I Robot (album)

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]

I Robot
Studio album by the Alan Parsons Project
Released	8 July 1977[1]
Recorded	December 1976 – March 1977
Studio	Abbey Road, London
Genre	Progressive rock[2] art rock[3]
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[4] "Don't Let It Show" Released: December 1977 (US) "I Robot" Released: January 1978 (UK)[5] "Day After Day" Released: February 1978 (US)

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
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[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.	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"	Instrumental	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^[13]

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 (Legacy Edition) bonus tracks^[14]

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 (tracks 1–8, 10), acoustic guitar (tracks 3, 10), backing vocals (track 8)
• Stuart Tosh – drums (tracks 1–8, 10), percussion (tracks 5–6), water gongs (track 7)
• Ian Bairnson – electric and acoustic guitars (tracks 1–8, 10), backing vocals (track 8)
• Eric Woolfson – clavinet (tracks 1, 3), Fender Rhodes (track 2), Wurlitzer (tracks 2, 4, 6), piano (tracks 3, 5, 8), organ (track 5), keyboards (tracks 7, 10), backing vocals (track 8)
• Alan Parsons – Projectron (tracks 1, 3–4, 6–7), Synthi-A Sequencer Programming (tracks 1, 8), acoustic guitar (track 5), vocoder (track 6), tape loops and effects (track 7), backing vocals (track 8)
• Duncan Mackay – keyboards (tracks 1, 4, 7, 10)
• B.J. Cole – steel guitar (track 8)
• Andrew Powell – Hammond B-3 organ (track 8)
• John Leach – cimbalom and kantele (tracks 1, 3)
• Lenny Zakatek, Allan Clarke, Steve Harley, Jack Harris, Peter Straker, Jaki Whitren, Dave Townsend, the English Chorale, the New Philharmonia Chorus – vocals
• Hilary Western – soprano vocals (track 1)
• Tony Rivers, John Perry and Stu Calver – backing vocals (tracks 3, 10)
• Produced and engineered by Alan Parsons, executive producer Eric Woolfson
• Orchestra and choir arranged and conducted by Andrew Powell

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1977–1980) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[15] 10 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[16] 23 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[17] 11 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] 13 Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[19] 16 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] 2 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[21] 2 Spanish Albums (AFE)[22] 2 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 24 UK Albums (OCC)[24] 26 US Billboard 200[25] 9

Year-end charts Chart (1977) Position Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[26] 11 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[27] 24 Chart (1978) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 10 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[29] 41 Chart (1979) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[30] 23

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[31]	Gold	20,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[32]	2× Platinum	200,000^
Germany (BVMI)[33]	Gold	400,000[34]
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[35]	Gold	50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[36]	Silver	60,000^
United States (RIAA)[37]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

In popular culture

• "Don't Let It Show" was covered by Pat Benatar for her In the Heat of the Night LP.^[38][39] Gail Godwin describes it as "much more sentimental than the usual Alan Parsons".^[40] A remixed version of the original "Don't Let It Show" was also used as the theme for an unsold pilot of the game show 21 (hosted by Jim Lange and announced by Charlie O'Donnell) in 1982.^[41]
• "The Voice" was used as the intro music for the 1981 telenovela Infamia
• "Some Other Time" was also covered by Arjen Anthony Lucassen in his 2012 album Lost in the New Real.

References

1. "BPI certifications".
2. Houle, Zachary (3 December 2013). "The Alan Parsons Project: I Robot (Legacy Edition)". PopMatters. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "I Robot – The Alan Parsons Project". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
4. Strong, Martin Charles (1995). Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 616. ISBN 978-0-86241-541-9.
5. "Music Week" (PDF).
6. "I Robot 1977, Alan Parsons Project 2nd Album, Alan Parsons & Eric Woolfson". The-alan-parsons-project.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
7. "Interview: Alan Parsons: The Artist and Scientist of Sound Recording". BlogSpot. 24 April 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
8. "I Robot (1977) | the Alan Parsons Project".
9. Eric Woolfson interview - I Robot album sleeve
10. Libération - The Alan Parson Project, les robots de l’aube
11. 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.
12. Rockwell, John (23 October 1977). "When the Punks Meet the Progressives". The New York Times. p. D20.
13. "I Robot 1977, Alan Parsons Project 2nd Album, Alan Parsons & Eric Woolfson". The-alan-parsons-project.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
14. "I Robot (Legacy Edition) by the Alan Parsons Project on Amazon Music - Amazon.com". Amazon. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
15. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 229. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
16. "Austriancharts.at – The Alan Parsons Project – I Robot" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
17. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5431a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
18. "Dutchcharts.nl – The Alan Parsons Project – I Robot" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
19. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
20. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Alan Parsons Project – I Robot" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
21. "Charts.nz – The Alan Parsons Project – I Robot". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
22. Salaverri, Fernando (2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002. Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
23. "Swedishcharts.com – The Alan Parsons Project – I Robot". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
24. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
25. "The Alan Parsons Project Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
26. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5558". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
27. "Top Selling Albums of 1977 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
28. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. 1978. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
29. "Top Selling Albums of 1978 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
30. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. 1979. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
31. "Recorld World International - Australia" (PDF). Record World. 28 October 1978. p. 80. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
32. "Canadian album certifications – Alan Parsons Project – I Robot". Music Canada.
33. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Alan Parsons Project; 'I Robot')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
34. "Dateline: Hamburg - Electrola Takes Honours" (PDF). Music Week. 25 August 1979. p. 10. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
35. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
36. "British album certifications – Alan Parsons Project – I Robot". British Phonographic Industry.
37. "American album certifications – Alan Parsons Project – I Robot". Recording Industry Association of America.
38. "Benatar's music creates yearning for life on edge". Deseret News. 25 May 2006. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. 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" ...
39. "Pat Benatar". Billboard. 1979. Retrieved 29 April 2009. "Don't Let It Show" is an Alan Parsons song and this tune perhaps ...
40. Godwin, Gail (1982). A mother and two daughters. Viking Press. p. 292. ISBN 9780670490219.
41. 21 Pilot. Wink Martindale. Retrieved 11 September 2022 – via YouTube.