I Robot (album)

Last updated

I Robot
The Alan Parsons Project - I Robot.jpg
Studio album by
Released8 July 1977 [1]
RecordedDecember 1976 – March 1977
Studio Abbey Road, London
Genre
Length41:05
Label Arista
Producer Alan Parsons
The Alan Parsons Project chronology
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
(1976)
I Robot
(1977)
Pyramid
(1978)
Singles from I Robot
  1. "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You"
    Released: August 1977 [4]
  2. "Don't Let It Show"
    Released: December 1977 (US)
  3. "I Robot"
    Released: January 1978 (UK) [5]
  4. "Day After Day"
    Released: February 1978 (US)

I Robot is the second studio album by British rock band the Alan Parsons Project, released on 8 July 1977 by Arista Records. The album draws conceptually on author Isaac Asimov's science fiction Robot stories, exploring philosophical themes regarding artificial intelligence. [3]

Contents

Background and concept

The album was intended to be based on the I, Robot stories written by Asimov, and Eric Woolfson spoke with Asimov himself, who was enthusiastic about the idea. As the rights already had been granted to a TV/movie company, the album's title was altered slightly by removing the comma in "I," and the theme and lyrics were made to be more generically about robots rather than to be specific to the Asimov universe. [6] The cover inlay reads: "I Robot... The story of the rise of the machine and the decline of man, which paradoxically coincided with his discovery of the wheel... and a warning that his brief dominance of this planet will probably end, because man tried to create robot in his own image." The title of the final track, "Genesis Ch.1 v.32", follows this theme by implying a continuation to the story of Creation, since the first chapter of Genesis only has 31 verses. [7]

According to the band's website, Paul McCartney unintentionally helped to inspire the song "Some Other Time". When Parsons had asked if McCartney could read a line of poetry for the band's first album in exchange for a favor Parsons had previously done him, McCartney replied by saying; "Some other time Alan, some other time". This gave the band an idea for a song title. [8]

By pure coincidence, the album was released shortly after Star Wars came out in the United States. The group acknowledges that part of the album's success came from it being the only album with a robot on the cover during a time when robots were suddenly "all the rage". [8]

Artwork

The artwork was created by the English art design group Hipgnosis. The album cover photo features Storm Thorgerson's assistants in the escalator tubes of the circular Terminal 1 building of the Charles de Gaulle Airport outside of Paris. [9] The picture was taken without the permission of the airport management. [10] Over this is superimposed a painting of a robot with a stylised atom for a brain. The robot also appears on the label of the record. The original vinyl release has a gatefold-style cover; the inside spread has the lyrics and a monochrome photograph of Parsons. The pose and angle of the photograph echoes that of the robot on the front cover.

Singles

Three singles were released from the album: "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You", "Don't Let it Show" and "Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)". The LP track "Breakdown" went into heavy rotation on AOR stations and continues to be played on classic rock radio.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [3]
Christgau's Record Guide C [11]

The New York Times praised the "really ingenious use of the possibilities of the modern recording studio," but concluded that "the overall esthetic is still a flatulent one, self-importantly preening itself as art." [12]

Reissues

I Robot has been reissued multiple times in various formats since its initial release on vinyl, including numerous audiophile releases. Besides the 8-track, vinyl and compact-cassette releases, Arista also released the original aluminum CD along with the rest of the Project albums, up to that time. Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) released the album on standard vinyl (MFSL 1-084), UHQR vinyl (MFQR 1-084), Ultradisk One-Step vinyl (UD1S 1-041), and on aluminium CD (MFCD-1-804). Classic Records has released the album in analogue form on 180-gram vinyl, as well as digitally on HDAD (24 bit/192 kHz DVD-Audio and 24 bit/96 kHz DVD-Video). JVC released the album as a K2 edition, with Ammonia Avenue and Eye in the Sky . In 2007, as part of a larger campaign, Sony released a remastered version along with bonus tracks on CD. It was later released in Japan as an SHM-CD, with the same mastering.

The album was re-released under Legacy Recordings as a "legacy edition" in 2013 on CD, with an extra disc with unreleased bonus tracks, mastered by Dave Donelly. There was also a vinyl edition with the same mastering launched one month later.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLead VocalsLength
1."I Robot"The English Chorale6:02
2."I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" Lenny Zakatek 3:22
3."Some Other Time" Peter Straker & Jaki Whitren 4:06
4."Breakdown" Allan Clarke 3:50
5."Don't Let It Show" Dave Townsend 4:24
Total length:21:44
Side two
No.TitleLead VocalsLength
1."The Voice" Steve Harley 5:24
2."Nucleus"Instrumental3:31
3."Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)" Jack Harris 3:49
4."Total Eclipse" (Andrew Powell)The English Chorale3:09
5."Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32"The New Philharmonia Chorus3:28
Total length:19:21
2007 reissue bonus tracks [13]
  1. "Boules" (I Robot experiment) – 1:59
  2. "Breakdown" (early demo of backing riff) – 2:09
  3. "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" (backing track rough mix) – 3:28
  4. "Day After Day" (early stage rough mix) – 3:40
  5. "The Naked Robot" – 10:19
2013 Sony Music Entertainment reissue (Legacy Edition) bonus tracks [14]
  1. "U.S Radio Commercial for I Robot – 1:01
  2. "I Robot (Boules Experiment)" – 1:59
  3. "I Robot" (Hilary Western Vocal Rehearsal) – 1:33
  4. "Extract 1 from The Alan Parsons Project Audio Guide" – 1:04
  5. "Extract 2 from The Alan Parsons Project Audio Guide" – 0:57
  6. "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" (backing track rough mix) – 3:28
  7. "Some Other Time" (Complete vocal by Jaki Whitren) – 3:43
  8. "Breakdown" (early demo of backing riff) – 2:09
  9. "Extract 3 from The Alan Parsons Project Audio Guide" – 0:31
  10. "Breakdown - The Choir" – 1:51
  11. "Don't let it Show" (Eric Woolfson demo) – 3:26
  12. "Day After Day" (early stage rough mix) – 3:40
  13. "Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32" (Choir session) – 2:18
  14. "The Naked Robot" – 10:19

Personnel

Charts

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [31] Gold20,000^
Canada (Music Canada) [32] 2× Platinum200,000^
Germany (BVMI) [33] Gold400,000 [34]
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [35] Gold50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [36] Silver60,000^
United States (RIAA) [37] Platinum1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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