Eye in the Sky

Amazon.com
Alan Parsons Project's Eye in the Sky was almost guaranteed at least moderate success due to the hits that preceded it ("Games People Play" and "Time" from Turn of a Friendly Card.) With Eye, Parsons returned in some ways to his more progressive, art-rock past and the album only had one major hit, the lush title track. Parsons's approach was a synthesis of studio wizardry with a symphonic, spacey interplay between keyboards, synthesizerss and basic rock instrumentation. Though never a hit, "Psychobabble" remains a favorite of fans. "Children of the Moon," "Sirius," and "Gemini" all have Parsons's love of the esoteric. "Mammagamma" also allowed Parsons to fully indulge his fondness for orchestration with its instrumental structure. --Steve Gdula

Eye in the Sky,Alan Parsons Project,Arista,Pop,Popular Music,Rock,Rock/Pop

Eye in the Sky

Average customer rating:

The Alan Parsons Project's most famous album gets a royal treatment for its 25th anniversary
Entering the pop era
Eye in the Sky is brilliance... but the remaster... not so much
Cinematic Genius
Uno de los mejores

Eye in the Sky
Alan Parsons Project
Manufacturer: Sony Legacy
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Soft Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

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Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

I Robot
Vulture Culture
The Turn of a Friendly Card
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Pyramid

ASIN: B000IOM1Y6
Release Date: 2007-03-20

Tracks:

Sirius
Eye In The Sky
Children Of The Moon A
Gemini
Silence And I
You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned
Psychobabble
Mammagamma (Instrumental)
Step By Step
Old And Wise
Sirius (Demo)
Old & Wise (Eric Woolfson guide vocal)
Any Other Day (Studio Demo)
Silence & I (Early version; Eric Woolfson guide vocal)
The Naked Eye
Eye Pieces (Classical Naked Eye)

Customer Reviews:

The Alan Parsons Project's most famous album gets a royal treatment for its 25th anniversary.......2007-07-04

The Alan Parsons Project released its sixth album in as many years entitled Eye in the Sky in June of 1982.
The album was the first since late 1980's Turn of a Friendly Card. Whilst that album had its moments (Games People Play and Time), the album had not been as successful. In 1981, Alan Parsons (well known engineer and producer who had worked with The Beatles as a tape operator and engineered Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother and classic Dark Side of the Moon and produced albums for Pilot, The Hollies and Al Stewart) and collaborator Eric Woolfson began work on Eye in the Sky with musicians that were bass player David Paton and guitarist Ian Bainson formerly of the band Pilot (famed for its 1975 hit "Magic") and drummer Stuart Elliott (famed for his work on Al Stewart's Year of the Cat and Time Passages albums and on Paul McCartney's 1984 hit "No More Lonely Nights"). When the album was released, it was right in the middle of New Wave and schlock pop ala Air Supply time. Would this album be a classic or seen as a relic of the past, read on and find out as I did recently.
We open the album with the instrumental "Sirius". What a great opener. i first heard this piece when former WWE wrestler Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat used this music as his entrance theme during his 1986/1987 tenure with WWE (formerly World Wrestling Federation). Since then, "Sirius" has been used by sports teams such as The Chicago Bulls for its entrance music and sampled by Diddy (a/k/a Puff Daddy a/k/a P Diddy a/ka Sean Combs) on his The Saga Continues album. We then segue into the album's title cut and Parsons Project's biggest hit. The track, sung by Eric Woolfson, got its name from Woolfson hearing that phrase whilst in the US to describe air traffic, surveilance cameras and every other device. Next is "Children of the Moon" which is sung by ex-Pilot frontman and APP bass player David Paton and it's a great song about the death of culture (which still holds up today). We segue into the short but sweet "Gemini" sung by Chris Rainbow. The first half closes with the epic "Silence and I", which was sung by Woolfson. The piece harkens back to some of the classic prog sounds of I Robot. What a great piece.
Next is the rocker "You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned" which was sung by Lenny Zatatek (whose voice was dominant on songs like "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" and "Games People Play"). What a great rocker. Next is the album's other sing "Psychobabble" sung by Elmer Gentry. This piece is another winner. Next is the album's second and last intrumental called "Mammagamma". Whilst it sounds like something that could have been used on the soundtrack to Scarface, the piece had more b*lls and passion than anything that Giorgio moroder could have come up with. Next is another Zatatek sung piece called "Step by Step" whcih is another great piece. We close the album with possibly my favorite APP track ever, the ballad "Old and Wise". The track's orchestrations is so powerful that it can actually bring tears to your eyes hearing it. The track is sung by former Zombies frontman Colin Blunstone and this is his best lead vocal EVER done (surpassing anything he recorded pre-1982). The track ends with the most powerful alto saxophone solo ever recorded by famed saxophonist Mel Collins (who has worked with people from King Crimson to Eric Clapton to Roger Waters to Bad Company and The Rolling Stones) and his ending solo playing with the orchestra and band even had brought tears to my eyes as it is the most moving piece I had ever heard (and I hardly ever cry but something about this makes me shed tears of joy).
The album became the APP's biggest selling album here in the US and reached the US Top 10.
Now, the album was rereleased and superbly remastered by Parsons himself with Dave Collins and features SIX bonus tracks including demos for "Sirius" and "any Other Day". Plus the Eric Woolfson guide vocals for "Old and Wise" and "Silence and I". Then the rough mix medleys dubbed "Naked Eye" and "Classical Eye". These tracks are excellent different looks of each of the album's tracks.
Recommended!

