The Alan Parsons Project – Pyramid (Sessions)

The Alan Parsons Project - PyramidThe Alan Parsons Project releases Pyramid (Sessions), a comprehensive selection of session recordings and early versions of the songs that became the group’s 1978 album Pyramid. The material previously featured on a multi-disc physical release in 2024 and is now getting a separate digital release. Read more

Order this CDIn 2024, the Alan Parsons Project continued its current stretch of drilling deep into the archives to re-release another classic ’70s album with an abundance of bonus tracks, but when they reached my personal favorite Project album, Pyramid, there was apparently enough bonus material to justify a lavish box set with entire extra albums worth of material, a booklet to contextualize it all, and reproductions of the vintage marketing material that heralded Pyramid’s arrival in record stores (and, hopefully, the charts). Another thing that happened in 2024 was that freelance work thinned out so much that there was basically no way in hell I could afford to do anything more than gaze lovingly at the product shots of this limited edition vinyl-plus-CDs treasure box as it whooshed past me into the out-of-print collectible category.

The waiting for the “Sessions” release began – and it turned into quite the lengthy wait. Initiated alongside other classic Project album re-releases from the past decade, the “Sessions” release is a digital bonus album comprised of the bonus material from the original album of the same name – i.e. Eye In The Sky (Sessions), I Robot (Sessions), and so on. I’ve had a hard time deciding if it’s a nice way to make sure the bonus material that had been extra tracks on a past CD re-releases was still available, or if it was a calculated, cynical move to keep the Project’s hands in my wallet. Maybe it was a bit of both. In some cases, looking at the track lists confirmed that it was bonus material I already had from the Legacy reissues earlier this century (a phrase that makes me feel as old as, well, the pyramids). But Pyramid (Sessions) had far more material than the Legacy CD pressing – three hours more – and the wealth of material had a price tag to match, despite being a digital-only release. Maybe not as spendy as the box set I’d missed, but I’m sure Parsons and the Woolfson estate are able to each buy a pizza every time someone buys this collection.

Is it worth it? The answer to that question may vary, but it hinges on how into Pyramid you were. For whatever reason, more work-in-progress and songwriting-development material from Pyramid seems to have survived to form an extended-length release like this, so even more than past albums’ bonus materials or “Sessions” releases, a step-by-step (little by little!) picture of each song’s evolution can be heard. Some songs are split into versions with very individualized focus – just the choral overdubs for one, just the string overdubs for another, just the backing vocals for another, and usually at least some of the isolated lead vocals or unused takes thereof. It’s a selection of material that almost dares you to reassemble the song in a different way than what was released. There are also spoken word tracks, including vintage recordings of both Alan Parsons and the group’s songwriter-in-residence, Eric Woolfson, providing material that is an audio forerunner of DVD directors’ commentaries.

Things that are illuminated along the way: songs are initiated here, in their most basic forms, that would take time to cook, later appearing on Eye In The Sky and The Turn Of A Friendly Card. As is often discovered in the bonus tracks emerging from the late Eric Woolfson’s estate, even the most dramatic, hard-edged Project songs frequently emerge from Woolfson sitting at a piano, sketching out ideas whose earliest drafts sound like they’re being developed for a stage musical. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Parsons himself – who, despite being the band’s de facto frontman but was in reality primarily the producer guiding the group’s sound – was a contender for the lead vocals on Shadow Of A Lonely Man, an assignment for which he seems to have had the range, but perhaps not the expressiveness. Absent the documentation that graced the much more expensive physical box set, it’s fascinating to ponder the implications of that recording, labeled an “experimental vocal”. Was there pressure from Arista Records for the namesake of the band to be more of a performing presence?

3 out of 4Provided you’re already steeped in the Project’s backstory and in the songs that came from these sessions, Pyramid (Sessions) can be a fascinating listen. But at over three hours, even for a seasoned fan eager to partake of the aural archaeology on display here, it’s definitely not an all-in-one-sitting listen, because that entails hearing the same song go through multiple permutations. Even if you love these songs – and I do – that’s a listening exercise that can wear on you. Pick one song, explore its evolution, and put the rest on the shelf for another day; rinse and repeat. It’s fascinating stuff to hear, especially interspersed with such treats as the strangely staid vintage radio commercials for the album, but you’d better really, really like Pyramid going in.

