Old and Wise – Greatest Hits cover

Old and Wise – Greatest Hits

Alan Parsons · 2004

114 min · 25 tracks · pop rock

Spotify Apple Music
Own it: Amazon eBay

Elevation

Our rating, out of 100 — and why.

AI-generated from five scored dimensions. An opinion, not a measurement.

63 /100
Foothills
Higher than 29% of albums we've rated

Strong melodic writing and carefully made recordings carry the selections, but the broad, discontinuous compilation sequence has little shape of its own.

What we noticed

  • “Sirius” runs directly into “Eye in the Sky,” then the sequence jumps between vocal songs and instrumentals such as “The Raven” and “Temporalia.”
  • “The Time Machine, Part 1” and “Part 2” are separated by ten tracks, so their linked suite does not shape the running order.
  • The 25-track selection moves from well-known early songs into later material including “Ignorance Is Bliss” and “Dr. Evil (edit),” without a clear album-length arc.
Composition 25% of the score
7/10

the writing — melody, harmony, structure, lyrics

Craft 20% of the score
8/10

production, performance, arrangement

Durability 25% of the score
6/10

whether it rewards returning to it

Distinctiveness 18% of the score
5/10

whether it sounds like itself

Sequencing 12% of the score
3/10

running order, pacing, length

Influence 5/10

Significant within its genre. Reported but not counted — how far a record travelled describes its reception rather than the record, and a newer release has had less time to travel than an older one.

Tracklist

Best experienced from track one — press play and let it unfold.

Disc 1

  • 1 Sirius 2:25
  • 2 Eye in the Sky 5:09
  • 3 Luciferama 5:04
  • 4 Old and Wise 5:02
  • 5 Psychobabble 5:30
  • 6 The Raven 5:58
  • 7 Time 5:11
  • 8 You’re Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned 4:27
  • 9 Prime Time 5:27
  • 10 Limelight 4:48
  • 11 Don’t Answer Me 4:28
  • 12 Standing on Higher Ground 5:29

Disc 2

  • 1 The Time Machine, Part 1 4:54
  • 2 Temporalia 1:00
  • 3 Out of the Blue 4:54
  • 4 Call Up 5:13
  • 5 Ignorance Is Bliss 6:45
  • 6 Rubber Universe 3:51
  • 7 The Call of the Wild 5:22
  • 8 No Future in the Past 4:45
  • 9 Press Rewind 4:20
  • 10 The Very Last Time 3:42
  • 11 Far Ago and Long Away 5:14
  • 12 The Time Machine, Part 2 1:48
  • 13 Dr. Evil (edit) 3:23

What to play next

A Valid Path
Listen next

A Valid Path

2004
The Time Machine
Go back to

The Time Machine

1999
Full Alan Parsons discography Where to start with Alan Parsons Artists like Alan Parsons Which Alan Parsons albums to start with
pop rock progressive rock

Reference: MusicBrainz · Wikidata