2/5 dull
  by madls (Australia)
Not the best Alan Parsons Project album. Dull, repetitive, particularly the title track and the reprise. Stick to the earlier work.

5/5 nostalgia
  by D. Colvin
I bought the cassette tape when it first came out (I could take it in my car!!!whoohoo!!!) Of course, as with cassettes, it was, alas, not very durable. Besides the fact the ones you really liked wore out completely, they also tended to stretch, flip over, melt, etc. I purchased the CD from Amazon, it was great! Then some jerk broke into my house and made off with about 30 CD's including this one and Edgar Allen Poe. I've repurchased the Poe(which I have on original vinyl also) but have yet to re-buy this. It is on the list. My favorite song is Limelight, but Stereotomy is right up there.

4/5 Blasting the Sterotomy Speakers
  by Tim Brough (Springfield, PA United States)
After a series of albums that seemed to go softer and softer, The Alan Parsons Project plunged back into rock with their 9th album. "Stereotomy" broke tradition in several ways; an APP album that doesn't open with an instrumental, no Eric Woolfson solo vocal and the first APP album to be recorded digitally. The old DDD code on the CD made some of us squeamish with joy, as the early Parson's CD's were almost stereo soundtest quality, especially I Robot and Eye in the Sky. Parsons even had a notorious lawsuit against Arista at the time, claiming that his CD's were outselling any other Arista catalog artist and therefore, he wanted his contract and royalties renegotiated along with more artistic freedom. (Google Parsons and "The "Sicilian Defence" for more.)

It was into this new sonic world that "Stereotomy" was unleashed, and it was a pure sonic blast. The shear aggression of John Miles' voice on the title track was a harder rock that probably anything the APP had done before. The sound of 80's synths pulsed through the title track and "Beaujolais," and the trademark instrumental sound of "Where is The Walrus" and "Urbania" just popped from the speakers. In short, "Stereotomy" was the most insistent APP album since The Turn of a Friendly Card.

Sadly, the public had sort of moved on by now and "Stereotomy" met with a middling reception. It's too bad, because there are multiple excellent songs here, and a near-perfect ballad sung by Procol Harum's Gary Brooker ("Limelight'). The original album and CD had a fun multi-color slip-sleeve that was fun to toy with (not on this version, sigh). The remaster is even better than the original CD, enhancing the lower-end considerably and sounding great on a surround system. It's been out of my collection for a few years, but "Stereotomy" is back, and better than ever.

5/5 Great album
  by Focused Frenzy (Salt Lake City, Utah USA)
Stereotomy is a great album. Title track is one of the Project's best moments period and the rest flows nicely along. Whole album has a much different feel than any of the other albums, which makes it stand out nicely after all these years. Bonus track "Rumour Goin' Round" is a nice rocking instrumental. Remaster sounds crisp and powerful. Highly recommended for fans that don't want all APP songs to sound like "The Same Old Sun" or other Woolfson-sung soft rock ballads.

5/5 Alan Parsons' near-favorite Project, second only to "Tales"
  by Parrish A. Highley (Highland, CA, USA)
Even for the ardent fan of The Project, the virtues of Stereotomy may not be as readily accessible as their earlier releases. While the preceeding two albums had a somewhat softer feel as well as the gentleness of Eric Woolfson's lead vocals throughout, Alan took the ninth project in a distinctly differenent direction. Lee Abrams, a prominent spoken word contributor to their previous album Vulture Culture, complained of the direction their recent work had taken by exclaiming, "Where's The Walrus?" Thus was born the title to one of the finest group efforts The Project has ever performed, one that earned them yet another Grammy nomination.

For those fans who took a liking to the softer approach with Eric Woolfson's lead vocals, Stereotomy may have been a bit of a shock. While Stereotomy, In The Real World, and Where's The Walrus? (Instrumental) all had a harder edge, each also deserves a close listening, especially the former and the latter which are laden with ornate and ambient depth. Not to mention it was here that John Miles made his triumphant return to The Project after last appearing six years prior on PYRAMID. However, it should also be noted that the softer side of The Project was alive and well in songs like Light Of The World, Chinese Whispers, and the astounding Limelight featuring the earthy vocals of Procol Harem's Gary Brooker.

This new remaster has a warmth that, while present on the original vinyl, was quite lacking on the original compact disc released by Arista. Of the bonus material, the two standout tracks are the pre-vocal versions of Light Of The World (Instrumental) and the newly discovered Rumour Goin' Round (Demo) which was dropped from the original song cycle of the album.

My personal view parallels those of both Alan and Lee Abrams: this departure from the softer approach of Ammonia Avenue and Vulture Culture, while good albums in their own right, was well overdue. As much as I hate to admit it, The Project had become a little too conventional by the mid-eighties. Stereotomy, on the other hand, is anything but conventional.