Standing on Higher Ground

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"Standing on Higher Ground"
Standing On Higher Ground The Alan Parsons Project.jpg
Single by The Alan Parsons Project
from the album Gaudi
B-side "Paseo De Gracia (Instrumental)"
ReleasedFebruary 1987
RecordedOctober 1985 – August 1986
Studio The Grange
Mayfair Studios
Length5:03 (original)
5:48 (2008 remaster)
Label Arista
Songwriters Eric Woolfson, Alan Parsons
Producer Alan Parsons
The Alan Parsons Project singles chronology
"Limelight"
(1986)		"Standing on Higher Ground"
(1987)

"Standing on Higher Ground" is a song by the British progressive rock band The Alan Parsons Project from their 1986 album Gaudi , where it was included as the fourth track on the album. It was written by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson and features Geoff Barradale on lead vocals. "Standing on Higher Ground" was released as a single in 1987 and reached No. 3 on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.

Contents

Background

During the making of "Standing on Higher Ground", Woolfson recorded a lead vocal from an unused song from the Gaudi recording sessions titled "Losing Proposition" that was imposed on the backing track of "Standing on Higher Ground". Parsons commented that Woolfson "was trying an experiment by mirroring Gaudi's own approach which was to have, in many cases, different themes intertwined in a complex pattern." A version of this recording, which also featured unused ad libbed vocals from Barradale was included on the remastered edition of Gaudi. Barradale's ad libbed vocals were ultimately replaced with multi-tracked vocal harmonies from Chris Rainbow. [1]

"Standing on Higher Ground" was serviced to album oriented rock radio stations in January 1987 with 72 adds in its first week, making it the second most added song in that format according to Radio & Records . [2] During the week of 16 January 1987, 77 percent of album oriented rock radio stations reporting to Radio & Records had included the song in their playlists. [3] The song reached its peak position of No. 3 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart during the week of 21 February 1987 and spent a total of 12 weeks on the listing. [4]

The song was listed as having ""significant action" on US adult contemporary radio stations by Radio & Records for the week dated 13 February 1987. [5] By the end of the month, the song had crossed over to contemporary hit radio. [6] Billboard called "Standing on Higher Ground" "a dreamy but energetic production number". [7] Cashbox thought that the song demonstrated the "distinctively forward-looking vision" of The Alan Parsons Project with its "persistent rhythm, high-tech sonics [and] Parson's production wizardry". They called it a "well-crafted song" and predicted that it would be "a big hit". [8]

A music video for "Standing on Higher Ground" was filmed in Los Angeles to promote the release of the single. [9] The video was directed by Jon Small and produced by Picture Vision and depicts a video editor envisioning himself within the scenes that he is editing. [10] The video received rotation on MTV, where it was listed as a "sneak preview video". [11]

Personnel

Chart performance

Chart (1987)Peak
position
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [4] 3

References

  1. ↑ Gaudi (remastered) (Liner Notes). United States: Arista Records. 2008. 82876838632.
  2. ↑ "Radio & Records National Airplay | AOR Tracks" (PDF). Radio & Records . 9 January 1987. p. 79. Retrieved 11 November 2025– via World Radio History.
  3. ↑ "Radio & Records National Airplay | AOR Tracks" (PDF). Radio & Records . 16 January 1987. p. 77. Retrieved 11 November 2025– via World Radio History.
  4. 1 2 "Alan Parsons Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  5. ↑ "Radio & Records National Airplay | Adult Contemporary" (PDF). Radio & Records . 13 February 1987. p. 66. Retrieved 11 November 2025– via World Radio History.
  6. ↑ "Radio & Records National Airplay | Contemporary Hit Radio" (PDF). Radio & Records . 27 February 1987. p. 94. Retrieved 11 November 2025– via World Radio History.
  7. ↑ "Reviews" (PDF). Billboard . 21 February 1987. p. 81. Retrieved 11 November 2025– via World Radio History.
  8. ↑ "Single Releases" (PDF). Casbox . 21 February 1987. p. 11. Retrieved 11 November 2025– via World Radio History.
  9. ↑ "Video Track" (PDF). Billboard . 7 February 1987. p. 46. Retrieved 11 November 2025– via World Radio History.
  10. ↑ "Video Track" (PDF). Billboard . 14 February 1987. p. 51. Retrieved 11 November 2025– via World Radio History.
  11. ↑ "MTV Programming" (PDF). Billboard . 28 February 1987. p. 54. Retrieved 11 November 2025– via World Radio History.
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