"I Robot" is a progressive rock album recorded by The Alan Parsons Project, engineered by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson in 1977. It was released by Arista Records in 1977. It was intended to be based on the "I, Robot" stories written by Isaac Asimov, and Woolfson actually spoke with Asimov, 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, and the theme and lyrics were made to be more generically about robots rather than specific to the Asimov universe.
This album explores many of the philosophies regarding artificial intelligence will it overtake man, what does it mean to be man, what responsibilities do mechanical beings have to their creators, and so on and so forth with enough knotty intelligence to make it a seminal text of late-'70s geeks, and while it is also true that appreciating "I Robot" does require a love of either sci-fi or art rock, it is also true that sci-fi art rock never came any better than this.
Even when the vocal choirs pile up at the end of "Breakdown" or when the Project delves into some tight, glossy white funk on "The Voice," complete with punctuations from robotic voices and whining slide guitars, there isn't much sense of fun, but there is a sense of mystery and a sense of drama that can be very absorbing if you're prepared to give yourself over to it. The most fascinating thing about the album is that the music is restless, shifting from mood to mood within the course of a song, but unlike some art pop there is attention paid to hooks -- most notably, of course, on the hit "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You," a tense, paranoid neo-disco rocker that was the APP's breakthrough. It's also the closest thing to a concise pop song here, other tunes have plenty of hooks, but they change their tempo and feel quickly, which is what makes this an art rock album instead of a pop album.
Track listing
01. I Robot (instrumental) - 6:02
02. I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You (lead vocal: Lenny Zakatek) - 3:22
03. Some Other Time (lead vocals: Colin Blunstone) - 4:06
04. Breakdown (lead vocal: Allan Clarke) - 3:50
05. Don't Let It Show (lead vocal: Dave Townsend) - 4:24
06. The Voice (lead vocal: Steve Harley) - 5:24
07. Nucleus (instrumental) - 3:31
08. Day After Day (The Show Must Go On) (lead vocal: Jack Harris) - 3:49
09. Total Eclipse (instrumental) - 3:09
10. Genesis Ch.1. V.32 (instrumental) - 3:28
Released: June 1977
Recorded at:
Abbey Road
Studios
Genre: Progressive Rock, Pop
Length: 41:05
Label: Arista
Producer: Alan Parsons
All tracks written by: Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson, Andrew Powell
Personnel
David Paton - bass, acoustic guitars
Stuart Tosh - drums, percussion
Ian Bairnson - electric and acoustic guitars
Eric Woolfson - keyboards
Alan Parsons - keyboards
Duncan Mackay - keyboards
B.J. Cole - steel guitar
John Leach - cimbalom and kantele
Lenny Zakatek, Allan Clarke, Steve Harley, Jack Harris, Peter Straker, Jaki Whitren, Steve Davies and Dave Townsend - vocals
Een reactie posten