Entering the pop era.......2007-06-20

After several progressively influenced concept albums, the APP returned strongly with "Eye In The Sky". It was a welcome return to form after the synth-heavy, boring "Eve", even though Eye is more pop than anything else they had recorded at this point. Eye really points to the future sound APP would go for on subsequent releases. The material is very good, and the final song "Old And Wise" should send chills down the spine of anyone with a pulse.

The remastered version adds quite a lot of brilliance and air to the recording when compared to the original Arista release.

Eye in the Sky is brilliance... but the remaster... not so much.......2007-06-02

It's Eye in the Sky after all... it was a great album. Had a lot of ups, a couple downs as the album gets a little to poppish with "Step by Step". Overall, this is the most successful Alan Parsons Project album and also one of the best albums as well for that band.

But this review is about the remaster. The improved sound quality... what improved sound quality? The music on the original CD sounds almost identical to the new release (granted... this isn't a "remix"). So if you are looking to really step it up a notch with this CD, unless you are going from tape to CD, you aren't getting a noticeable sound improvement here. Granted, I don't own a $2000 sound system, so maybe for them, it is improved, but for most people, I don't think they'll appreciate any new quality to the sound.

That said, the extra tracks are indeed interesting. The best being the two last tracks. The first of those two is a conglomeration of studio recordings in the process of developing the songs. The second is a conglomeration of the orchestral music developed for the songs. These two tracks are really cool to listen to. It seems apparent that the Alan Parsons Project didn't have B sides, because there are no extra songs really as part of the additional tracks. You'll just be hearing first / second draft recordings of some of the songs. The experience is really neat.

The other additional feature is added material in the CD booklet. Pics and stuff from the mind of Alan Parsons and Eric Wolfson. Perhaps the only thing that would have been nicer was contributions from the other members or guest members of the band, but all in all, the additional material given in the booklet definitely is nice.

To round it out, overall, you aren't getting too much from this. You'll read the booklet once or twice, you won't be able to listen to the raw tracks that often like you could the album itself and as I noted, at least from my experience from Eye in the Sky (and I Robot), these remasters aren't particularly ground shattering in their remastery (you can go pretend that's a word ;)).

Luckily, the price isn't expensive. Whoever was in charge of the releases had mercy and realized they weren't giving us much we hadn't already had. To me the most important thing is the sound! So buying up all these new remasters probably won't be my plan. However, if you really want to hear the additional tracks, especially the "naked" tracks and appreciate the material put into the CD booklets, you won't be wasting your money.

Cinematic Genius.......2007-05-12

The Alan Parsons Project hit their greatest commercial pinnacle with "Eye In The Sky," the only album other than "I Robot" to reach the top ten. It was also the moment that the revolving members of APP centralized the two main strengths of their albums: concept and songcraft. "Eye In The Sky" is so creamily melodic that it's almost easy to miss the underlying concept of intrusive surveillance. Probably more than any other APP CD, this is where the Adult Contemporary sound that eventually dominated Parson's following efforts took hold.

That is not to say the songs are lacking. As usual, they are tunefully hooky and usually memory grabbers, like the title track. The opening instrumental "Sirius" became the introductory theme for thousands of athletic events, and "Psychobabble" is the obligatory prog-rock song aimed directly at 80's AOR Radio. (Actually, the other song in the vein, "You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned," is the weakest song on the CD.) As on previous CD's, the highlights include ballads. On "Eye In The Sky," it's "Old and Wise" with ex-Zombie Colin Blunstone on the lead vocal. One of the discs' more interesting extras is Eric Woolfson's vocal demo on that particular number.

