Expanded Edition Bonus Material

Whenever the core musicians complete a basic backing track, there is a sensation of having reached a plateau and although the eventual production may take the recording in a totally different direction, at that moment something rather special has been created which the music buyer is often unaware of.

Amongst this collection of bonus material, there are several examples of the magical early takes and in this re-mastered version of 'Eye In The Sky', for those interested in the process, there is a unique opportunity to glimpse behind the curtain of the recording sessions. We have also included some abandoned experiments as well as demo material, which guided the ultimate master recordings.

Here is a track listing of the bonus material to be included on the 'Eye in the Sky' expanded edition album to whet your appetite!

Track 11 - Sirius (Demo)
AP "I often worked at home on writing instrumental tracks that could be programmed and subsequently imported into the Studio environment, where Eric and I would work on them together with the studio band. This demo of Sirius is an example of a very early version. We later changed the key to make it an intro to the title track."

Track 12 - Old & Wise (EW guide vocal)
AP " Eric would always record a guide vocal at an early stage sometimes with only draft lyrics which were subsequently revised. This was most likely the version Colin Blunstone used to learn the song for his vocal on the master."

Track 13 - Any Other Day (studio demo)
EW "Although this song did not make it onto the original album, it is perhaps interesting for two reasons. Stylistically, there is a similarity between the arrangement of this track and the middle orchestral section of 'Silence and I'. Secondly, the song is one of my personal favourites, though perhaps more suited to musical theatre and I'm currently in the process of completing it."

Track 14- Silence & I (EW early guide vocal)
EW "One of the most interesting things for me was to be reminded of the original middle section before the orchestra was added. Andrew Powell's masterful orchestral arrangement was added later, but here is the unembellished early version."

Track 15 - The Naked Eye
EW "The Naked Eye selection gives a glimpse behind the curtain of the recording studio process. One of the producer's roles is decision making as to what is used and what is not used and in this medley we have incorporated some early pre-lead vocal mixes and backing tracks which have a special magic of their own as well as individual tracks which were used in the final masters, and some which were not. As the composition of the album was thematic, it is perhaps no surprise that many of the component tracks fitted easily together. Speaking of magic moments, a feature of many of the project recordings are the masterful multi-track harmonies of Chris Rainbow and we have included a small segment where you can hear clearly what has only previously been submerged in the overall mix."

Track 16 - Eye Pieces (Classical Naked Eye)
EW "One of the most enjoyable parts of the recording process is the orchestral overdub session. In this compilation, We have taken a selection of the orchestral tracks on their own. Some of Andrew Powell's outstanding arrangements are heard here as we experienced them at the time. Some of the component parts were not used in the final mix, but even those that were will not have been heard as they are here. Some of the component parts can be easily identified, but the slow string section comes almost incredibly from the orchestral overdub on Mammagamma and only a small fragment was incorporated in the original mix. At the end of the piece, we have included an experiment tried at the end of Silence & I. Andrew Powell and I built up a multi-piano idea, which was subsequently replaced by an orchestra."

Visit the shop