Pyramid (The Alan Parsons Project album) explained

Pyramid
Type:	Album
Artist:	The Alan Parsons Project
Cover:	The Alan Parsons Project - Pyramid.jpg
Released:	May 1978
Recorded:	September 1977 – February 1978
Studio:	Abbey Road Studios, London, England
Length:	37:46
Label:	Arista
Producer:	Alan Parsons
Prev Title:	I Robot
Prev Year:	1977
Next Title:	Eve
Next Year:	1979

Pyramid (stylized as Pyr△mid) is the third album by progressive rock band The Alan Parsons Project, released in May 1978.^[1] It is a concept album centred on the pyramids of Giza. At the time the album was conceived, interest in pyramid power and Tutankhamun was widespread in the US and the UK.^[2] Pyramid was nominated for the 1978 Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.^[3] The book visible in the cover design is G. Patrick Flanagan – Pyramid Power: The Millennium Science (1973).^[4]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.

Bonus tracks

Pyramid was remastered and reissued in 2008 with the following bonus tracks:

10. "Voyager/What Goes Up/The Eagle Will Rise Again" (instrumental) – 8:55
11. "What Goes Up/Little Voice" (early version demo) – 4:07
12. "Can't Take It with You" (early version demo) – 1:45
13. "Hyper-Gamma-Spaces" (demo) – 2:21
14. "The Eagle Will Rise Again" (alternate version – backing track) – 3:20
15. "In the Lap of the Gods" (Part I – demo) – 3:14
16. "In the Lap of the Gods" (Part II – backing track rough mix) – 1:56

Bonus tracks details

• What Goes Up/Little Voice – Another song called, at the time, Little Voice was included in this demo but was not used in the final album.
• Can't Take It With You (early version demo) – Alan Parsons (unusually) played all the instruments.
• Hyper-Gamma Spaces – The name came from Eric Woolfson's brother Richard, whose Mathematics Doctoral Thesis carried the title Hyper-Gamma Spaces.
• The Eagle Will Rise Again (alternative version-backing track) – Intended as a Reprise Rock Band version demo attempt. This was abandoned as there was already enough material for the album.

Personnel

• David Paton – bass, vocals
• Stuart Elliott – drums, percussion
• Ian Bairnson – electric and acoustic guitars
• Eric Woolfson, Duncan Mackay – keyboards
• Dean Ford, Colin Blunstone, Lenny Zakatek, John Miles, Jack Harris – vocals
• Phil Kenzie – saxophone solos on "One More River"
• Choir: The English Chorale, Choirmaster: Bob Howes
• Produced and engineered by Alan Parsons
• Executive production: Eric Woolfson
• Arrangements: Andrew Powell
• Album cover design: Hipgnosis
• Photography Aubrey Powell / Rob Brimson
• Mastering: Chris Blair

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1978–1979)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)^[5]	16
Spanish Albums (AFE)^[6]	4

Year-end charts

Chart (1978)	Peak position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[7]	8
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[8]	18

Certifications and sales

!scope="row"|Worldwide||2,000,000+^[10] |-

References

• Pyramid, Alan Parsons Project. Arista Records AB 4180, 1978 (Vinyl LP)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Great Rock Discography. M.C. Strong. 1995. Edinburgh: Canongate. 616.
2. Web site: Pyramid. Alan Parsons Project Official Website.
3. Web site: Grammy nominations – Alan Parsons. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. 16 August 2019.
4. The Alan Parsons Project – Pyramid. CD Remaster liner notes (2008)
5. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 229.
6. Book: Salaverri, Fernando. Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002. Fundación Autor-SGAE. 2005. 84-8048-639-2.
7. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts. 1978. GfK Entertainment Charts. de. 2 April 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20211023100248/https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/album-jahr/for-date-1978. 23 October 2021.
8. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 1978 – The Official New Zealand Music Chart. Recorded Music New Zealand. 25 January 2022.
9. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts. German. GfK Entertainment. 14 June 2020.
10. Web site: Top Sales – Arista Records. Billboard. 27 January 1979. 19 September 2018.