The bonus tracks are indicative of just how much work Parsons and Woolfsons put into their music. While "Eye In The Sky" plays almost like a soundtrack to a movie never produced, the demos show the tinkering that goes on before the final, lush and cinematic sound is crystallized. (Frankly, I like the album enough to have not needed to hear works in progress.) But now that "Eye In The Sky" and "I Robot" have been given their sonically upgraded due, it's a joy to hear the kind of mastery Parsons and company put into this soft-rock marvel.

I am now hoping for the eventual remastered versions of "Pyramid," "Eve" and "Turn Of A Friendly Card."

Uno de los mejores.......2007-04-06

Gracias a este cd, fue que comencé a escuchar a alan parsons project, hace como 10 años estaba escuchando en la radio eye in the sky un sabado en la mañana mientras iba a trabajar en la construccion de una planta de exraccion de petroleo, me gusto mucho y me sorprendió cuando dijero que era alan parsons, ya que pensaba que alan parsons eran puras baladitas de amor tipo air supply. Resulta que me compre el disco, y da la casualidad de que tenia otra gran cancion que me gustaba de siempre, pero no sabia que era de alan parsons, la cual es old and wise, me siento tan satisfecho con la compra de este disco, que tengo casi toda la coleccion, me falta solo freudiana, time machine y gaudi que no se consiguen. Acabo de comprar la reedicion de este disco, que trae nuevas canciones ineditas. Alan Parsons es uno de los pocos artistas que he escuchado, los cuales me gustan todas las canciones de todos los discos, eso, es bastante complicado de lograr.

Average customer rating:

Excellent cd
For those of us who lived the 80s
One of their best!
One of the two best Project releases
That Sirius is only for the Bulls is Bull. Siriusly.

Eye in the Sky
Alan Parsons Project
Manufacturer: Arista
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Soft Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

The Turn of a Friendly Card
I Robot
Pyramid
Ammonia Avenue
Eve

ASIN: B000002VC3
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Sirus (Instrumental)
Eye In The Sky
Children Of The Moon
Gemini
Silence And I
You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned
Psychobabble
Mammagamma (Instrumental)
Step By Step
Old And Wise

Amazon.com

Alan Parsons Project's Eye in the Sky was almost guaranteed at least moderate success due to the hits that preceded it ("Games People Play" and "Time" from Turn of a Friendly Card.) With Eye, Parsons returned in some ways to his more progressive, art-rock past and the album only had one major hit, the lush title track. Parsons's approach was a synthesis of studio wizardry with a symphonic, spacey interplay between keyboards, synthesizerss and basic rock instrumentation. Though never a hit, "Psychobabble" remains a favorite of fans. "Children of the Moon," "Sirius," and "Gemini" all have Parsons's love of the esoteric. "Mammagamma" also allowed Parsons to fully indulge his fondness for orchestration with its instrumental structure. --Steve Gdula

Customer Reviews:

Excellent cd.......2007-01-07

This is a supurb cd this.It starts off with the sensational Sirus,which leads into the title track of the cd Eye In The Sky.
I think those 2 songs are what makes theis cd worth getting.The lyrics to this song are supurbly written.I am the maker of rules dealing with fools.Just seems to have a touch of Jesus in it somehow.Eye in the sky looking at you,i can read your mind....(God?) hmmm great stuff!!!
This cd has alot of mystique about it,i love the cover art to it.
Children Of The Moon is also a great song,i realy love that song.
You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned is another realy good song.
Get this album if you appreciate good music.

For those of us who lived the 80s.......2006-10-22

This is an album of nostalgia, AP proved came with this catching album we still hear today, back then I thought the album would live because of Old and Wise as well as Silence and I. I have not been wrong in my prediction, as far as Old and Wise was played in their recent concert in Caracas last year.

