The Time Machine (Alan Parsons album)
The Time Machine | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 1999 | |||
Genre | Progressive rock | |||
Length | 51:50 | |||
Label | Miramar | |||
Producer | Alan Parsons | |||
Alan Parsons chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Time Machine | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Time Machine is the third solo album by English rock musician Alan Parsons.
While the sound of this album is similar to some of the soft, ethereal tracks by the Alan Parsons Project, none of the writing or performance credits in the sleeve notes go to Alan Parsons, except for one short and simple instrumental part on "Temporalia" (the other instrumentals were written by drummer Stuart Elliott and guitarist Ian Bairnson), the Japanese bonus track "Beginnings" which also features his voice, and organ on "No Future in the Past"; his relation to the album is almost exclusively as producer.
Concept
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2022) |
The themes of time, time travel, and memory of the past had been suggested by Parsons as subject matter for the second Alan Parsons Project album,[2] but writing partner Eric Woolfson favoured a purely futuristic theme of robotic beings eventually displacing the human race, which eventually resulted in the album I Robot.
"Temporalia" features a narration by professor
"The Call of the Wild" talks about a future when mankind will be one without any separation (ethnicities, faith, nations, etc.). The melody of this song is a variation of the traditional Irish folk song "
The album cover has several images related to time and popular time-travel icons, including a photography camera, a clock mechanism, a
Video promo
The video promo of "The Time Machine"[4] was completely made (3D modeling, animation and rendering) by Ben Liebrand and was released on 1 September 1999. It includes two designs created by Storm Thorgerson (Hipgnosis UK) and translated by Liebrand into a 3D composition. He made everything in four weeks using Softimage 3D Extreme.
Track listing
- "The Time Machine (Part 1)" (Stuart Elliott) – instrumental – 4:54
- "Temporalia" (Parsons) – instrumental with narration by Professor Frank Close – 1:00
- "Out of the Blue" (Bairnson) – lead vocal Tony Hadley – 4:54
- "Call Up" (Bairnson) – lead vocal Neil Lockwood – 5:13
- "Ignorance Is Bliss" (Bairnson) – lead vocal Colin Blunstone – 6:45
- "Rubber Universe" (Bairnson) – instrumental – 3:52
- "The Call of the Wild" (Bairnson) – lead vocal Máire Brennan– 5:22
- "No Future in the Past" (Elliott) – lead vocal Neil Lockwood – 4:46
- "Press Rewind" (Elliott) – lead vocal Graham Dye– 4:20
- "The Very Last Time" (Bairnson) – lead vocal Beverley Craven – 3:42
- "Far Ago and Long Away" (Bairnson) – instrumental – 5:14
- "The Time Machine (Part 2)" (Elliott) – instrumental – 1:47
Bonus tracks
- "Beginnings" (Elliott/Parsons) – instrumental with narration by Alan Parsons – 4:31
- "Dr. Evil" (edit) – instrumental with the voice of Mike Myers– 3:23
On the Japanese release, "The Time Machine" is named "H.G. Force" (a reference to
"Dr. Evil" (edit) is a remix of "The Time Machine" that features the voice of
Personnel
- Alan Parsons – keyboards, organ, composer, engineer, producer, narration on "Beginnings"
- Ian Bairnson – guitars, mandolin, bass, keyboards, saxophone, backing vocals, composer
- Stuart Elliott – drums, drum programming, percussion, keyboards, keyboard programming, orchestral arrangement, composer
- Richard Cottle – keyboards, additional keyboards
- Robyn Smith – keyboards, piano
- John Giblin – bass guitar
- Kathryn Tickell – bagpipes, Northumbrian pipes on "The Call of the Wild"
- Julian Sutton – melodeon on "The Call of the Wild"
- Claire Orsler – viola on "The Very Last Time"
- Jackie Norrie, Julia Singleton – violin on "The Very Last Time"
- The Philharmonia Orchestra– strings, brass, horns
- Clio Gould – orchestra leader
- Andrew Powell – orchestral arrangement and conductor
- Graham Dye, Chris Rainbow– lead vocals
- Chris Rainbow, Stuart Elliott – backing vocals
- Frank Close – narration on "Temporalia"
Charts
Chart (1999) | Peak position |
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Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[7] | 27 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[8] | 98 |
Chart (2021) | Peak position |
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German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9] | 29 |
References
- AllMusic
- ^ "Alan Parsons: "Ich gehöre noch nicht zu den Opfern ..." – laut.de – Interview". laut.de (in German). Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ "Ian Bairnson .com News The Ian Inquirer-1/21/01". ianbairnson.com. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ The Time Machine Liebrand.com (Retrieved 30 April 2021)
- ^ Alan Parsons – The Time Machine, retrieved 27 May 2022
- ^ "Alan Parsons – the Time Machine (1999, CD)". Discogs.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Alan Parsons – The Time Machine" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 16 July 2021.