The Alan Parsons Project EYE IN THE SKY 180 gram Half-Speed Mastered MINT

$

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The Alan Parsons Project EYE IN THE SKY 180 gram Half-Speed Mastered MINT

Label:

Cooking Vinyl – COOKLP845

Format:

Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Half-Speed Mastered, Stereo, 180 gram

Country:

UK, Europe & US

Released:

2022

Genre:

Rock

Style:

Prog Rock, Symphonic Rock, Art Rock
Tracklist: A1 Sirius (Instrumental) 1:48 A2 Eye In The Sky Lead Vocals – Eric Woolfson 4:33 A3 Children Of The Moon Lead Vocals – David Paton 4:49 A4 Gemini Lead Vocals – Chris Rainbow 2:09 A5 Silence And I Lead Vocals – Eric Woolfson 7:17 B1 You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned Lead Vocals – Lenny Zakatek 4:19 B2 Psychobabble Lead Vocals – Elmer Gantry 4:50 B3 Mammagamma (Instrumental) 3:34 B4 Step By Step Lead Vocals – Lenny Zakatek 3:52 B5 Old And Wise Lead Vocals – Colin Blunstone 4:52

• Recorded At – Abbey Road Studios
• Mixed At – Abbey Road Studios
• Half-Speed Mastered At – Abbey Road Studios
• Lacquer Cut At – Abbey Road Studios
• Manufactured By – Cooking Vinyl

• Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Ian Bairnson
• Arranged By [Orchestra, Choir], Conductor [Orchestra, Choir] – Andrew Powell
• Bass – David Paton
• Chorus Master – Bob Howes
• Drums, Percussion – Stuart Elliot*
• Keyboards, Written-By – Eric Woolfson
• Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programmed By [Fairlight], Written-By – Alan Parsons
• Saxophone – Mel Collins
• Vocals – The English Chorale
• Half-Speed Mastered By – Miles Showell

- Limited Edition 180gm heavyweight vinyl LP
- Featuring a half speed remaster by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios

© The Alan Parsons Project 2022

• Matrix / Label (Side A): COOKLP-845
• Matrix / Label (Side B): COOKLP-845
• Matrix / Runout (Side A): MILES.ABBEYROAD1/2SPEED.ROOM30 243051E1 1230776
• Matrix / Runout (Side B): MILES.ABBEYROAD1/2SPEED.ROOM30 243051E2 1229310

     Eye in the Sky provided the Alan Parsons Project with their first Top Ten hit since 1977's I Robot, and it's hard not to feel that crossover success was one of the driving forces behind this album. The Project never shied away from hooks, whether it was on the tense white funk of "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" or the gleaming pop hooks of "Games People Play," but Eye in the Sky was soft and smooth, so smooth that it was easy to ignore that the narrator of the title track was an ominous omniscient who spied either on his lover or his populace, depending on how deeply you wanted to delve into the concepts of this album. And, unlike I Robot or The Turn of a Friendly Card, it is possible to listen to Eye in the Sky and not dwell on the larger themes, since they're used as a foundation, not pushed to center stage. What does dominate is the lushness of sound, the sweetness of melody: this is a soft rock album through and through, one that's about melodic hooks and texture. In the case of the spacy opening salvo "Sirius," later heard on sports talk shows across America, or "Mammagamma," it was all texture, as these instrumentals set the trippy yet warm mood that the pop songs sustained. And the real difference with Eye in the Sky is that, with the exception of those instrumentals and the galloping suite "Silence and I," all the artiness was part of the idea of this album was pushed into the lyrics, so the album plays as soft pop album -- and a very, very good one at that. Perhaps nothing is quite as exquisite as the title song, yet "Children of the Moon" has a sprightly gait (not all that dissimilar from Kenny Loggins' "Heart to Heart"), "Psychobabble" has a bright propulsive edge (not all that dissimilar from 10cc), and "Gemini" is the project at its dreamiest. It all adds up to arguably the most consistent Alan Parsons Project album -- perhaps not in terms of concept, but in terms of music they never were as satisfying as they were here. Allmusic
     Worth it for the opening cut alone. Remember the Chicago Bulls in Jordan's heyday? They'd introduce the Bulls with the lights turned out (back before every team did that) and this song, "Sirius," blaring. Even if you weren't a fan, you couldn't help but have goose bumps. But you've never heard that tune sound like this!
     Alan Parsons, who first took up an apprenticeship as a sound engineer at EMI and was later responsible for several Paul McCartney productions and the Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon at the legendary Abbey Road Studios, drew upon his experience in order to further his solo career. While the co-producer Eric Woolfson wrote the songs, Parsons – who had an uncanny feeling for sound – conjured up a lush mélange of synthetic and natural sounds.