Eye in the Sky (album)

Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: 14 May 1982<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=The Turn of a Friendly Card1980Ammonia Avenue1984AlbumEye in the SkyTheAlanParsonsProject-EyeintheSky.jpgCover art featuring an Eye of Horusthe Alan Parsons Project14 May 1982<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>1981–1982Abbey Road Studios, LondonTemplate:Hlist42:30AristaAlan Parsonsx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}

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

Eye in the Sky is the first of three albums the Project recorded on analogue equipment and mixed directly to a Sony PCM 1610 digital master tape along with the usual analogue half-inch 30 ips master tape.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2007, the analogue tape was re-digitised for audiophile formats.

Release

Eye in the Sky was the last Platinum record in the United States from the band.<ref>RIAA Searchable database Template:Webarchive</ref>

Eye in the Sky contains the title track, the Alan Parsons Project's biggest hit,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> 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.<ref>Eye in the Sky at AustrianCharts.at. access-date 11 July 2016.</ref>

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.<ref name=WSJ>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).</ref>

Another instrumental, "Mammagamma", was used separately by TVNZ in New Zealand and BBC Wales in the mid-1980s for their snooker coverage,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Reception

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".<ref name="Tucker" />

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."<ref name="AllMusic" />

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson. Template:Track listingTemplate:Track listing

Personnel

• Alan Parsons – keyboards, Fairlight, programming, Linn drum machine, backing vocals
• Eric Woolfson – Wurlitzer, keyboards, piano, organ, vocals on 2 & 5, backing vocals
• David Paton – bass, vocals on 3
• Ian Bairnson – acoustic & electric guitars, pedal steel guitar
• Stuart Elliott – drums, percussion
• John Wallance – piccolo trumpet on 3
• Mel Collins – saxophone on 10
• Chris Rainbow – vocals on 4
• Lenny Zakatek – vocals and vocal FX on 6 & 9, backing vocals on 6
• Colin Blunstone – vocals on 10
• Dave Terry – vocals on 7
• Andrew Powell – additional piano on 5, Brass Band and Orchestra arrangements, conductor
• Bob Howes – chorus master of The English Chorale

Charts

Weekly charts

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Chart (1982–1983)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref name=aus>Template:Cite book</ref>	4
Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Alan Parsons Project".</ref>	2
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	1

Year-end charts

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Chart (1982)	Position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	6
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	22
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	9
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1
US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	76