Eye in the Sky (album)

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Eye in the Sky
Studio album by
the Alan Parsons Project
ReleasedMay 1982[1]
Recorded1981–1982
StudioAbbey Road Studios, London
Genre
Length42:30
LabelArista
ProducerAlan Parsons
The Alan Parsons Project chronology
The Turn of a Friendly Card
(1980) 		Eye in the Sky
(1982) 		Ammonia Avenue
(1984)
Singles from Eye in the Sky
  1. "Eye in the Sky"
    Released: May 1982[3]
  2. "Psychobabble"
    Released: November 1982 (US)[4]
  3. "Old and Wise"
    Released: December 1982[5]

Eye in the Sky is the sixth studio album by British rock band the Alan Parsons Project, released in May 1982 by Arista Records. At the 25th Annual Grammy Awards in 1983, Eye in the Sky was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album. In 2019, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Immersive Audio Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.

Production[edit]

Eye in the Sky is the first of three albums the Project recorded on analogue equipment and mixed directly to the digital master tape.[6]

Release[edit]

Eye in the Sky was the last platinum record in the United States from the band.[7]

Eye in the Sky contains the title track, the Project's biggest hit,[8] with lead vocals by Eric Woolfson. The album itself was a major success, reaching the top 10 (and sometimes the number one slot) in numerous countries.[9]

The album features the instrumental piece "Sirius", which has become a staple of many college and professional sporting arenas throughout North America. It is best known for its use by the Chicago Bulls to introduce its starting line-up during its championship years of the 1990s and is still used today.[10]

Another instrumental, "Mammagamma", was used separately by TVNZ in New Zealand and BBC Wales in the mid-1980s for their snooker coverage,[11][12] and as a bed for the "My Favourite Five" feature on Tony Fenton's late-night 2FM show in Ireland across 1989 and 1990. The instrumental also saw use in an industrial video for Iveco in Italy.[13]

On 1 December 2017, a 35th-anniversary-edition box set of the album was released, for which Alan Parsons, along with surround mastering engineers Dave Donnelly and PJ Olsson, won the Grammy Award for Best Immersive Audio Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.[14]

Reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Philadelphia Inquirer[15]

From contemporary reviews, Ken Tucker of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the album a one star rating out of five rating, calling it a "hopelessly banal album" with "Paul McCartney-as-manic-depressive melodies and whining vocals would be merely pathetic were it not for Parsons' lyric pretensions".[15]

From retrospective reviews, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic stated that "this is a soft rock album through and through, one that's about melodic hooks and texture," noting 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 [...] it 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."[2]

Track listing[edit]

All songs written and composed by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.

Side one
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."Sirius"Instrumental1:54
2."Eye in the Sky"Eric Woolfson4:36
3."Children of the Moon"David Paton4:51
4."Gemini"Chris Rainbow2:11
5."Silence and I"Woolfson7:19
Side two
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned"Lenny Zakatek4:22
2."Psychobabble"Elmer Gantry4:51
3."Mammagamma"Instrumental3:34
4."Step by Step"Zakatek3:54
5."Old and Wise"Colin Blunstone4:55
2007 remaster bonus tracks
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
11."Sirius" (Demo)Instrumental1:56
12."Old and Wise"Woolfson4:43
13."Any Other Day" (Woolfson) (studio demo)Instrumental1:42
14."Silence and I"Woolfson7:33
15."The Naked Eye"Instrumental medley10:49
16."Eye Pieces" (Classical Naked Eye)Instrumental7:51

Personnel[edit]

Charts[edit]

Certifications and sales[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[34] Platinum 50,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[35] 2× Platinum 200,000^
France (SNEP)[36] Platinum 400,000*
Germany (BVMI)[37] Gold 250,000^
Italy (FIMI)[38] Gold 25,000‡
Netherlands (NVPI)[39] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[40] Platinum 15,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[41] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[42] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[43] Platinum 1,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Eye in the Sky".
  2. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Eye in the Sky – The Alan Parsons Project, Alan Parsons". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Great Rock Discography". p. 616.
  4. ^ "Great Rock Discography". p. 616.
  5. ^ "Old and Wise".
  6. ^ "Eye in the Sky – Credits". Woolfsongs Ltd. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  7. ^ RIAA Searchable database Archived 26 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "The Alan Parsons Project". Billboard.
  9. ^ Eye in the Sky at AustrianCharts.at. access-date 11 July 2016.
  10. ^ Cohen, Ben. "The One Record the Warriors Can’t Take From the Bulls: Even as Golden State closes on a historic 73rd win, Chicago’s pre-game music still sets the standard," Wall Street Journal (12 April 2016).
  11. ^ "Snooker Themes and Titles". Retrieved 24 August 2022 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ "New Zealand Winfield Masters Final 1984 Kirk Stevens v Jimmy White (Best of 9)". Retrieved 24 August 2022 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ Centro Storico Fiat. "Daily/Grinta vincono" – via YouTube.
  14. ^ "2019 GRAMMY Awards: Complete Nominations List". 7 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  15. ^ a b Tucker, Ken (13 June 1982). "Albums". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 14-M. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  16. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 229. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  17. ^ "Austriancharts.at – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  18. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6554". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  19. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  20. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  21. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 28 May 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Alan Parsons Project".
  22. ^ "Charts.nz – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  23. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  24. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959-2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  25. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  26. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  27. ^ "The Alan Parsons Project Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  28. ^ "Jahreshitparade Alben 1982". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  29. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums" (PDF). RPM. 25 December 1982. Retrieved 1 February 2022 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  30. ^ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1982" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  31. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. 1982. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  32. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1982 – The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  33. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End". Billboard. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  34. ^ "Kent Music Report No 453 – 28 February 1983 > Platinum Albums 1982 (Continued)". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 13 November 2021 – via Imgur.com.
  35. ^ "Canadian album certifications – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky". Music Canada. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  36. ^ "French album certifications – Alan Parsons – Eye in the sky" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  37. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (The Alan Parsons Project; 'Eye in the Sky')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  38. ^ "Italian album certifications – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 18 June 2018. Select "2018" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Eye in the Sky" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
  39. ^ "Dutch album certifications – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 10 September 2018. Enter Eye in the Sky in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1984 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  40. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  41. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (PDF) (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. p. 916. ISBN 84-8048-639-2. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  42. ^ "British album certifications – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  43. ^ "American album certifications – Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the sky". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
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