The Alan Parsons Project's Eye In The Sky box set detailed

Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons
Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons

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)

Blu-ray

  • 5.1 Surround Sound Mix (2017)
  • Stereo HD version (1982)
  • Double vinyl (at 45 rpm)
  • Flexidisc: Excerpts from Eye in the Sky

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