Deluxe box set of The Alan Parsons Project’s Eye In The Sky to be released in November to celebrate album’s 35th anniversary

By Joel Barrios, Rock at Night Miami’s correspondent

The Alan Parsons Project’s album Eye In The Sky is to be released in a deluxe box set later this year to mark the record’s 35th anniversary. The collection will feature rare and unreleased material and will arrive on November 17 via Legacy Recordings – the catalogue division of Sony Music Entertainment.

The collector’s box set includes three CDs featuring the original album with bonus tracks, Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diaries and previously unreleased bonus material. A fourth disc includes a 5.1 surround sound and stereo HD version of the original album on Blu-ray. The package also features two vinyl LPs with the original album newly struck at half speed on four sides at 45rpm at Abbey Road Studios by Miles Showell, a flexi-disc replica of a 1982 promo – and a 60-page hardback book featuring new essays, previously unreleased images recently discovered in Woolfson’s personal archive and new interviews with many of the album’s musicians. It will also come with a replica poster and postcard.

Parsons says: “It was a wonderful experience to hear all the multitrack tape tracks from Eye In The Sky again – and for the first time in nearly 35 years, in their raw unmixed form. “Hearing the various elements, performances, and moments of magic that were selected for the the final mixes of the songs was an amazing experience. “Of course not everything we recorded back then is heard on the final mixes, but the included bonus tracks in the box set give an interesting insight into what was not used on the final mixes.”

Parsons adds: “Audiophiles will be pleased to know that there is a brand new 5.1 surround sound mix, which I am extremely pleased with incidentally, and also a hi-def stereo version taken from the original analog stereo master tape which was recorded simultaneously alongside the digital mix.”

Find the tracklist for the Eye In The Sky box set below:

CD1: Original album & expanded bonus tracks

1. Sirius
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
9. Step By Step
10. Old And Wise
11. Bonus Tracks
12. Sirius (Demo)
13. Old And Wise (Eric Woolfson Vocal)
14. Any Other Day (Studio Demo)
15. Silence And I (Eric Woolfson Vocal)
16. The Naked Eye
17. Eye Pieces (Classical Naked Eye)

CD2: Eric Woolfson’s Songwriting Diaries

1. Eye In The Sky (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 1)
2. Eye In The Sky (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 2)
3. Eye In The Sky (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 3)
4. Eye In The Sky (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 4)
5. Children Of The Moon (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 1)
6. Children Of The Moon (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 2)
7. Gemini (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 1)
8. Gemini (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 2)
9. Gemini (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 3)
10. Gemini & Silence and I (Eric’s Songwriting Diary)
11. Silence and I (Eric’s Songwriting Diary)
12. Cooper’s Theme/ Silence and I chord beginnings (Eric’s Songwriting Diary)
13. Cooper’s Theme/ Silence and I beginnings (Eric’s Songwriting Diary)
14. Silence and I/ Fly Away (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 1)
15. Silence and I/ Fly Away (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 2)
16. Old and Wise (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 1)
17. Old and Wise (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 2)
18. Old and Wise (Eric’s Songwriting Diary 3)

CD3: previously unreleased bonus material and single edits

1. Eye In The Sky (Ian 12-string Acoustic Guitar Out Take)
2. Sirius and Eye In The Sky (Early Rough Mix)
3. Eye In The Sky (Eric Demo Verses – No Lyrics)
4. Children Of The Moon (12-string Acoustic Guitar & Marching Band Snare Drum)
5. Children Of The Moon (Early Rough Mix With Eric Demo Vocal)
6. Gemini (Chris Rainbow Vocal Harmonies)
7. Silence And I (Orchestral Take With Eric Demo Vocal)
8. You’re Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned (Rough Mix Section – Different Guitar Solo)
9. You’re Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned (Rough Mix with Alan Demo Vocal – Few Lyrics)
10. Psychobabble (Orchestral Take)
11. Psychobabble (Rough Mix With Eric Demo Vocal)
12. Step By Step (12-string Acoustic Guitars)
13. Step By Step (Rough Mix Backing Track – Extended Intro)
14. Old and Wise (Chris Rainbow Beach Boys Experiment)
15. Old & Wise (Eric Piano Track)
16. Eye in the Sky (Single Edit)
17. Old and Wise (Single Edit)
18. Psychobabble (Single Edit)

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Joel Barrios

My name is Joel Barrios. I'm a Miami-based freelance multidisciplinary designer and professional photographer, born some decades ago in the mysterious and beautiful island of Cuba. For me web-programming, graphic design and photography are just way of life. It's not a job but a passion that you grow with every day. Despite I studied software development, I've been a self-taught designer and photographer for most of my life, and dabbling with code and digital manipulation software have become my natural element. I enjoy many other types of photography, but my passion for music has driven me into concert photojournalism. I strive at capturing the moments you might have missed even if you were at the show, I want my photographs to help you to relive the moment or to make you feel like you were there part of the audience.

I have a big family, my happy team: my wife, four daughters and two cats.

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