Having heard all his albums at least twice through, I think my list would go something like this: 1) O Lucky Man! - What more needs to be said about this album than has already been said? A dazzling work. 2) Between Today & Yesterday - You can really feel the heart and soul he obviously poured into this one. Favorites: "Under the Sun," "Angel Eyes," "Dream of Delight" 3) Metropolitan Man - This one might actually be tied with BT&Y; it's just so much fun! Favorites: "Papers," "Mama Divine," "Sweet P" (probably my favorite Price song ever!) 4) Alan Price - Lots of catchy pop songs mixed with some more melancholy fair. Favorites: "I Wanna Dance," "Let Yourself Go" 5) England My England - Similar to AP, but slightly less memorable. Favorites: "This Ain't Your Lucky Day, "Citizens of the World Unite" 6) Rising Sun - Not bad at all, but most of it is standard Price. Favorites: Title track (though it can't hold a candle to the original Animals version), "Perfect Lady" 7) Shouts Across the Street - Alan's least interesting album. There's more of a variety of styles on display here, but not a whole lot of memorable tunes, I'm sorry to say. Favorites: "Leave It All To Me" if I had to pick one. Now, all of these ratings are in comparison to the rest of Price's work. NONE of these albums are bad by any means, but I judged them relative to one another, you know? (And true enough, I do not yet own his two Alan Price Set albums or "A Gigster's Life for Me," nor have I given much of a listen to "A Rock & Roll Night At the Royal Court." I'll rank them soon.) How about everybody else? What're your favorite Alan Price albums?
Sweet_Pea I just cannot choose any favourites. I listen to a CD several times and like all the songs. Then I play another one and get hooked on that. I don't have a favourite - or rather they are all my favourites. thumbs.gif
I'd agree with your first three, but I'd rate Shouts Across the Street a lot higher. I got it when it first came out, so I've been listening to it a long time, and it really holds up. "I Know When I've Had Enough" has really grown on me, and despite the cheesy sex-lounge arrangement, "Don't Stop" is hard for me to resist. Another later album, Based on a True Story would have to be in my top three, too. It's hard to find, Sweet P, but boy is it good. He brings a lot more jazz to his sound on that one, and it really works. A Gigster's Life For Me is also wonderful, I think, with Alan going back to his blues roots. I'd rank that ahead of Rising Sun and maybe even England, My England (sorry, but the disco tinges on Rising Sun are a problem for me -- I hated that era in music). I don't know the names of all the Alan Price Set albums, since many of the tracks from that period I first got to know through compilations. But I sure do love A Price On His Head, where Alan introduced so many of his Randy Newman covers.
I was fortunate to come across the two Alan Price CDs on Ebay (the ones with lots of bonus tracks!), "The Price to Play" and "A Price On His Head." I can't really put one above the other, they're both so similar, but that's not a bad thing at all! I wish I could find more of Alan Price's work post-Rising Sun, but it seems next to impossible to find it on CD!
Hi Sweet_P Good old ebay! I have managed to get several CDs from them that were not available elsewhere. Have you tried alanpriceonline ? I just did a check and find it actually links to Amazon when you click on your chosen CD so if you are lucky it will be available. Perhaps it's worth a try Although the website hasn't been updated since July 2008 I think the 'store' should still be working.
I liked all the albums of Alan, but my favorites are "Liberty" "England My England" "Rising Sun" and " and "Based On A True Story "
Recently I have also been listening a lot more to Alan's duet album with Rob Hoeke, Two of a Kind (now that I have my turntable working again) and I would rank it among my tops.
My favorite Alan Price album is the one I happen to be listening to at the time. Cheers! Tony Concatelli
