Earlier this year, Arista Legacy began reissuing the original Alan Parsons Project catalog in sparkling new remastered and expanded versions, beginning with I Robot and Eye In The Sky. As part of that same process, they will also release The Essential Alan Parsons Project, a two disc, career spanning, retrospective anthology on May 15.

Touted as the final, definitive word on the career of APP, this set essentially replaces earlier, less complete compilations like the The Best of The Alan Parsons Project. The main difference here is that the longer album tracks are represented right alongside the shorter radio hits.

For my money, the first three albums by the Alan Parsons Project remain their three best. As such, Tales Of Mystery And Imagination, I Robot, and Pyramid are everything someone looking to discover APP for the very first time really needs. But thats just my opinion. And you know what they say most opinions are like...

Even though it is also my opinion that on latter APP albums like Turn Of A Friendly Card and Eye In The Sky, the Alan Parsons Project traded in prog for pop, each of those latter day records still have their share of great moments. For example, before the instrumental "Sirius" from Eye In The Sky became standard music at professional sports events, it was still a damn good instrumental track in it's own right.

The other thing about the Alan Parsons Project is that whether you prefer the progressive rock of concept pieces like I Robot (as I do) or the poppier, more radio friendly fare of something like Eye In The Sky, there is simply no getting around the fact that these records are immaculately recorded, engineered, and produced. Hence the need for a single collection gathering all of the best, most essential tracks--rather than just the hit singles--together on one, or in this case on two discs.

Hardcore fans will no doubt still quibble over the choice of tracks actually included here. The exclusion of "Breakdown" from I Robot for example is a curious one. But for the most part, the folks at Arista Legacy got it right.