Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Alan Parsons Project, The
Label: Sony BMG
Released: 1980
Length: 40:32
Rating: 4.5/5
“The Turn of a Friendly Card” is the fifth album from The Alan Parsons Project, the legendary English art rock sensation that made its name with a run of wildly varied concept albums and radio hits, and wowed music connoisseurs with an approach to progressive rock that was innovative for its day (above all by building convincing, sturdy bridges between prog and pop). The concept of “The Turn of a Friendly Card” touches on the world of gambling and, in part, tells the story of a middle-aged man who gets impatient to grow his fortune, so he heads to a casino and stakes everything he owns on lucky wins. In the end, he loses it all.
The two TAPP bosses had a bit of a gambling streak themselves, namely producer, mastermind and occasional musician Alan Parsons and composer, lyricist, singer and keyboardist Eric Woolfson. Their favorite gamble was always swapping in different singers, which paid off enviably well but confused anyone who didn’t happen to know the TAPP albums and had only heard the radio hits, thinking they were completely different bands.
Among other things, “The Turn of a Friendly Card” is known for giving TAPP two big hits, “Games People Play” and “Time”. On the latter, Eric Woolfson made his debut as lead vocalist. Woolfson’s co-captain at TAPP stubbornly put off using his vocals for a long time, which was often the main cause of their studio spats. In the end he came around to the public’s reaction, once he realized Woolfson was the singer on all of TAPP’s biggest hits. These days Alan openly admits he misjudged Eric’s vocal abilities. Every new hit was a kind of surprise for the duo, but also a fitting reward for the grueling studio grind. The original LP release featured the title track as an epic suite taking up the entire second side, while the CD version split it into five tracks.
Every track on the album, which doesn’t have a single weak moment, is its own chapter when it comes to arrangement variety, and that goes both for the songs born for radio airplay and for the less commercially minded symphonic instrumentals. The latter give the project a dose of symphonic prog rock charm, which, despite the pop rock leanings, remained a constant in TAPP’s musical vocabulary. The album is remarkably consistent as a whole and mostly built on a pompous, ambient note, though it also has a few gentle ballads that tone down the epic mood a little.
The dynamic symphonic pop rock hybrid “May Be a Price to Pay” is a traditionally pompous opener, with lavish orchestration and layered synthesizer lines ruled over by the mighty vocals of Elmer Gantry (real name Dave Terry; former frontman of the psychedelic rock outfit Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera). The balance between the hypnotic AOR chorus and the symphonic arrangements, which also include a few little jazzy piano touches, is spot on and underlines the epic scale of this superb track the whole way through.
The ear-tickling AOR classic “Games People Play” was the project’s first big radio hit, which is no surprise to anyone familiar with the talent of longtime TAPP singer Lenny Zakatek. The synth lines are, as they should be, pushed way up front throughout, while the excellent, highly melodic chorus hypnotizes the listener in an instant. The dynamic transition out of the intro section, driven by a mighty riff, is especially cleverly pulled off, while the instrumental break, with its many electronic samples and Bairnson’s superb guitar soloing, is one of the peaks of prog rock experimental extravagance.
On the ethereal ballad “Time”, the second radio hit, Eric Woolfson steps up as singer for the first time, and his falsetto over the orchestral backing creates a convincing, deeply romantic mood, which casts a slightly awkward shadow over Alan’s earlier stubbornness in refusing to put him in the vocal role. The run of great tracks continues with “I Don’t Wanna Go Home”, where pompous symphonic arrangements once again take the front seat, teamed up with playful guitar riffs. The lyrical magic comes, as always, from the excellent singing of Lenny “The Voice” Zakatek, who also brings a generous helping of soul to the song.
The ambient instrumental “The Gold Bug” references the famous story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe, whose legacy was the basis for the central concept of “Tales of Mystery and Imagination”, TAPP’s cult 1976 debut. The mood of the track swears by building strong drama, which it achieves with a prominent bass line, plenty of background vocal harmonies, waves of synth textures and jazzy rhythmic and woodwind touches. The first part of the title track features a baroque piano melody and the melancholic singing of Chris Rainbow (later of Camel), while mighty orchestration flows in the background.
“Snake Eyes” is another AOR treat with a tasty melody laid over funky rhythm patterns and a sultry chorus under the command of Chris Rainbow. Additional vocal harmonies in the backing crank up the hypnotic atmosphere, while bravura guitar passages bring in a bit of hard rock fire as well. The tarot-hinting “The Ace Of Swords” is yet another interesting baroque instrumental with lavish orchestration, lots of transitions and a pompous motif, featuring great interplay between guitar and keyboards.
On “Nothing Left to Lose”, which puts a gentle pastoral acoustic guitar melody and ethereal backing vocalizations front and center, Mr. Woolfson’s “angelic” voice shines again. Along the way they deftly work in a few wild harmonica solos. Especially interesting is the sudden shift into a hard rock section that kicks in after a reggae rhythm, plus the totally unexpected instrumental revival of the central “Snake Eyes” motif, led by a heroic guitar solo. The album closes in epic fashion with the second part of the title ballad, where melancholic Chris Rainbow and Bairnson shine again amid the orchestral splendor, with Bairnson treating listeners to one of his most fiery guitar solos. Compared to the first part, the pompous orchestral arrangements are much more prominent here, which goes a long way toward a majestic finish to the album.
“The Turn of a Friendly Card”, a conceptual masterpiece about gambling, kicked off the most creatively and commercially successful era in the story of the legendary project and handed TAPP’s two commanders a pair of big radio hits. On it, Alan and Eric’s perfectionist fusion of symphonic progressive rock and pop rock, backed by superb production, reached new dimensions and enjoyed one of its greatest triumphs. “The Turn of a Friendly Card” was followed by the even more successful album “Eye in the Sky” (1982), with its unforgettable title hit, which for many fans was the TAPP peak, but that’s a different story altogether.
Lineup
Alan Parsons – backing vocals, keyboards, effects, production
Eric Woolfson – vocals, keyboards
Ian Bairnson – guitar
David Paton – bass guitar
Stuart Elliott – drums, percussion
Elmer Gantry – vocals
Lenny Zakatek – vocals
Chris Rainbow – vocals
Andrew Powell – orchestra conductor
Production
Alan Parsons
Tracklist
1. May Be a Price to Pay
2. Games People Play
3. Time
4. I Don’t Wanna Go Home
5. The Gold Bug
6. The Turn of a Friendly Card (Part One)
7. Snake Eyes
8. The Ace of Swords
9. Nothing Left to Lose
10. The Turn of a Friendly Card (Part Two)