My 13 yo son is now into hearing AP, as a relieved parent seeing this as a radical change from RAP, which is of course based on primitivism, violence and negation of anything of value. i would encourage all you parents to steer your kids into AP, its melodic, fun, and the perfect intro to prog or other higher music

One of their best!.......2006-06-16

I was introduced to the Alan Parsons Project by my father via "Eye in the Sky" album. I was in high school at the time when the title track was released. Unlike today's parents, it was highly unusual for them, the Baby Boomer generation, to listen to current pop-rock; I thought it was really cool to have a dad who listened to what I did. Dad was an amateur musician, who was studied music in high school and his freshman year in college. He had a real influence on me musically and taught me what to listen for in music. I have managed to collect most of his albums and, some twenty years later, still enjoy listening to this album.

The Alan Parsons Project was the brainchild of producer/engineer Alan Parsons, who, in conjunction with Eric Woolfson, created an outlet for studio musicians to perform. Each album had a subject, beginning with author Edgar Allan Poe in 1976 and ending in 1987 with architect Antonio Gaudi. The group never toured - they just produced songs that sold millions of albums.

With that said, you're probably asking, "What about the album?" First off, none of his albums come close to the high quality of "Eye in the Sky," with the exception of "Turn of a Friendly Card" (1980). The theme of this album focuses on government control and how it affects our lives. Parsons and Woolfson crafted wonderfully written tunes that not only adhere to the theme, but have well-constructed melodies and incredible orchestration.

Variety - YES! The album presents everything from full orchestrated progressive rock to techno. The best track is "Silence and I," a ballad with a soaring melody and awesome instrumental orchestrated by Andrew Powell. The syncopation between the mallets, horns and woodwinds is completely invigorating! "Old and Wise," the second hit off of the album, is a gorgeous ballad that begins with oboe and strings, ending in a David-Sanborn alto sax solo.

An Alan Parsons album wouldn't be complete without an instrumental. "Sirius," which became the Chicago Bulls theme, opens the album. It is great on a headset because the instruments were recorded on different channels. The other famous instrumental, "Mammagamma." was adopted by the telelvision show The Wide World of Sports.

If you haven't listened to the Project's music, this is a great place to start. I highly recommend it!

One of the two best Project releases.......2006-06-01

This is the second Alan Parsons disc that I purchased after the great TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD album. EYE IN THE SKY comes in a close second to TOAFC. This is an amazingly good album except for the song "Step By Step" which is kind of weak in comparison to the other great songs. I like "Psychobabble", but it's the next weakest song in my opinion. When you get past those two, the rest of the cd is superb. It kind of sounds like a ADD album because it kind of has a warm analog ambience to it. The cd STEREOTOMY was a DDD cd and you could tell because of the razor sharp cymbals and the great focus, but it lacked the warm analog sound picture. Two of my three favorite Project songs are on here, and they are "Silence and I" and "Old and Wise". "Mammagamma" is just about my favorite intrumental in their entire discography. I get chills from the opener and prelude to "Eye In The Sky" the song "Sirius", then, "Eye In The Sky" is in my top eight or so of Project songs. "You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned" is also one of my favorites and a very catchy tune. Another great song is "Children Of The Moon". Definitely a topnotched tune. All in all, this is one of my favorite recordings, and I'm including all genres of music. If you're new to the Alan Parsons Project, just sample TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD and EYE IN THE SKY and you will forever be on the Project bandwagon.

That Sirius is only for the Bulls is Bull. Siriusly........2005-12-28

A little nugget of information. Not only is Sirius the Chicago Bulls theme song, the Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) Commodores men's basketball team plays Sirius when announcing the Vanderbilt starting lineup.

The CD opens with Sirius, the first Alan Parsons song I ever heard, and my most played Alan Parsons song. Sirius is a very good song, although I have overused it.

Eye In The Sky follows Sirius, and is Parsons' most famous song (and one of his best ten, too). The following song, Children of the Moon, is a good song about the death of culture that I sadly don't play nearly enough.

Gemini is another strong song, as is Silence and I. However, the musical interlude in Silence and I is distracting.

You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned is one of threee Alan Parsons songs that I ever heard before having discovered Alan Parsons (Sirius and Time being the other two). Parts of the song ("all I do is only to suprise you, every move is slight of hand, and every word is meant to mystify you") forcibly reminds me of Breakfast of Champions, one of my favorite books, by Kurt Vonnegut, my favorite author. Kurt Vonnegut has Kilgore Trout write a letter from God to the only sentient being in the universe. The letter explains that everyone and everything else, God included, is a robot, and all that they do is meant to illicit a response from the being (known as the man).