  1. Voyager / What Goes Up / The Eagle Will Rise Again (Instrumental Version) (08:56)
  2. Voyager (Backing Track Out Take) (00:47)
  3. Voyager (Early Stage) (01:10)
  4. Voyager (Vocal experiment) (01:59)
  5. Voyager (Light Relief Jam) (00:15)
  6. Voyager (Early Mix) (04:29)
  7. Voyager (John Leach Kantele Take) (05:08)
  8. Little Voice / What Goes Up (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (05:45)
  9. What Goes Up / Little Voice (Early Version Demo) (04:09)
  10. What Goes Up / Little Voice (Demo) (03:49)
  11. What Goes Up (Dean Ford Vocal Take) (02:51)
  12. What Goes Up (Isolated Choir Take) (02:24)
  13. What Goes Up (Early Rough Mix) (03:37)
  14. What Goes Up (Choir) (01:11)
  15. The Eagle Will Rise Again (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (05:13)
  16. The Eagle Will Rise Again (Alternative Version Backing Track) (03:21)
  17. The Eagle Will Rise Again (Colin Blunstone Vocal Take Excerpts) (14:06)
  18. The Eagle Will Rise Again (Rough Mix Backing Track) (04:07)
  19. The Eagle Will Rise Again (Rough Mix Of Track & Backing Vocals) (02:17)
  20. The Eagle Will Rise Again (Orchestral Strings) (01:18)
  21. One More River (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (03:13)
  22. One More River (Intro Takes) (00:53)
  23. One More River (Lenny Zakatek Lead Vocal Takes) (05:54)
  24. One More River (Lenny Zakatek Vocal Gymnastic Takes) (02:56)
  25. One More River (Experimental Break) (00:34)
  26. Can’t Take It With You (Early Version Demo) (01:44)
  27. Can’t Take It With You (Rough Mix) (04:51)
  28. In The Lap of the Gods (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (05:28)
  29. In The Lap of the Gods Part 1 (Demo) (03:15)
  30. In The Lap of the Gods Part 2 (Backing Track Rough Mix) (01:57)
  31. In The Lap of the Gods (John Leach Cimbalom Takes) (04:30)
  32. In The Lap of the Gods (Choir Takes) (06:16)
  33. In The Lap of the Gods (Backing Track Takes) (04:04)
  34. In The Lap of the Gods (Orchestral Strings) (03:10)
  35. In The Lap of the Gods (Hail To The King Choir) (01:16)
  36. Pyramania (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (02:55)
  37. Broken / Pyramania (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (05:28)
  38. Hyper-Gamma-Spaces (Demo) (02:22)
  39. Hyper-Gamma-Spaces (Projectron) (01:05)
  40. Shadow of a Lonely Man (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (06:13)
  41. Shadow of a Lonely Man (Eric Woolfson’s Piano Take) (01:27)
  42. Shadow of a Lonely Man (Alan Parsons’ Experimental Vocal) (04:36)
  43. Shadow of a Lonely Man (Eric Woolfson’s Vocal) (04:31)
  44. Shadow of a Lonely Man (Orchestral Woodwind) (02:47)
  45. Shadow of a Lonely Man (Olive Simpson Backing Vocals) (00:45)
  46. Pyramid Instrumental (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (00:53)
  47. Pyramid Clavichord (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (01:13)
  48. Pyramid Structure Talking (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (00:44)
  49. Pyramid US Radio Advert 1 (01:03)
  50. Pyramid US Radio Advert 2 (01:04)
  51. Pyramid Bob Harris Cinema Playback Introduction (01:55)
  52. Pyramid Audio Guide Alan Parson Commentary (01:55)
  53. Pyramid Audio Guide Eric Woolfson Commentary 1 (03:18)
  54. Pyramid Audio Guide Eric Woolfson Commentary 2 (04:42)
  55. Start of writing Gemini for Eye in the Sky (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (02:11)
  56. Start of writing Nothing Left to Lose for TOFC (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (02:16)
  57. Start of writing Snake Eyes for TOFC (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (01:01)
  58. Little Voice (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (04:27)
  59. Broken (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (03:03)
  60. On It Goes (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (00:33)
  61. Open Your Eyes (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (01:16)
  62. If I Could Do It All Again (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (01:20)
  63. We Can Do It (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (03:16)
  64. Taking It All Away (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (01:36)
  65. Elsie’s Theme (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (02:32)
  66. Hazel’s Theme (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (02:28)
  67. My Name Is Lorna (Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diary) (03:12)

Released by: Cooking Vinyl
Release date: May 29, 2026
Total running time: 3:24:59

2026 music review by Earl Green