PILOT – A Pilot Project [Japan release +1]

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As you may know, Scottish act PILOT was the core of what would be the stable band for The Alan Parsons Project. Pilot released 3 albums as band during the seventies, but bass player / vocalist David Paton and guitarist Ian Bairnson are famous for becoming members of the Alan Parsons Project.
Now Paton, Bairnson, and drummer Stuart Tosh have reunited as Pilot again to record “A Pilot Project” (APP), which pays homage to Alan Parsons partner, the late Eric Woolfson, putting their own spin on his classic tunes.

Since the beginning of The Alan Parsons Project, David Paton brought his distinctive bass playing and vocals and Ian his melodic guitar licks and imaginative, smooth solos to the Project.
These contributions, when coupled with the rich harmonies of Chris Rainbow, lush arrangements of Andrew Powell, skillful songwriting of Eric Woolfson, and superb production of Alan Parsons created the unique Alan Parsons Project sound that fans all over the world would come to love.

With “A Pilot Project”, Pilot has taken Alan Parsons Project classic tunes interpreted and played in a new way by the band. Some things should sound familiar as Paton sung on the original tracks as ‘What Goes Up’, ‘Children of the Moon’, and ‘Let’s Talk about Me’, and Ian adding his inspirational guitar sound throughout.
But Pilot added few twists from Paton’s production and re-interpretation of classic tunes originally sung by Eric, Lenny Zakatek, Colin Blunstone on the APP.

As example, Pilot’s version o “Games People Play” is more lively and even better that the original, and “Turn of a Friendly Card” is also very good. “Old and Wise” concludes the album and is slightly different, just lacks Colin Blunstone’s haunting voice but on the other hand Patton’s provides more melody to the verses. And I like it.
The drums and bass have more punch than the original Alan Parsons recordings, and the orchestral arrangements are gone, replaced by more elaborated fills in the background.

Available at Pilot’s website right now (this is taken from last year’s Japanese only release featuring a bonus track) “A Pilot Project” is a no-brainer for The Alan Parsons Project fans, and a palatable dish of first class tunes for any true music lover out there.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Nice Folks / Air Mail Records Japan ~ DAKAIRNF-15

01 – Sirius
02 – Eye in the Sky
03 – Children of the Moon
04 – What Goes Up
05 – You Can’t Take It with You
06 – Breakdown
07 – Dancing on a Highwire
08 – Lets Talk About Me
09 – Prime Time
10 – Games People Play
11 – The Turn of a Friendly Card Part 1
12 – Snake Eyes
13 – Nothing Left to Lose
14 – Old and Wise
15 – Dancing on a Highwire (Unplugged) *
* Japanese bonus track

David Paton (vocals, bass)
Ian Bairnson (electric guitar)
Stuart Tosh (drums)
Kenny Hutchison (keyboards, vocals)
Calais Brown (guitar, vocals)

BUY IT !
apilotproject.com/buycd.htm
www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/DAKAIRNF-15
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