Customer Reviews

I Robot

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like many people, my primary exposure to the Alan Parsons Project had been strictly their top 40 hits. Shortly after the release of "Eye in the Sky", I was reassigned to an Air Force base in Korea (early 80's). While there, one of the friends I made was a huge Alan Parsons fan and had all of their albums. I borrowed and listened to them all over time, but it was this one, "I Robot", which I found to be a masterpiece. Although all of the Parsons Project albums are concept albums, this one is the ultimate concept album. Most people are familiar with the radio hit "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You", but that is just one good song on an album filled with great music, that just seems to naturally flow together in the order in which it is presented. "Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)" is one of the most stunningly beautiful songs ever recorded by anyone. "Some Other Time" is good enough to have been a hit single. The production and musicianship are incredible. This is prog-rock at its absolute best.

A musical meditation of the "Rise Of Machine and The Decline Of Man," the second Alan Parsons Project album hit all the notes that "Tales Of Mystery and Imagination" missed. For starters, this was a straight forward rock album, without the debut's classical pretensions. It was also where Parsons perfected his atmospheric instrumentals, opening the album with the (precursor to electronica) title track and then ending with the moody "Genesis Ch 1 V 32." You do get the jarring soundtrack climax of "Total Eclipse," which I always guessed was where man got terminated from the scene.

For an album that dealt with the fall of the human race, "I Robot" is a surprisingly human affair. The slow beat disco of "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You" and the dance floor paranoia of "The Voice" are anything but mechanical. The ballads of loss, "Don't Let It Show" and "Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)" could be about any typical heartbreak. Even Pat Benatar could spot the drama inherent to "Don't Let It Show," including it on her debut.

It wasn't just the drama and the sci-fi that made "I Robot" so interesting. It was the musicianship. Not as pretentious as ELP and bringing the acrobatics of Yes down to bite size nuggets, Parsons had no difficulty in constructing pop that was progressive, meticulously produced and built up like the studio architect that he is. The Alan Parsons Project recording an album in the period of the seventies this pristine when disco's big boom was steamrollering everything in its path was a pretty bold statement then. Because of Parsons' attention to detail overriding any urge to make music of the moment, "I Robot" still holds up almost 30 years later.

The sound on this new remaster blows away the original Arista cd release, but still can't touch the MFSL version (which is no longer available, and used copies go for $100+). Probably the second best APP album (after Tales Of Mystery and Imagination) this should appeal to fans of Pink Floyd and science fiction.

The Alan Parsons Project's sophomore effort I Robot was released in June of 1977.
Alan Parsons Project was the namesake band of wunderkind British producer/engineer Alan Parsons whom had made a name for himself being a tape operator when The Beatles recorded Sgt Pepper and an engineer when they made Abbey Road and Let it Be and also engineered Pink Floyd's albums Atom Heart Mother (as an assistant engineer) and Dark Side of the Moon. In addition, produced records for The Hollies, Al Stewart and Pilot among others.
The album was the follow-up to the band's debut Tales and Mysteries From Edgar Allen Poe (which was released on Charisma Records in the UK and 20th Century Records in the US) and was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in late 1976/early 1977. The album was the band's first for Arista Records, whom they signed with after the one-off deal with 20th Century expired. I Robot was a concept album about the rise of the computers and machines and the fall of man (a concept that has proved prophetic in this computer age). The musicians on the album, in addition to Parsons and collaborator/keyboard player Eric Woolfson, is almost all of Pilot (the same band who had a hit two years earlier with "Magic") which were bass player David Paton, guitarist Ian Bairston and drummer Stuart Tosh (whom would step down as Parsons' drummer after I Robot's release). Plus orchestrator Andrew Powell and several singers (see below). At the time of this album's release, punk and new wave were becoming the rage in England whilst prog rock and arena rock still ruled in the US. Would this album be a classic or lumped a poor man's prog, read on.
we start with the album's opening title cut. The Synthi-A loop segued into a collage of synthesizers and a female soprano singing above it before the band comes in and plays a funky pattern for the rest of the piece with a choir singing in unison with the piece. Next is the album's biggest hit, the disco-ish "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You". This track (featuring Lenny Zatatek on lead vocal) is one Hell of a funky rock track (it predates the disco craze that would hit America like an atom bomb at the end of 1977). Great number. "Some Other Time" is next and is a beautifully well arranged and recorded song. This song makes you feel like you are going into a different time and place! The track features Peter Straker and Jaki Whitten on lead vocals (the former on verses and the latter on the choruses). Next is the funky sounding "Breakdown". This is another great song and featured ex-Hollies lead singer Allan Clarke on lead vocals. "Don't Let It Show" ends the first half on a great note. the track is sung passionately by Dave Townsend and is a beautiful song. Female rocker Pat Benatar obviously loved the tune so much that it was featured on her 1979 debut album In the Heat of the Night.
"The Voice" begins the album's second half and features Cockney Rebel frontman Steve Harley on vocals and what a great piece. Next is the second of FOUR instrumentals called "Nucleus" which had more innovative usage of synthesizers. We segue into "Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)" which is another outstanding song featuring Jack Harris on lead vocal and BJ Cole on pedal steel guitar. We segue into "Total Eclipse" which blended synthesizers with choirs for a unique track. "Genesis Chapter. 1 Verse: 32" ends the album. This instrumental which combines band, orchestra and choir to end the album on a majestic note.
I Robot peaked at #9 on the Billboard album charts and sold over a million copies Stateside therefore going Platinum in the process.
Thirty years later, the album is now re-issued with the original album art and digitally remastered sound done by Parsons himself and FIVE BONUS TRACKS. The first is a demo of the album's title cut called "Boules". Then it's early demos and rough mixes of "Breakdown", "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" and "Day After Day". We end with "The Naked Robot" which was a medley of rough mixes that made up the album.
I Robot may be 30 now but the music still sounds as fresh as it did in 1977.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Re-mastered release from 1977 with extra songs. The album is loosely based on the Isaac Asimov science fiction book "I, Robot". This album to an extent looks at questions and whether we may or may not be pre-programmed and act in a robotic fashion; also dangers of uncontrolled development of artificial intelligence. The I Robot album was released the same week as the movie Star Wars was released - a very fortuitous time. This remastered version celebrates the 30th anniversary of the original release. The most interesting of the extra songs is The Naked Robot - 10 minute medley of early stage mixes of instrumental pieces on the album. I thought the title song of the album, I Robot, should have been used in the movie I Robot, but Alan Parsons was never contacted about it. To me the song I Robot has a feel of mystery and intrigue. It is my favorite Alan Parsons Project song, and another song on the album, I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You, is my second favorite.

