I Robot (album)

I Robot is the second studio album by British rock band The Alan Parsons Project, released on 1 June 1977 by Arista Records. The album draws conceptually on author Isaac Asimov's science fiction Robot trilogy, exploring philosophical themes regarding artificial intelligence.[2] It was re-released on vinyl and cassette tape in 1984 and on CD in 2007.

For other uses, see I, Robot (disambiguation).

I Robot
Studio album by The Alan Parsons Project
Released	1 June 1977
Recorded	December 1976 – March 1977
Studio	Abbey Road, London
Genre	Progressive rock[1] art rock[2]
Length	41:05
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
"I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" Released: August 1977

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Christgau's Record Guide	C[3]

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.[4][5] 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.[6]

Artwork

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.[7] 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.

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), 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 and 24 bit/96 kHz DVD-Audio). 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.

In popular culture

• "Don't Let It Show" was covered by Pat Benatar for her In the Heat of the Night LP.[8][9] Gail Godwin describes it as "much more sentimental than the usual Alan Parsons".[10], A Remixed Version Of The Song Was Also Used As The Theme For A Potential Revival Of The Hit Game Show 21 In 1982.
• "Some Other Time" was also covered by Arjen Anthony Lucassen in his 2012 album Lost in the New Real.
• "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" is featured in the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V on the fictional radio station "Los Santos Rock Radio". The song was also featured in Season 1, episode 9, of the Netflix series Mindhunter, it was played as an ending song for the episode, the song was extended so it could cover the whole credits roll.
• "Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32" was featured in Season 1, episode 6 ("Toys"), of the Prime Video series Homecoming.

Track listing

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

Side one

No.	Title	Lead Vocals	Length
1.	"I Robot"	The English Chorale	6:02
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.	Title	Lead Vocals	Length
1.	"The Voice"	Steve Harley	5:24
2.	"Nucleus"	None	3:31
3.	"Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)"	Jack Harris	3:49
4.	"Total Eclipse" (Andrew Powell)	The English Chorale	3:09
5.	"Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32"	The New Philharmonia Chorus	3:28
Total length:			19:21

2007 reissue bonus tracks[11]

11. "Boules" (I Robot experiment) – 1:59
12. "Breakdown" (early demo of backing riff) – 2:09
13. "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" (backing track rough mix) – 3:28
14. "Day After Day" (early stage rough mix) – 3:40
15. "The Naked Robot" – 10:19

2013 Sony Music Entertainment reissue bonus tracks[12]

11. "U.S Radio Commercial for I Robot – 1:01
12. "I Robot (Boules Experiment)" – 1:59
13. "I Robot" (Hilary Western Vocal Rehearsal) – 1:33
14. "Extract 1 from The Alan Parsons Project Audio Guide" – 1:04
15. "Extract 2 from The Alan Parsons Project Audio Guide" – 0:57
16. "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" (backing track rough mix) – 3:28
17. "Some Other Time" (Complete vocal by Jaki Whitren) – 3:43
18. "Breakdown" (early demo of backing riff) – 2:09
19. "Extract 3 from The Alan Parsons Project Audio Guide" – 0:31
20. "Breakdown - The Choir" – 1:51
21. "Don't let it Show" (Eric Woolfson demo) – 3:26
22. "Day After Day" (early stage rough mix) – 3:40
23. "Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32" (Choir session) – 2:18
24. "The Naked Robot" – 10:19

Personnel

• David Paton – bass, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
• Stuart Tosh – drums, percussion, backing vocals
• Ian Bairnson – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals
• Eric Woolfson - keyboards, vocoder, backing vocals
• Alan Parsons - keyboards, vocoder, backing vocals, acoustic guitar
• Duncan Mackay – keyboards
• B.J. Cole – steel guitar
• John Leach – cimbalom, kantele
• Lenny Zakatek, Allan Clarke, Steve Harley, Jack Harris, Peter Straker, Jaki Whitren, Dave Townsend, the English Chorale, the New Philharmonia Chorus – vocals
• Hilary Western - backing vocals
• Smokey Parsons - backing vocals
• Tony Rivers, John Perry and Stu Calver - backing vocals on "Some Other Time"
• Produced and engineered by Alan Parsons, executive producer Eric Woolfson
• Orchestra and choir arranged and conducted by Andrew Powell

Charts

Year	Chart	Position
1977	Billboard 200	9
	UK Albums Chart	30
	Canada	11
	Spanish Albums Chart	2

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[13]	2× Platinum	200,000^^
Germany (BVMI)[14]	Gold	250,000^^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[15]	Gold	50,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[16]	Silver	60,000^^
United States (RIAA)[17]	Platinum	1,000,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Houle, Zachary (3 December 2013). "The Alan Parsons Project: I Robot (Legacy Edition)". PopMatters. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "I Robot – The Alan Parsons Project". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
3. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: P". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 10 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
4. "Official Website". 13 March 2014.
5. "I Robot 1977, Alan Parsons Project 2nd Album, Alan Parsons & Eric Woolfson". The-alan-parsons-project.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
6. "Interview: Alan Parsons: The Artist and Scientist of Sound Recording". BlogSpot. 24 April 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
7. Eric Woolfson interview - I Robot album sleeve
8. "Benatar's music creates yearning for life on edge". Deseret News. 25 May 2006. Retrieved 29 April 2009. Songs such as the title track, "If You Think You Know How to Love Me," "We Live for Love," "Heartbreaker," "So Sincere," a remake of Alan Parsons' "Don't Let It Show" ...
9. "Pat Benatar". Billboard. 1979. Retrieved 29 April 2009. "Don't Let It Show" is an Alan Parsons song and this tune perhaps ...
10. A mother and two daughters. 1982. p. 292.
11. "I Robot 1977, Alan Parsons Project 2nd Album, Alan Parsons & Eric Woolfson". The-alan-parsons-project.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
12. "I Robot (Legacy Edition) by the Alan Parsons Project on Amazon Music - Amazon.com". amazon.com. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
13. "Canadian album certifications – Alan Parsons Project – I Robot". Music Canada.
14. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Alan Parsons Project; 'I Robot')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
15. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
16. "British album certifications – Alan Parsons Project – I Robot". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type I Robot in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
17. "American album certifications – Alan Parsons Project – I Robot". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.