Psychobabble may be a fan favorite, but that's all psychobabble rap to me. It just doesn't get me like other songs by Parsons do. Mammagamma gets the CD back on track, being one of four five star Alan Parsons instrumentals out of the 28 I own (Return To Tunguska, Lucifer, and The Ace Of Swords being the other three).

Step by Step is a step backward, but it is better than Psychobabble. Finally, the CD ends with one of my all time favorite APP ballads, Old and Wise. This song, like Sirius, was one of the first five Parsons I ever heard, and is still one of my top ten Parsons.

All in all, this is Parsons' fourth/fifth/sixth best album (behind I Robot, Turn of a Friendly Card, and Stereotomy, and in competition with Pyramid and Vulture Culture. Full of great songs, this CD is well worth the money. Of course, I got it for free, so who am I to say that?

A.E. Housman: A Shropshire Lad, Complete in verse and song

Average customer rating:

A.E. Housman: A Shropshire Lad, Complete in verse and song
Alan Bates , Anthony Rolfe Johnson , and Graham Johnson
Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00005S85Q
Release Date: 2001-12-11

Eye in the Sky (1982) / Vulture Culture (1985)

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Eye in the Sky (1982) / Vulture Culture (1985)

Manufacturer: CD Maximum
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Eve
Pyramid
Ammonia Avenue
Stereotomy
A Valid Path

ASIN: B000I2TD7G

Product Description

2 albums on 1CD-18trx total-/EYE IN THE SKY/ -10trx & /VULTURE CULTURE/ -8 trx. Rare official release made exclusively for Russia,in English. /EYE IN THE SKY/: 1. Sirus (Instrumental). 2. Eye In The Sky. 3. Children Of The Moon. 4. Gemini. 5. Silence And I. 6. You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned. 7. Psychobabble. 8. Mammagamma (Instrumental). 9. Step By Step. 10. Old And Wise. /VULTURE CULTURE/: 1. Let's Talk About Me. 2. Separate. 3. Days Are Numbered (The Traveller). 4. Sooner Or Later. 5. Vulture Culture. 6. Hawkeye. 7. Somebody Out There. 8. The Same Old Son.

Average customer rating:

Eye in the Sky [Collectables]
The Alan Parsons Project
Manufacturer: Collectables
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Soft Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Classic Rock | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Pop | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Rock | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Pyramid
Ammonia Avenue
The Turn of a Friendly Card

ASIN: B0006U3TRK
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Tracks:

Eye In The Sky
Time
Damned If I Do
Standing On Higher Ground
Mammagamma
Psychobabble
Games People Play
Stereotonomy
Sirius
Snake Eyes

Average customer rating:

Take a Trip Inside His Mind's Eye
Sunt Lacrimae Rerum - "There are tears of things"

Inside My Mind's Eye
Jim Haptonstahl
Manufacturer: Oasis
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Folk Rock | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00073FGL8
Release Date: 2004-12-10

Tracks:

Escape From Camp Cusino
The Moon Is Blue
Prairie Trance
Arctic Repentance
Gone Too Soon
Lachrymale
Inside My Mind's Eye
Never To Be Lost Again
Lamentia
Orphans of Shadows
KLAA2 #9
Skip Rocking

Album Description

INSIDE MY MIND'S EYE The new CD from Jim Haptonstahl A powerful journey through the heart to the center of the mind . . . Veteran singer-songwriter Jim Haptonstahl creates a swirling tapestry of sound, evoking images of prairie land and sky-scapes mixed with voyages into deep recesses of the soul. Inside My Mind's Eye winds through complex emotional and psychological territory—from escape and alienation to meditation and personal redemption, from anxiety and self-doubt to hope and self-renewal. The title song serves as the central piece of this artful puzzle. Haptonstahl tackles his creative demons while trying to stay connected to those he loves, and to the cosmic forces in his mind. The twelve songs of Inside My Mind's Eye represent a wide sonic spectrum, yet form an organic whole to match with the CD's theme. The music includes a mesmerizing blend of acoustic and electric guitars. Haptonstahl's voice is at once strong and clear, then pensive and earnest. He supports the songs with a broad palette of percussion, lyrical bass lines, and inspired psychedelic effects.

Seven instrumental tracks are featured, including three solo acoustic finger-style compositions, and mixtures of intricately arranged 6-and 12-string guitars, electric guitar, bass, mellotron and eerie soundscapes. Haptonstahl's five vocal tunes are richly layered ensemble pieces, featuring stirring melodies, transcendent harmonies and glistening guitar solos.

