The Time Machine (Alan Parsons album)

The Time Machine
Studio album by Alan Parsons
Released	28 September 1999
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	51:50
Label
Producer	Alan Parsons
Alan Parsons chronology
On Air (1996) The Time Machine (1999) A Valid Path (2004)
Singles from The Time Machine
"Out of the Blue" Released: September 1999 (Germany and Spain only) "The Very Last Time" Released: 1999 (Europe only) "The Time Machine" Released: 2000 (Europe only)

Professional ratings

Review scores
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 (of the CD edition - the vinyl edition's credits are significantly different) go to Alan Parsons, except for one short and simple instrumental part on "Temporalia"; his relation to the album is almost exclusively as producer. The album lacks much of the rock edge of the previous albums up to and including On Air.

Concept[]

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, 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 Frank Close on the idea of the universe itself acting as a sort of time machine; this is an extract of "Equinox – The rubber Universe". "Press Rewind" ponders what he might do if he were able to reverse time, and change decisions he had made. "Out Of The Blue" relates to a time traveller from the future. "Call Up" is about travelling to the past and bringing back all the great people in history, to help change the world. "Ignorance Is Bliss" talks about how sad people are in comparison to ancient and simpler times, and the possibility of change for good to a simple way of life. "Rubber Universe" is related to the expansion of the universe.

"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 "She Moves Through the Fair". "No Future In The Past" talks about avoiding repeating past mistakes. "The Very Last Time" is a song about people that have gone and never been seen again. The song was written about Bairnson's recently deceased dog, Gemma. "Far Ago And Long Away" is a play on words, as in relativity space = time, so "far away" = "far ago" and "long ago" = "long away".

The album cover has several images related to time and popular time-travel icons, including a photography camera, a clock mechanism, a police box as a reference to the TARDIS in Doctor Who, a wormhole-like tunnel effect from the opening sequence, a DeLorean sports car referring to the Back to the Future series, and a child playing with a model ship from the Star Trek franchise.

Video Promo[]

The Video Promo of The Time Machine^[2] was completely made (3D modeling, animation and rendering) by Ben Liebrand and was released on September 1, 1999. The Video Promo includes two designs created by Storm Thorgerson (Hipgnosis UK) and translated by Ben Liebrand into a 3D composition. He made everything in 4 weeks time in Softimage_3D Extreme.

Track listing[]

1. "The Time Machine (Part 1)" (Stuart Elliott) Instrumental – 4:54
2. "Temporalia" (Parsons) Instrumental with narration by Professor Frank Close – 1:00
3. "Out of the Blue" (Bairnson) Lead Vocal Tony Hadley – 4:54
4. "Call Up" (Bairnson) Lead Vocal Neil Lockwood – 5:13
5. "Ignorance Is Bliss" (Bairnson) Lead Vocal Colin Blunstone  – 6:45
6. "Rubber Universe" (Bairnson) Instrumental – 3:52
7. "The Call of the Wild" (Bairnson) Lead Vocal Máire Brennan – 5:22
8. "No Future in the Past" (Elliott) Lead Vocal Neil Lockwood – 4:46
9. "Press Rewind" (Elliott) Lead Vocal Graham Dye – 4:20
10. "The Very Last Time" (Bairnson) Lead Vocal Beverley Craven – 3:42
11. "Far Ago And Long Away" (Bairnson) Instrumental – 5:14
12. "The Time Machine (Part 2)" (Elliott) Instrumental – 1:47

Bonus tracks

1. "Beginnings" – Instrumental – 4:31
2. "Dr. Evil" (edit) – Lead Vocal Mike Myers) – 3:23

On the Japanese release, "The Time Machine" is named "H.G. Force" (a reference to H.G. Wells).

"Dr. Evil" (edit) features the voice of Mike Myers from the second Austin Powers movie, The Spy Who Shagged Me, in which The Alan Parsons Project is mentioned. It is available on most releases which feature a bonus track. "Beginnings" is available only on the Japanese release.^[3]

Personnel[]

• Alan Parsons – acoustic guitars, keyboards, organ, composer, engineer, producer
• Ian Bairnson – keyboards, guitars, mandolin, saxophone, composer
• Stuart Elliott – keyboards, keyboard programming, drums, drum programming, percussions, orchestral arrangement, composer
• Richard Cottle – keyboards, additional keyboards
• Robyn Smith – keyboards, piano
• John Giblin – bass guitar
• Claire Orsler – viola
• Jackie Norrie, Julia Singleton – violin
• The Philharmonia Orchestra – orchestra
• Clio Gould – orchestra leader
• Andrew Powell – orchestral arrangement and direction
• Kathryn Tickell – bagpipes, Northumbrian pipes
• – melodeon
• Tony Hadley, , Colin Blunstone, Moya Brennan, Beverley Craven, Graham Dye, Chris Rainbow – lead vocals
• Chris Rainbow, Stuart Elliott – additional vocals
• Prof. Frank Close – narration on "Temporalia"

Charts[]

References[]

• Personnel: https://www.discogs.com/fr/Alan-Parsons-The-Time-Machine/release/492948