Just listened to the new Alan Parsons album "A Valid Path" this afternoon, and was - for the first time I can remember with an AP album - surprised. I had read reviews indicating that it was different and (in general) a disappointment, but I have to disagree. It is very, very different in that it's very electronic, and it's hard to tell what sounds the songs are made up of, but what's even more different is that for the first time the entire album has a heartbeat. Generally Parsons albums are so organized and predictable that they are frankly really very boring, albeit very well done. Not here - instead of being a mid-size four door sedan, this thing is a convertible - with an engine that won't quit.
This one sounds a lot - and I mean a lot - like someone intercepted the album and got someone else to do a cover of it for a dance floor mix. Seriously - there are two songs that are essentially remakes of previous AP, "Mammagamma 04" and "A Recurring Dream Within a Dream" and in my humble opinion, both are improvements over the originals - or at least remakes that I like listening to. They're witty and original - they may sound like a dance mix, but the comparison is inexact, because they vary constantly - they aren't simply songs set to a dance beat. They vary constantly, so you're constantly surprised by small changes - when was the last time you thought that of AP albums?
The album is heavy on instrumentals, but that's good - they just flat rock. And you won't have any trouble keeping them separate from prior AP instrumentals - they sound like dance floor mixes. The vocal pieces aren't classics, by any means, but they bounce along and are actually fun to listen to. And, above all else, they aren't formulaic. I had read several reviews that thought the lyrics were pretty lame, but I didn't have any problem with them. The songs were a lot looser than usual, but I didn't find the lyrics banal, as I'd been told.
All in all, a very surprising album that I'm looking forward to doing a lot of listening to.