Time Fades Away

The Breathtaking Blue was a somewhat disappointing follow-up to Alphaville's early-1980s records Forever Young and Afternoons in Utopia. It lacked the shimmering standout quality of songs like "Big in Japan," "Forever Young" and "Afternoons in Utopia." The production, by Klaus Schulze and Alphaville, experiments with a somewhat richer instrumentation, adding strings, saxaphone, trumpet, double bass, electric and even acoustic guitars to Bernhard Lloyd's synthesizers. This strategy is met with mixed success. The lush production only serves to muddy "The Mysteries of Love," which might have been one of the album's better tracks had the songwriting been valued above the somewhat ostentatious arrangement. But the slinky bass and restrained sax ornamentation make the mildly jazzy "Heaven or Hell" one of the album's more interesting efforts. And "For a Million" is about as genuine as the band gets, thanks to the attractive minor-key melody and the surprising piano and acoustic guitar solos.

Alphaville’s third studio album “The Breathtaking Blue” (1989) introduced new musical elements and a musical concept, added electronic pioneer Klaus Schulze to the production team and embraced emerging technology (including one of the first CD-Graphic releases ever). In addition to the well-produced songs such as the single “Romeos,” the album included the visually stunning and innovative film “Songlines” where nine directors did short movies inspired by one of the album tracks. Later renamed as “Balance,” the short film for the song “Middle of the Riddle” won an Academy Award for “Best Animated Short Film” the following year.

Eleven-time Grammy nominated legendary music icon and master of progressive rock, Alan Parsons return with a new album, “The Secret” on April 19, 2019. Alan’s longtime hobby has been performing magic and this brand new album showcases his own passion for the craft, hence the title “The Secret.” The album will see a return to the pop rock sound with symphonic and progressive rock interludes which the Alan Parsons Project was known for. European Deluxe Edition CD/DVD. DVD includes Stereo Hi Definition Mix, 5.1 Surround Audio Mix and Dolby Digital Stereo. Comes in a three panel Digipak style case with 2 clear media trays on the left and on the right panel. The 16 pages colored booklet is placed in a cardboard slot in the center panel.

On Gary Hoey's American Made, the guitarist's talent is once again confirmed as he tackles everything from blues to prog rock to metal. He has the most success when he lets his guitar do his talking for him, not because his voice is unpleasant; on the contrary, Hoey can master multiple styles vocally, but his guitar playing trumps his other talents (especially on "Gonzo Guru") and really deserves center stage. Hoey gives an edge to the Tom Cochrane and Red Rider one-time minor progressive rock hit "Lunatic Fringe" and takes his solos to beautiful new levels on the instrumental tracks, "Tribal Mania" and "The Deep."