bairnson gives us one of his best solo efforts. “Nothing Left to Lose” repeats the melody of “The Turn of a Friendly Card”. This ends the original album. Overall there isn’t a bad song on this album & the five part song “The Turn of a Friendly Card” is the definite highlight of the album. “The Gold Bug” stands right above it.

The remastering is excellent & features seven(!) bonus tracks. We get the demo version of “May Be a Price to Pay” Then there’s three versions of “Nothing Left to Lose”, the first one is only the instrument tracks, the second one is has a Chris Rainbow voval but incomplete, then the third version has Eric Woolfson doing a guide vocal (a common practice in those days). We get an early attempt at “Time”, this song came a long way from this version. There’s a rough mix of “Games People Play”, which means it was a mix they knew they weren’t going to use. Finally there’s the demo version of “The Gold Bug” which is interesting because we see some of the genesis of the song. It’s not near as good as the finished product, which is what makes it a demo, right?

The Turn of a Friendly Card is another Parsons album I’m never quite sure about, my feelings go back & forth on it at times. It’s a solid effort just not a spectacular one. I guess you could say I’ve been spoiled by some of their better efforts.