PARSONS, ALAN

The opening track to the Alan Parsons Project's Eye in the Sky remains the most recognized instrumental in sports--fanfare inseparably tied with introducing NBA legend Michael Jordan and his six-time world-champion Chicago Bulls mates before games, and still used by many teams as an energy-raising prelude. Indeed,

the subdued grandiosity, cosmic bluster, and lights-out wonder of "Sirius" sets the table for the band's smash 1982 album, whose hallmark smoothness, lushness, and balance extend to the music's exquisite songwriting, dreamy emotions, and underlying orchestral scope. Credit for the record's craft, cohesiveness, and accessibility also falls to Alan Parsons and creative partner Eric Woolfson's knack for recruiting session pros that translate their visions with unquestioned feeling--particularly, vocalists who include former Zombie leader Colin Blunstone and soul singer Lenny Zakatek.

Mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's RTIpressed 180g 45RPM 2LP and hybrid SACD versions of Eye in the Sky feature succulent warmth, magnificent balance, low-end heft, and see-through transparency that take you into the studio with Parsons at Abbey Road Studios.