The CD is family artistic affair. Haptonstahl's 16-year-old daughter Julia provides accomplished accompaniment on bass for two songs. His brother Max's mind-bending intaglio print serves as the CD artwork. Surreal images interspersed throughout the CD package match the mood of the music.

Customer Reviews:

Take a Trip Inside His Mind's Eye.......2006-02-09

What a trip inside Jim Haptonstahl's Mind's Eye! He brings the listener a sense of harmony mixed with edginess, with side-trips into the subconscious. Fine fingerstyle guitar work on the instrumentals, but also a deft touch with the muted attack on electric guitar, creating flute-like tones in counterpoint lines. Evokes everything from John Renbourn to Jimmie Spheeris to Steve Hackett. But Haptonstahl also stakes a claim to a new and original voice: poetic musings within a dense thicket of reality, with some magic and heart thrown in for good measure.

Sunt Lacrimae Rerum - "There are tears of things".......2005-01-03

This CD album delivers on the promise of its title and the surreal skies of the cover art: introspective but airy, flowing through many complex moods and colors - and stretches of wonderful passion. Tinted with a dark sadness throughout, but always believing in, and hoping for, something wonderful at the root of nature.

First the bad news - the title song was a comparative thud measured against the emotionally driven palette of the rest of the offerings. Plodding in composition and delivery, as though JimHap was taking an emotional breather.

That said, after putting the disk in the player the first time, I played the tracks repeatedly throughout the evening and into the morning... and the next evening. JimHap puts his fingers to the frets in search of beauty, and finds it. His riffs are reminiscent of many influences, from Frank Zappa to Pat Metheny, David Crosby, Leo Kottke, Will Ackerman and, well, Joni Mitchell among others.

I'm familiar with JimHap's work from previous decades, and there's clearly an evolving maturity in his instrumental technique. The voice of the golden youth has acquired an understated quality well suited to the aging child.

This work being vocally a solo effort, I think JimHap would benefit from some help on the harmonies. His backup voice tracks seem to falter sometimes, as though he's worn out from all the emoting on the lead tracks. Get yourself some compatible but contrasting singing voices behind you on the next one, Jimmy! Anyway, I recommend you get this CD. And be prepared to spend some quality time with it!

Average customer rating:

This isn't "Eye in the Sky"!!!

Eye in the Sky
The Alan Parsons Project
Manufacturer: Bmg Special Product
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Soft Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Ammonia Avenue
Pyramid

ASIN: B000066AUE
Release Date: 2002-04-01

Tracks:

Eye in the Sky
Time
Damned If I Do
Standing on Higher Ground
Mammagamma
Psychobabble
Games People Play
Stereotonomy
Sirius
Snake Eyes

Customer Reviews:

This isn't "Eye in the Sky"!!!.......2003-03-01

This isn't the real "Eye in the Sky" album! It's a ... "Best of" without any real graphics or liner notes. (I haven't opened it, since it's going back, so I could be wrong, but I doubt it. There is a picture of AP himself, sitting on a chair, on the cover.)

What this CD says that it has on it is:

- Eye in the Sky
- Time
- Damned If I Do
- Standing On Higher Ground
- Mammagamma
- Psychobabble
- Games People Play
- Stereotonomy (That's how they spelled it - i gess that they don't have a profreeder)
- Sirius
- Snake Eyes

Tracks:

Eye In The Sky
Time
Damned If I Do
Standing On Higher Ground
Mammagamma
Psychobabble
Games People Play
Stereotomy
Sirius
Snake Eyes

Customer Reviews:

This is not the classic 1982 concept album "Eye in the Sky", but a weak compilation.......2006-10-03

When looking at the career of the Alan Parsons Project, the credentials of its creator Alan Parsons are unquestioned. Parsons started his early career as a studio engineer working with the Beatles (on "Abbey Road") and Pink Floyd ("Dark Side of the Moon"). Working with such musicians helped Parsons shape his own musical career. This eventually inspired Parsons to develop his own sound. In 1975, Parsons assembled his own group of musicians into "The Alan Parsons Project". The Project was started as a partnership between Parsons and producer/singer/songwriter Eric Woolfson. To support the duo between Parsons and Woolfson, the duo would bring in a loose aggregation of musicians. This group of musicians would be brought in at the right time to support the musical style of a Project song. Parsons and Woolfson would take things a step further: For each album, they released they would integrate a various theme or concept that would highlight the music. Parsons and the Project would go on to release 9 studio albums. They would best be known for their 1982 hit album "Eye in the Sky" (featuring the popular title track). Despite the fact that this album shares the name with that album, it is important to note that this is NOT 1982's "Eye in the Sky", but a compilation album with the same name.

