The Turn of a Friendly Card

The Turn of a Friendly Card
Studio album by
the Alan Parsons Project
Released7 November 1980[1]
Recorded1979–1980
StudioAcousti Studio, Paris, France
GenreArt rock, progressive rock
Length40:25
LabelArista
ProducerAlan Parsons
The Alan Parsons Project chronology
Eve
(1979) 		The Turn of a Friendly Card
(1980) 		Eye in the Sky
(1982)
Singles from The Turn of a Friendly Card
  1. "The Turn of a Friendly Card"
    Released: October 1980 (UK)[2]
  2. "Games People Play"
    Released: November 1980 (US)
  3. "The Gold Bug"
    Released: November 1980 (EU)
  4. "Time"
    Released: April 1981
  5. "Snake Eyes"
    Released: October 1981
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Rolling Stone[4]

The Turn of a Friendly Card is the fifth studio album by the British progressive rock band the Alan Parsons Project, released in 1980 by Arista Records. The title piece, which appears on side 2 of the LP, is a 16-minute suite broken up into five tracks. The Turn of a Friendly Card spawned the hits "Games People Play" and "Time", the latter of which was Eric Woolfson's first lead vocal appearance. An edited version of the title piece combining the opening and ending parts of the suite was also released as a single along with an official video.

As with the band's previous albums, The Turn of a Friendly Card is a concept album with its theme focused on the gambling industry and the fate of gamblers, with more than one reference to Las Vegas (e.g. "there's a sign in the desert that lies to west" from the title piece). Musically, the album is more melodic and accessible than the band's previous work.

Up to this album, all Alan Parsons Project albums had been packaged in gatefold sleeves. Increasing budgetary constraints of record companies made The Turn of a Friendly Card the beginning of all subsequently released Alan Parsons Project albums to be single-sleeve packaged.[5]

The album was recorded in a record short time of two weeks in Paris. Usually the Alan Parsons Project would take many months to record an album.[6]

  1. ^ "Alan Parsons albums".
  2. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 26.
  3. ^ The Turn of a Friendly Card at AllMusic
  4. ^ "Album Reviews". Rolling Stone.
  5. ^ The Alan Parsons Project – The Turn of a Friendly Card CD album remaster liner notes (2008)
  6. ^ The Alan Parsons Project – The Turn of a Friendly Card. CD album remaster liner notes (2008)