I Robot (album)

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/irobot.php |title=I Robot 1977, Alan Parsons Project 2nd Album, Alan Parsons & Eric Woolfson |publisher=The-alan-parsons-project.com |access-date=23 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924035302/http://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/irobot.php |archive-date=24 September 2012 |df=dmy-all }} 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.{{cite web |title=Interview: Alan Parsons: The Artist and Scientist of Sound Recording |url=http://alanparsons-project.blogspot.de/2010/04/interview-alan-parsons-artist-and.html |website=BlogSpot |access-date=13 October 2018 |date=April 24, 2010}}

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.{{cite web | url=https://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/i-robot | title=I Robot (1977) | the Alan Parsons Project }}

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".

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.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltveRAyv_fo Eric Woolfson interview - I Robot album sleeve] The picture was taken without the permission of the airport management.[https://www.liberation.fr/culture/musique/the-alan-parson-project-les-robots-de-laube-20220205_BRB5UNB54NE3FMZE2OM5TRMALQ/ Libération - The Alan Parson Project, les robots de l’aube] 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.

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.

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/i-robot-mw0000650611|title=I Robot – The Alan Parsons Project|work=AllMusic|access-date=16 February 2013}}

|rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

|rev2Score = C{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: P|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=P&bk=70|access-date=March 10, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}

}}

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."{{cite news |last1=Rockwell |first1=John |title=When the Punks Meet the Progressives |work=The New York Times |date=23 Oct 1977 |page=D20}}

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.

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

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| extra_column = Lead Vocals

| total_length = 21:44

| title1 = I Robot

| extra1 = The English Chorale

| length1 = 6:02

| title2 = I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You

| extra2 = Lenny Zakatek

| length2 = 3:22

| title3 = Some Other Time

| extra3 = Peter Straker & Jaki Whitren

| length3 = 4:06

| title4 = Breakdown

| extra4 = Allan Clarke

| length4 = 3:50

| title5 = Don't Let It Show

| extra5 = Dave Townsend

| length5 = 4:24

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| extra_column = Lead Vocals

| total_length = 19:21

| title1 = The Voice

| extra1 = Steve Harley

| length1 = 5:24

| title2 = Nucleus

| extra2 = Instrumental

| length2 = 3:31

| title3 = Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)

| extra3 = Jack Harris

| length3 = 3:49

| title4 = Total Eclipse

| note4 = Andrew Powell

| extra4 = The English Chorale

| length4 = 3:09

| title5 = Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32

| extra5 = The New Philharmonia Chorus

| length5 = 3:28

}}

;2007 reissue bonus tracks{{cite web |url=http://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/irobot.php |title=I Robot 1977, Alan Parsons Project 2nd Album, Alan Parsons & Eric Woolfson |publisher=The-alan-parsons-project.com |access-date=28 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924035302/http://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com/irobot.php |archive-date=24 September 2012 |df=dmy-all }}

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{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/Robot-Legacy-Alan-Parsons-Project/dp/B00DTVVHPO |title=I Robot (Legacy Edition) by the Alan Parsons Project on Amazon Music - Amazon.com |website=Amazon |access-date=27 October 2018 }}

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

• 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

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col" | Chart (1977–1980)

! scope="col" | Peak
position

|-

! scope="row" | Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=229}}

| style="text-align:center;"| 10

|-

{{album chart|Austria|23|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=I Robot|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}

|-

{{album chart|Canada|11|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=I Robot|chartid=5431a|refname=CAN1|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}

|-

{{album chart|Netherlands|13|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=I Robot|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}

|-

! scope="row"| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts){{cite book|last=Pennanen|first=Timo|title=Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972|edition=1st|publisher=Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava|location=Helsinki|year=2006|isbn=978-951-1-21053-5| language= fi}}

| align="center"| 16

|-

{{album chart|Germany4|2|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=I Robot|id=9375|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}

|-

{{album chart|New Zealand|2|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=I Robot|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}

|-

!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFE){{Cite book|last=Salaverri|first=Fernando|title=Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002|publisher=Fundación Autor-SGAE|year=2005|isbn=84-8048-639-2|location=|pages=}}

| style="text-align:center;"|2

|-

{{album chart|Sweden|24|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=I Robot|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}

|-

{{album chart|UK2|26|date=19770821|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}

|-

{{album chart|Billboard200|9|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}

|}

{{col-2}}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col" | Chart (1977)