As mentioned above, one thing that made an Alan Parsons Project album so special is that they would often integrate a theme into the album. For the 1982 "Eye in the Sky" album, the primary concept was "surveillance". The title track is based on the cameras in the casinos - and this carries over to other songs such as "Mammagamma". There are also lesser themes about life and values present on this collection. Originally, I thought I was going to be purchasing the 1982 album. When I got this CD back, I discovered I had gotten another compilation album that happened to slap the "Eye in the Sky" name as the title. Besides a different album cover, the only other differentiating factor is that this compilation collection states it is "The Encore Collection" (whatever that means).

The "Encore Collection" (which I will refer to this "Eye in the Sky" album) only contains four tracks from the 1982 "Eye in the Sky" album. These songs are "Sirius", "Eye in the Sky", "Mammagamma", and "Psychobabble". The "Encore Collection" presents 10 tracks - most of them from the period of 1979 through 1982. The albums represented are "Eve" ("Damned If I Do"); "The Turn of a Friendly Card" ("Games People Play", "Time", "Snake Eyes"); "Stereotomy" ("Stereotomy"); and "Gaudi ("Standing on Higher Ground"). The other big drawback is the separation of "Sirius" and "Eye in the Sky". On the 1982 "Eye in the Sky" album (as well as several other compilations), these songs are arranged back to back to preserve the segue between these songs. I won't listen to either song solo, but insist on listening to them in sequence.

When considering a compilation of the works of the Alan Parsons Project, one must look at what compilations that are out there. Here are some of the more popular compilations out there to consider:

"The Best of the Alan Parsons Project": This 1983 collection includes material from the Alan Parsons Project through 1983 and focuses on the first 2/3 of the Project's career. Songs on "The Encore Collection" not on this collection include "Mammagamma", "Sirius", and "Snake Eyes".

"The Best of the Alan Parsons Project Volume 2": This 1987 collection supplements the 1983 "Best of" release. It not only includes material from post-1983, but material from prior to 1983 that was not included on the first "Best of" release. "Stereotomy" and "Standing on Higher Ground" - both post 1983 releases on "The Encore Collection" are found on this collection.

"Master Hits: The Alan Parsons Project": This includes 11 tracks. The songs from "The Encore Collection" on this collection are "Eye in the Sky", "Sirius", "Games People Play", and "Time".

"The Definitive Collection": This two disc set includes 34 tracks spanning all 9 of the Project's studio albums and is the most comprehensive collection to consider. All of the tracks from "The Encore Collection" are on this collection.

"Platinum and Gold Collection": Provides 12 tracks from the Project and provides a "light sampling" of the Project's hits. The songs from "The Encore Collection" on this collection are "Eye in the Sky", "Sirius", "Games People Play", and "Time".

"Ultimate": This collection includes 18 tracks and is not as comprehensive as "The Definitive Collection". The songs from "The Encore Collection" on this collection are "Eye in the Sky", "Sirius", "Games People Play", "Time", and "Psychobable".

From a musical standpoint, I can't complain too much about "The Encore Collection". The music is very enjoyable and it will serve as a good primer to someone wishing to get a taste of Alan Parsons. In addition to the misleading album title name and the missing segue,there are other issues. For starters this collection, while it does contain songs that aren't available on many other collections still does not go deep enough. My recommendation would still be to get "The Definitive Collection" as this will provide all of the songs on this collection, plus many other songs.

Another grip is that this album is not chronologically ordered. In a greatest hits collection, I normally prefer the songs to be ordered chronologically. This allows me to see how an artist has progressed over time. On "Encore Collection" the songs are shuffled chronologically. Therefore, you don't get to see how the band has progressed over time.

The collection also suffers from a lack of liner notes - there aren't any. No songwriting, album, or musician credits. One must be warned of the misleading album name as well. While I did enjoy the music included on "Encore Collection", I wouldn't recommend this as the first choice for an Alan Parsons collection - start with the more comprehensive "The Definitive Collection".