The follow up to "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", was a huge success and this latest incarnation is a true collector's dream. Alan keeps getting me to part with my hard earned money as I have owned the Japanese virgin vinyl LP, Japanese version CD and now the latest expanded version. The latest digital remastering is most evident in the silent intros of "I Robot" and a heightened presence is noticeable throughout the CD. The real bonus here is almost filling the CD's limit with pure Alan Parsons' music. I like getting my money's worth. Additionally, the "Naked Robot" has captured the essence of the entire album sans all the vocals in a single track. The same treatment was applied to the re-release of "Eye In The Sky" with two tracks, "The Naked Eye" and "Eye Pieces". If all of the original works are re-released with a "Naked" reworking (not just a remix), I can foresee a future release of "Alan Parsons Project Naked" someday. So, far these additional gems are very clever and enjoyable. The other bonus tracks give us great insight into the evolution of the writing and arrangement processes behind several songs. I applaud "the master's" works and look forward to more to come.

This album will knock your socks off if you are a big fan of 70s progressive rock.

Alan Parsons, the man who engineered Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" proves to be a fantastic songwriter/musician in his own right. More than any other AP album, this one proves it.

It's not a record you should hear on anything other than an outstanding stereo system. Turn it UP, too.

Not a weak song on here. Fantastic keyboards, synths, and vocals make themselves known all over the record.

My highest recommendations go to this album!

When this album came out, I was in high school working at the school radio station, and I played the heck out of it. I know every note of this album by heart, and it's one of my fave APP albums. Loosely based on Isaac Asimov's robot series of books, it has some of the most memorable APP tunes, "I Wouldn't Wanna Be Like You," "Breakdown," and "Day After Day." Highly recommended as a good "starter album" for folks interested in APP.

Back in the 70s (the real GOLDEN ERA OF POP/ROCK Music), this album was almost immediately linked with Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon". The reason is simple: Alan Parsons was the recording engineer of such marvelous music work. He also worked with Paul McCartney on "Wings Wild Life" as he did with Al Stewart on "Year Of The Cat", as well as in the earliest Ambrosia albums (most of the Ambrosia musicians were also the first members of The Alan Parsons Project).

I ROBOT is full of energetic, intelligent and superbly performed Prog Rock.
Having the chance of getting a remastered version for less than twelve Bucks (plus the bonus tracks), is a good chance to re-discover how well conceived, marketed (the Hipgnosis cover works were really superb!) and performed, British Rock music used to be during the 70s and early 80s.

A Must-Have for any serious Prog-Rock fan for sure!

It's been a long time since I heard this album (now a CD). It was great to hear it again. It sounds wonderful. Terrific mastering. What else would you expect of Alan Parsons. The extra bonus tracks are quite interesting as well.

Its on my iPod and is a regular go to for some laid back listening.