The latest album from Alan Parsons features most of his band plus assorted guests such as guitarist and singer Joe Bonamassa, Tommy Shaw of Styx, vocalist David Pack (Ambrosia), and vocalist James Durbin. This means we have nine lead singers across the 11 songs, and Bonamassa adds a guitar solo on a couple of the tracks. The burning question about this album can be boiled down to just one word, “Why?”. This is solid middle of the road stuff with no songs which can be said to be any more than that although a couple towards the end are even worse. Of course, it has been produced within an inch of its life, and of course the vocals are great throughout, but there is virtually nothing here to get anyone excited. I have been a fan of Alan’s work since I first came across ‘Tales Of Mystery And Imagination’ not long after it had been released. I was still at school then and was fully enamoured by the complexity of the arrangements and how it all fitted together. But, the big difference is that that was full of songs whereas this feels as if it has been put together by committee, with no-one having the final say.
It was pretty average (apart from the production) up to near the end, but then the last two songs just sank it. The only positive which can be said about the 100-year-old “Goin’ Home” is that it is way better than the version of The Ronettes' “Be My Baby”. This really is for fans only.