Good song choices; tacky album cover!.......2006-03-20

While this is an interesting low price idea versus going through 2 CDs (and over 2 hours!) of other compilations, the drawback is the tacky, funny album cover. It's like Alan Parsons' about to go to the beach with his feet and sandals exposed to hit the sand. It shows his humor, but doesn't tell you much about his music. The album has good song choices, especially Games People Play which is more rock driven and the still wonderful Eye In The Sky. There's more of an emphasis on music improvisation, song structure and craft rather than going for a radio hit. Parsons is a excellent keyboardist and musician and the first 7 of the 10 songs show it. Time sounds very close to something the band Pink Floyd would do. Sirius has to be the most recognizable song by APP as it is still popular intro music as sporting events, especially the Chicago Bulls' '90s success with Michael Jordan winning NBA titles for them. I didn't know that the song was less than two minutes long, yet it is still a pop culture classic. Alan and his band must have 15 homes or so by now from the royalties and money made from that song. This is a good start for anyone hearing this risk taking, challenging music for the first time.

A budget collection of songs from The Alan Parsons Project.......2005-02-02

The releasing company for this CD, BMG Special Products, is the budget line for BMG Music and simply repackages previously released music from the many music labels that it owns. In fact, live versions of several of the songs on this compilation can also be found on another budget release from BMG, "Extended Versions: The Encore Collection," which, in turn, is taken from Parsons' 1995 live album. The biggest problem that I have with this release is the sequencing of "Sirius" and "Eye of the Sky." As originally recorded, "Sirius" and "Eye of the Sky" were played as a single piece, one song flowing into the other. On this compilation, they appear separately, completely out of their proper sequence. Whoever compiled this disc has done a disservice to the band and its many fans.

Despite the sequencing issue, this is a decent, inexpensive compilation of mostly "greatest hits" by The Alan Parsons Project. Like the companion budget live CD, this release is recommended for casual fans, or to those looking for a low cost introduction to the band.

"the maker of rules dealing w/ fools I can cheat you blind".......2003-08-04

One of the most frustrating things about being a APP fan is the lack of non-album B-Sides and rare tracks to be found. Outside the studio and live albums, all you can find are compilations of stuff fans have heard many times before like 'Love Songs' and 'Instrumental Works.' Case in point, 'Eye in the Sky,' which uses the title of one of the APP's most popular albums and adds the very misleading "Extra Tracks." If this was in fact just a compilation with actual "extra tracks" that I haven't heard I would buy it in a heartbeat, but all these songs are available on various APP studio albums including "Standing on Higher Ground" off the 1987 LP 'Gaudi' (five years after 'Eye in the Sky'). I was going to give it three stars because it is reasonably priced (it should be, considering the tacky cover photo) but then it dawned on me that there is not a single track from my all-time favorite APP album Ammonia Avenue represented on this compilation.

Was this CD misnamed or what?! This is NOT "Eye in the Sky".......2000-08-31

"Eye in the Sky" is one of the best APP CDs ever produced, but this is NOT that CD. Don't be fooled. This is a compilation CD, as is aptly pointed out by another reviewer.

This CD has the following tracks:

1. Eye In The Sky (from "Eye in the Sky")

2. Time (from "Turn of a Friendly Card")

3. Damned If I Do (From "Faces of Eve")

4. Standing On Higher Ground (I can't remember...from "Ammonia Avenue"?)

5. Mammagamma (from "Eye in the Sky")

6. Psychobabble (from "Eye in the Sky")

7. Games People Play (from "Turn of a Friendly Card")

8. Stereotomy (from "Stereotomy")

9. Sirius (from "Eye in the Sky")

10. Snake Eyes (from "Turn of a Friendly Card")

So, what this CD amounts to is a compliation of tracks from the first half dozen or so APP albums, with more tracks from "Eye in the Sky" than from any other CD. I'm not even sure I would call it a greatest hits CD. It's just a compilation. That doesn't mean that I dislike any of these tracks...it just means that there are better greatest hits CDs out there.

If it were my money and I were interested in APP music, I would, without hesitation, PASS THIS CD BY and buy the real "Eye in the Sky" or any other APP CD (even compilation CDs).

Don't be fooled.

Happy listening.

Alan Holyoak

Eye in the Sky
Average customer rating:
Eye in the Sky
DJ Pain (Ft Michael C)
Manufacturer: Zyx
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000XK7MI
Release Date: 2003-11-10

Eye In The Sky (1982) / Vulture Culture (1985)
Average customer rating:
Eye In The Sky (1982) / Vulture Culture (1985)
The Alan Parsons Project
Manufacturer: CD Maximum
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000P8L2EA