i have listened to the new album several times now, and it's much, much better than the musicals stuff. i remember a quote from long ago that eric had tired of "the drum and bass rock sound," or words to that effect. well, all i can say is that it got him as far as he's come, and it's still better than the showtune stuff of the last decade or so, even without alan producing and engineering.

the album sounds like a "finished demo" to me. it lacks the depth of an APP, musically, and (just as he points out in the liner notes) there are 2 or 3 tracks that alan would have rejected lyrically, as well. while i enjoy hearing eric sing his own songs, i believe alan was right to farm out most of the vocal duties, to others a bit more "polished."

i like 7 of the 10 tracks, those favourites being 'golden key,' 'nothing can change my mind,' 'any other day,' 'along the road together,' 'somewhere in the audience,' and 'immortal.' the best song, though, is 'i can see round corners.' it just evokes a sense of something that was left off of "pyramid," something young and naive. i can imagine the vocal harmonies that would make this song one of the best APP tracks ever!...

the others? well, i feared i wouldn't like 'rumour goin' round' from the moment i heard the skeleton track on "stereotomy." very weak lyrically and musically. 'steal your heart away,' ditto, but could be tolerable if the tempo and mood were a little less upbeat and poppish. and 'train to wuxi' doesn't work for me mostly cause eric's voice just doesn't suit the music. the "woo-woo" backing stuff he pulls off better than the lead stuff, and i must admit that i cringed physically the first couple of times i heard those "woo-woo's." again, maybe the track could be salvaged with a change of tempo, or made a little less upbeat? i don't know, i'm not a producer!

but overall, a very nice addition to the APP canon, just a notch below every other Project. (in an alternate universe scenario, as an APP, this album would be better than "eve," "vulture culture," and probably "stereotomy.") definitely a glimpse into what might have been. it makes me wonder if the split was over just such a project, i.e. that eric wanted to sing an entire album himself? perhaps he thought alan was not sensitive enough to the songwriter's plight, not being a songwriter himself, and is closer to being a critic or record company suit? we may never know...

but buy it! eric is still one of the greatest songwriters that i know of, even if i lament his decision to go it alone...

j e f f