Freudiana by Alan Parsons

Freudiana is a rock opera by Eric Woolfson. It was to be the 11th album by The Alan Parsons Project, but during its development, Eric Woolfson had creative differences with Alan Parsons. The production utilizes the Project's personnel as well as many guest vocalists. Alan Parsons later began his career as a solo artist with his 1993 album Try Anything Once, which was musically in a direction more or less continued from that of the Project's 1987's Gaudi. Woolfson hit upon the idea of researching the life and works of Sigmund Freud with a view to their musical potential after he finished Gaudi. He retraced Freud's footsteps and explored his realms through his homes in London and Vienna (both now museums), as well as literary sources including Freud's classic cases, whose real identities he concealed by use of names such as Wolfman, Ratman, Dora, Little Hans, and Schreber, the Judge. In addition, Freud's writings on his discovery of the 'unconscious', his well-known theories such as the Oedipus Complex, the 'Ego' and the 'Id' and perhaps his best known work, The Interpretation of Dreams all served as springboards for musical ideas. About halfway through the recording process, Woolfson was approached by Brian Brolly to develop the concept still further into a musical. With Brolly's help, Woolfson turned Freudiana into a stage musical. The musical had a successful run, and it was hoped that the show would open in other cities. Further plans were put on hold when a lawsuit broke out between Brolly and Woolfson, each fighting for control of the project. In the end, Brolly won, but the album remained attributed to Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons. This album was released in two versions: The "White Album" and the "Black Album". Additionally, while the "White Album" was originally released under the moniker "Freudiana" and not Eric Woolfson, Alan Parsons, nor the Alan Parsons Project, the first releases had "The Alan Parsons Project" at the top. The "White Album" was released in 1990 through EMI Records. It includes 18 tracks with lead vocal performances from Leo Sayer, Kiki Dee, Marti Webb, 10cc's Eric Stewart, Frankie Howerd, Gary Howard and The Flying Pickets, as well as previous Project vocalists Chris Rainbow, John Miles, Graham Dye, and Woolfson. Alan Parsons made musical contributions throughout the album as well as writing and producing, like he had with the Project albums. Howard would appear with Parsons' live band on Alan Parsons Live, and Stewart on Parsons' first two solo studio albums, Try Anything Once and On Air. The Deutsche Originalaufnahme ("German original recording"), also known as the "Black Album", features a double-length cast disc. It contains material from the rock opera. The Black album was the first album credited to Eric Woolfson as a solo artist. Freudiana gave Woolfson a taste of musical theatre and he chose to continue in that end of the business.