The late seventies were a time in music where the wild experimentation of early progressive rock had largely left the scene, but the mass market glam rock style had not yet caught on. The Alan Parsons Project’s core catalogue is of this era, and “don’t let it show”, featuring Dave Townsend on vocals is quintessential APP.
It starts with a churchy organ, with slightly contrapuntal arrangement.
In comes Townsend with an exaggerated vocal. Shrouded in reverb, it feels like
we are in some empty chapel. Progressively more organ stops are added on. I
initially thought these were trumpets. Goes to show how many unique sounds the
organ has. I could have sworn the top countermelody was a baroque trumpet.
Maybe the lesson is even if you’ve listened to a song a hundred times, you
notice new details every time
The drums herald the refrain of “don’t let it show” followed
by a 2-part flute harmony. Back into the verse we have soppy strings with a defined
bassline helping to drag the song along. The wide reverb stays but loses some
of the effect with the full band.
As the verse progresses, Townsends vocal is double tracked,
and all hesitance is removed from the tone as it builds up with rising strings and
falling drums. Then comes the refrain. What a musical triumph! We hear a
snippet of the organ, then the flutes take over leading into a muted brass
chord. We haven’t heard much brass until this point.
We are thrown into a typical Alan Parson’s Project groove. It
escalates as more instruments are added. It’s a cool vibe, but it doesn’t really
go anywhere, instead fading out. I feel like this could have led into another
song. I guess the timps were cool though.
As for the lyrical content, I don’t know what the hell is
going on.
Final Rating: 7/10
Comparative Ranking List
1. Dear Prudence: 10/10
2. Rachmaninov Prelude in G (Original): 9/10
3. Hollywood Heart: 8/10
4. Make It Easy on Yourself 8/10
5. Another Day in America: 8/10
6. Don’t Let it Show
7. It’s Your Move (Parkinson) 7/10
8. It’s Your Move (Vaporwave Version) 7/10
9. It’s Your Move (Ross) 7/10
10. Don’t Lead Me On 7/10
11. Rachmaninov Prelude in G (VSO): 5/10
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