! scope="col" | Position

|-

{{album chart|Canada|11|artist=The Alan Parsons Project|album=I Robot|chartid=5558|refname=CAN2|rowheader=true|access-date=July 30, 2024}}

|-

! scope="row" | New Zealand Albums (RMNZ){{cite web |url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/annual-albums/1977-12-31 |title=Top Selling Albums of 1977 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart |publisher=Recorded Music New Zealand |access-date=9 November 2021 }}

| 24

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col" | Chart (1978)

! scope="col" | Position

|-

! scope="row" | German Albums (Offizielle Top 100){{cite web |url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/album-jahr/for-date-1978 |title=Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts |publisher=GfK Entertainment Charts |language=de |date=1978 |access-date=9 November 2021 }}

| 10

|-

! scope="row" | New Zealand Albums (RMNZ){{cite web|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/annual-albums/1978-12-31|title=Top Selling Albums of 1978 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart|publisher=Recorded Music New Zealand|access-date=26 January 2022}}

| 41

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col" | Chart (1979)

! scope="col" | Position

|-

! scope="row" | German Albums (Offizielle Top 100){{cite web |url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/album-jahr/for-date-1979 |title=Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts |publisher=GfK Entertainment Charts |language=de |date=1979 |access-date=9 November 2021 }}

| 23

|}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=album|artist=Alan Parsons Project|title=I Robot|award=Gold|relyear=1977|certyear=1978|certref={{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Record-World-IDX/IDX/70s/78/RW-1978-10-28-OCR-Page-0074.pdf|access-date=July 30, 2024|title=Recorld World International - Australia|magazine=Record World|date=October 28, 1978|page=80}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Canada|artist=Alan Parsons Project|title=I Robot|award=Platinum|number=2|certyear=1979|relyear=1977}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Germany|artist=Alan Parsons Project|title=I Robot|award=Gold|certyear=1978|relyear=1977|salesamount=400,000|salesref={{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1979/Music-Week-1979-08-25.pdf|title=Dateline: Hamburg - Electrola Takes Honours|magazine=Music Week|page=10|date=25 August 1979|accessdate=27 April 2022}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Spain|type=album|artist=Alan Parsons Projecy|title=I Robot|award=Gold|relyear=1979|certyear=1983|certref={{cite book|first= Fernando |last= Salaverri |title= Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 |url= http://www.mediafire.com/view/x263f6daopkswo8 |edition= 1st |date= September 2005 |publisher= Fundación Autor-SGAE |location= Spain |isbn= 84-8048-639-2}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United Kingdom|artist=Alan Parsons Project|title=I Robot|award=Silver|certyear=1978|relyear=1977|id=3139-3691-2}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United States|artist=Alan Parsons Project|title=I Robot|award=Platinum|certyear=1978|relyear=1977}}

{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}

• "Don't Let It Show" was covered by Pat Benatar for her In the Heat of the Night LP.{{cite news |title=Benatar's music creates yearning for life on edge |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,635210345,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120731180741/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,635210345,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 July 2012 |quote=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" ... |work=Deseret News |date=25 May 2006 |access-date=29 April 2009 }}{{cite magazine |title=Pat Benatar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AyUEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Don%27t+Let+It+Show%22+Alan+PArsons&pg=PT68 |quote="Don't Let It Show" is an Alan Parsons song and this tune perhaps ... |magazine=Billboard |year=1979 |access-date=29 April 2009 }} Gail Godwin describes it as "much more sentimental than the usual Alan Parsons".{{cite book |title=A mother and two daughters |year=1982 |page=292 |isbn=9780670490219 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=36NaAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Don%27t+Let+It+Show%22+Alan+PArsons |last1=Godwin |first1=Gail |publisher=Viking Press }} 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.{{cite AV media |title = 21 Pilot |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdzmDa3VWDc |publisher = Wink Martindale |access-date = September 11, 2022 |via = YouTube |at = 0:11 }}
• "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.

{{Reflist}}

{{The Alan Parsons Project}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:The Alan Parsons Project albums

Category:1977 albums

Category:Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis

Category:Science fiction concept albums

Category:Albums produced by Alan Parsons

Category:Arista Records albums