''The Essential Alan Parsons Project'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

released by English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

musician

Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Parsons was the sound engineer on albums including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and '' Let It Be'' (1970), Pink Floyd's ''The ...

and

the Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock music, rock duo formed in London in 1975. Its core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons, and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They shared w ...

on 6 February 2007.Alan Parson - The Essential Alan Parsons Project CD
at Target It was released through Sony BMG as part of ''The Essential'' album series. The album featured some of the band's best known songs as well as some rare tracks. ''The Essential Alan Parsons Project'' is a double-disc album that contains all the band's hits and some of their lesser-known songs, spanning their 10-year career. Disc 1 contains the hits and well-known songs, while Disc 2 contains the rarer and more obscure selections. The album includes songs from all their studio albums, from ''

Tales of Mystery and Imagination ''Tales of Mystery & Imagination'' (often rendered as ''Tales of Mystery and Imagination'') is a popular title for posthumous compilations of writings by American author, essayist and poet Edgar Allan Poe and was the first complete collection of ...

'' to '' Gaudi'', with the exception of the band's final album, ''

Freudiana ''Freudiana'' is a rock opera by Eric Woolfson. It was to be the 11th album by the Alan Parsons Project, but during its development, Woolfson had creative differences with Alan Parsons, causing the Project's split. With the two still workin ...

''. The album includes some of the band's biggest hits such as " Eye in the Sky", "

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

", "

I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" is a song by the British progressive rock band The Alan Parsons Project, featured on their 1977 album ''I Robot (album), I Robot''. Written by band leaders Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, "I Wouldn't Want to Be Li ...

" and " Games People Play", as well as some lesser-known songs such as "Paseo de Gracia".

Track listing

All songs written by

and

Eric Woolfson Eric Norman Woolfson (18 March 1945 – 2 December 2009) was a Scottish songwriter, lyricist, vocalist, executive producer, pianist, and co-creator of the band the Alan Parsons Project, who sold over 50 million albums worldwide. Woolfson also p ...

, except where noted.

Two-disc version

Three-disc version

Personnel

– production, engineering, composer *

– vocals, keyboards, composer, lyrics *

Ian Bairnson John "Ian" Bairnson (3 August 1953 – 7 April 2023) was a Scottish musician and member of Pilot and the Alan Parsons Project. He was a multi-instrumentalist, who played saxophone and keyboards, but mainly performed as a guitarist, which he pl ...

– guitars *

David Paton David Paton (; born 29 October 1949) is a Scottish bassist, guitarist and singer. He first achieved success in the mid-1970s as lead vocalist and bassist of Pilot, who scored hits with " Magic", "January", "Just a Smile" and "Call Me Round" b ...

– bass *

Stuart Tosh Stuart Mcbeath Tosh (born 26 September 1948) is a Scottish drummer, songwriter and vocalist. He recorded and toured with a succession of bands during the 1970s and 1980s, including Pilot, The Alan Parsons Project, 10cc, Camel, and Roger Daltre ...

– drums *

Lenny Zakatek Lenny Zakatek (born Lenny du Platel, 29 July 1947) is a British singer and musician. Born in Karachi just prior to it becoming a part of Pakistan, he has lived in London since the age of thirteen. Zakatek is best known for his work with the Bri ...

– vocals * Stuart Elliott – drums *

Chris Rainbow Christopher James Harley, known by the stage name Chris Rainbow (18 November 1946 – 22 February 2015), was a Scottish pop rock singer and musician whose songs "Give Me What I Cry For" and "Solid State Brain" were often played by British radio ...

– vocals *

Mel Collins Melvyn Desmond Collins (born 5 September 1947, Isle of Man) is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician. Collins has played in several progressive rock groups, having been a member of King Crimson on two occasions (the first from ...

– saxophone

Charts

Release history

Notes

References

The Alan Parsons Project albums 2007 greatest hits albums Albums produced by Alan Parsons Arista Records compilation albums Sony Music compilation albums Sony BMG compilation albums Legacy Recordings compilation albums Long stubs with short prose {{2000s-progressive-rock-album-stub