EYE IN THE SKY

Many people here seem to think that the Alan Parsons Project debuted with their best album and then continued to make worse and worse music with each subsequent album. I would rather say that their recording career went a bit up and down and down and up, etc. with Turn Of A Friendly Card having been a return to form after the lackluster Eve and Pyramid albums. The present album continues a positive trend and is one of the better albums of the Project. The opening instrumental leads directly into Eye In The Sky, which is a minor Pop Prog classic in a way. (It is funny that Judas Priest opened their album Screaming For Vengeance - that was released in the same year - also with an instrumental (Hellion) that led directly into a song about an "eye in the sky" (Electric Eye). Strange coincidence! Both are strong ways to open an album, I think. (No comparisons above this though!)).

Children Of The Moon and Gemini are both much more interesting than most songs from albums like Eve and Pyramid. Other good songs here are Old And Wise, that closes the album, and Psychobabble. If you know what Alan Parsons Project sound like, you will know pretty much what this album sounds like since this is a very typical Alan Parsons Project album in many ways. However, this one is a bit stronger and more consistent than many other of their albums. Vocals duties are still divided between several different people. This usually leaves an album incoherent and disjointed. Here it does not have that damaging effect to the album as a whole. I think this might be because these singers are not radically different from each other.

The seven and a half minute, Silence And I has a surprising and very Symphonic and progressive section in the middle that leads into a good guitar solo finale, before the original melody of the song returns. One of the few real progressive moments on this album.

The overall quality of the songs here is very good. However, there are also a couple quite awful songs as usual on Alan Parsons Project albums. This time it is the Boogie Rock 'N' Roll of You're Gonna Get Your Fingers Burned and the even worse Step By Step.

Overall, a very good Alan Parsons Project album with some very good stuff and some lesser stuff. But the worst bits are better hidden here than on most of their other albums.

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