Eye in the Sky (album)

Eye in the Sky
Studio album by The Alan Parsons Project
Released June 1982
Recorded 1981–82
Studio Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre
Length 42:30
Label Arista
Producer
The Alan Parsons Project chronology
The Turn of a Friendly Card
(1980)		 Eye in the Sky
(1982)		 Ammonia Avenue
(1984)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Rolling Stone[2]

Eye in the Sky is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Alan Parsons Project, released in June 1982 by Arista Records.

Overview

Songs on this album are in a number of different styles, from cool and funky to lyrical and heavily orchestrated. The Hipgnosis-designed sleeve is green with an image of the Eye of Horus, which was gold-foil stamped for early pressings of the LP. It is variously reported as The Alan Parsons Project's best-selling album, and was the last platinum record in the United States from the band (joining I Robot and The Turn of a Friendly Card).[3]

Vocal performers are Eric Woolfson, David Paton, Chris Rainbow, Lenny Zakatek, Elmer Gantry and Colin Blunstone.

Eye in the Sky contains the Project's biggest hit, the title track with lead vocals by Eric Woolfson. The album itself was a major success, reaching the Top 10 (and sometimes the #1) in numerous countries.[4]

This album is the first of three the Project recorded on analogue equipment and mixed directly to the digital master tape (a fact not widely known until the liner notes of Vulture Culture, where this trick was revealed).

The album features the instrumental piece "Sirius", which has become a staple of many big-time 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 (including Michael Jordan) during its championship years of the 1990s[5] (and continued to the present). "Sirius" segues into "Eye in the Sky". The former is almost always followed by the latter on airplay, though not always in live performances — at the 1995 World Liberty Concert "Sirius" was played as the introduction to "Breakaway" (from the Alan Parsons solo album Try Anything Once), with Candy Dulfer on saxophone.

Track listing

All tracks written by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.

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"Eric Woolfson7:19
6."You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned"Lenny Zakatek4:22
7."Psychobabble"Elmer Gantry4:51
8."Mammagamma"Instrumental3:34
9."Step by Step"Lenny Zakatek3:54
10."Old and Wise"Colin Blunstone4:55
2007 Remaster Bonus Tracks
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
11."Sirius" (Demo)Instrumental1:56
12."Old and Wise"Eric Woolfson4:43
13."Any Other Day" (Woolfson) (studio demo)Instrumental1:42
14."Silence and I"Eric Woolfson7:33
15."The Naked Eye"Instrumental10:49
16."Eye Pieces" (Classical Naked Eye)Instrumental7:51

Personnel

Charts

Year Chart Position
1982 The Billboard 200 7
1982 UK Albums Chart 27
1982 Canada 3
1982 New Zealand 3
1982 Norway 3
1982 Germany 1
1982 Spain (AFYVE) 1

Certifications and sales

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[6] 2× Platinum 200,000^
France (SNEP)[7] Platinum 684,800[8]
Germany (BVMI)[9] Gold 250,000^
Italy (FIMI)[10] Gold 25,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[11] Gold 50,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[12] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[13] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[14] Platinum 1,000,000 [15]^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

|}

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Eye in the Sky album review, RollingStone.com. Accessed July 11, 2016.
  3. ↑ RIAA Searchable database Archived 26 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Eye in the Sky at AustrianCharts.at. Accessed July 11, 2016.
  5. ↑ 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 (April 12, 2016).
  6. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky". Music Canada. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "French album certifications – Alan Parsons – Eye in the sky" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  8. ↑ https://www.infodisc.fr/Ventes_Albums_Tout_Temps.php?debut=300
  9. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (The Alan Parsons Project; 'Eye in the Sky')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  10. ↑ "Italian album certifications – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. ↑ "Spanish album certifications – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky" (PDF) (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 10 September 2018. Select album under "Chart", enter 1982 in the field "Year". Select the certification month in the field "Semana". Click on "Search Charts".
  13. ↑ "British album certifications – The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 September 2018. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Eye in the Sky in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  14. ↑ "American album certifications – APP – Eye in the sky". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  15. ↑ https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=the+alan+parsons+project#search_section
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