Eve (Alan Parsons Project album)

Eve is the fourth studio album by British rock band the Alan Parsons Project, released on 27 August 1979 by Arista Records. The album's focus is on the strength and characteristics of women, and the problems they face in the world of men.^[2] It had originally been intended to focus on "great women in history", but evolved into a wider concept.^[2] The album name was the same as Eric Woolfson's mother-in-law.^[3]

Eve
Studio album by the Alan Parsons Project
Released	27 August 1979
Recorded	December 1978–June 1979
Studio	Super Bear Studios
Genre	Progressive rock symphonic rock pop rock new wave
Length	39:23
Label	Arista
Producer	Alan Parsons
The Alan Parsons Project chronology
Pyramid (1978) Eve (1979) The Turn of a Friendly Card (1980)
Singles from Eve
"Lucifer" Released: August 1979[1] "Damned If I Do" Released: September 1979 "You Won't Be There" Released: January 1980 (US) "You Lie Down with Dogs" Released: March 1980 (US)

Eve is the Alan Parsons Project's first album with singer Chris Rainbow. The album's opening instrumental "Lucifer" was a major hit in Europe, and "Damned If I Do" reached the US Top 40, peaking at No. 27, and reaching No. 16 in Canada.^[4] "Lucifer" also is used as title track for the German political TV show Monitor.

Morse code

The album features a few instances of morse code, with the first occurring at the beginning of the album. Parsons extracted the morse code from shortwave radio without knowing the contents of the message. He recalled that someone did translate the message for him but said that "there was nothing particularly interesting embedded in there." The name "Eve" is repeated on keyboard in morse code during this song.^[5]

Cover art

The gatefold cover art for Eve by Hipgnosis features three women wearing veils (two on the front, one on the reverse), with their faces partially in shadow. The shadows and veils partially conceal disfiguring scars and sores (the lesions were not real, however^[6]). Controversy over the disfiguring of the models' faces brought comment from Eric Woolfson, "The cover seemed a mis-match to me. It was a brilliant cover from Hipgnosis, but it didn't reflect my thinking at all, or relate to what is made clear on the Record."^[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Christgau's Record Guide	D[8]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
Smash Hits	8/10[11]

The Globe and Mail wrote that, "like its trio of predecessors, Eve has occasional moments of melodic splendor punctuated by lengthy periods of accompaniment for riding elevators."^[12]

Bonus tracks detail

"Elsie's theme from 'The Sicilian Defence' (the project that never was)" was from an experimental album entitled "The Sicilian Defence". Recorded at the same time as Eve, the album was not released at the time.^[3] "Lucifer (Demo)" was recorded in a beachfront apartment in Monaco.^[3]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.

Side one

No.	Title	Lead Vocals	Length
1.	"Lucifer"	(Instrumental)	5:09
2.	"You Lie Down with Dogs"	Lenny Zakatek	3:47
3.	"I'd Rather Be a Man"	David Paton	3:53
4.	"You Won't Be There"	Dave Townsend	3:34
5.	"Winding Me Up"	Chris Rainbow	4:04
Total length:			20:27

Side two

No.	Title	Lead Vocals	Length
1.	"Damned If I Do"	Zakatek	4:50
2.	"Don't Hold Back"	Clare Torry	3:37
3.	"Secret Garden"	Rainbow	4:41
4.	"If I Could Change Your Mind"	Lesley Duncan	5:49
Total length:			18:57

Eve was remastered and reissued in 2008 with the following bonus tracks:

10. "Elsie's Theme from 'The Sicilian Defence' (the Project that never was)"
11. "Lucifer" (demo)
12. "Secret Garden" (early rough mix)
13. "Damned If I Do" (rough mix)
14. "Don't Hold Back" (vocal rehearsal rough mix)
15. "Lucifer" (early rough mix)
16. "If I Could Change Your Mind" (rough mix)

Personnel

• Alan Parsons – guitars, autoharp, drum machine, and Morse code (track 1), keyboards (track 8), production, engineering
• Eric Woolfson – clavinet (track 2), piano (tracks 2, 4–5, 9), music box (track 5), Wurlitzer (track 6), keyboards (track 8), organ (track 9), executive producer
• Duncan Mackay – synthesizers (tracks 1–3, 6), piano (track 3 and 5), music box (track 5), keyboards (track 8)
• Ian Bairnson – guitars (all tracks), backwards Wah-wah FX (track 3)
• David Paton – bass guitar (all tracks), lead vocal (track 3)
• Stuart Elliott – drums (all tracks), percussion (tracks 3 and 8)
• Lenny Zakatek – lead vocal (tracks 2 and 6)
• Dave Townsend – lead vocal (track 4)
• Clare Torry – lead vocal (track 7)
• Lesley Duncan – lead vocal (track 9)
• Chris Rainbow – backing vocals (tracks 2, 7–9), lead vocal (track 5)
• Andrew Powell – orchestral arrangements, choral arrangements, conductor
• The Orchestra of the Munich Chamber Opera care of Eberhard Schoener
  • Sandor Farkas – leader
  • Curtis Briggs – coordinator
• Shapiro and Steinberg – trivia consultants
• Hipgnosis – cover art

Two of the lead singers on the album, Clare Torry and Lesley Duncan, previously performed on Alan Parsons' signature engineering work, Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1979–1980) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[13] 14 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 2 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[15] 10 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 40 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 1 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 4 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19] 6 Spanish Albums (AFE)[20] 4 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[21] 10 UK Albums (OCC)[22] 74 US Billboard 200[23] 13

Year-end charts Chart (1979) Peak position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 40 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[25] 49 Chart (1980) Peak position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26] 7

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[27]	Platinum	100,000^
Germany (BVMI)[28]	Gold	400,000[29]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[30]	Gold	7,500^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[31]	Gold	50,000^
United States (RIAA)[32]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.