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I Robot

The Alan Parsons Project - I Robot Audio CD

A fair review of the The Alan Parsons Project "I Robot" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Alan Parsons Project reviews here, or go back to the The Alan Parsons Project tabs.

Band: The Alan Parsons Project
Title: I Robot
Rating:

Release Date: 2007-03-20
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: I Robot 2: I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You 3: Some Other Time 4: Breakdown 5: Don't Let It Show 6: The Voice 7: Nucleus 05 8: Day After Day (The Show Must Go On) 9: Total Eclipse 10: Genesis Ch. 1. V. 32 11: I Robot (Boules Experiment) 12: Breakdown (Early Demo of Backing Riff) 13: I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You (Backing Track Rough Mix) 14: Day After Day (The Show Must Go On) (Early Stage Rough Mix) 15: The Naked Robot (Early Stage Instrumental Mixes)

The best - and better
More on this later. As well as reviewing an album which is brilliant even by the lofty standards of the Alan Parsons Project, I'm going to point out that there exists a version of this CD which surpasses even the remastered version generally available in the UK and the US. . . . . . . . . . . .

On a briefly personal note, I discovered APP in 1982 when I bought 'Pyramid' - and was so staggered that I went straight back out and bought the five other albums available at that time. In my amazement at this discovery, I tended to under-rate 'I Robot'. Now - and I'm not alone in this amongst Project fans in saying this - I rather think it's their best effort, and it's certainly the Project album that I find myself playing most often.

The Project seemed then, and remains to this day, the absolute zenith where progressive rock is concerned. In the late 1970s, as disco and then punk began to take over the music scene, the Project carried on regardless - with this kind of talent, you can afford to ignore trends in the broader spectrum.

As anyone reading this probably knows, the Project was the first "producer's band" - the main man, Alan Parsons, didn't even appear on the albums in the early days. Parsons, whose studio credits included 'Abbey Road', 'Dark Side of the Moon', 'Year of the Cat', 'Modern Times'. . . . . . . (the list goes on). . . . . . . . teamed up with the multi-talented Eric Woolfson to produce a supposedly one-off concept album ('Tales of Mystery and Imagination') using the very best session artists available. In fact, the title wasn't meant to be the name of the band - it was the record company's shorthand for the first project (and, to be strictly fair, it should really have been called 'The Parsons-Woolfson Project').

The name stuck, the Project moved to a new label (Arista) and a follow-up album was planned - 'I Robot'. Parsons and Woolfson were inspired by the book 'I, Robot', but that title couldn't be used because the Asimov classic was contracted. No matter - drop the comma, broaden the subject to a general look at the possibility that robots could one day dominate mankind, and press ahead. (Given recent reported experiments by the military, the idea that robots could take over seems chillingly less implausible now than it did back in 1977).

As was to become the Project's pattern thereafter, the album kicks off with the instrumental title track, a superb if gradual opener. Then we move into rock mode with 'I wouldn't want to be like you', with new discovery (and future Project stalwart) Lenny Zakatek on vocals. The mellower (but still forceful) 'Some other time' is followed by 'Breakdown', to which Allan Clarke (of the Hollies) lends his vocal talents.

After the beautiful and wistful 'Don't let it show', we're on to one of the real highlights of an all-highlights album - 'The voice', sung by the incomparable Steve Harley (whose Cockney Rebel was yet another Parsons' studio credit). The excellent instrumental 'Nucleus' gives way to the outstanding 'Day after day'. Next comes the haunting choral-instrumental 'Total Eclipse', and then another superb instrumental, the menacing 'Gensis Ch. 1 V. 32'. And that's where this superb album ended. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . until the reissue programme, that is, because the nicely-remastered CD provides five bonus tracks, including the lengthy 'The naked robot'. These tracks are a bonus in the truest sense of the word, not least because they illustrate the painstakingly meticulous way in which the albums were honed from initial inspiration through to crafted perfection. Throughout, the instrumentals are a match for the galaxy of vocal talent on display - it's almost invidious to single anyone out, but I must mention wonderfully talented guitarist Ian Bairnson.

I said, at the start, that the best could be even better, and here's how. After enjoying the conventional reissue, I discovered SHM, a recent Japanese technical development which uses advanced materials to produce even greater musical clarity yet is fully compatible with standard CD players. SHM albums - which usually come in exact replicas of the original album sleeve, which means gatefold in this instance - are seldom inexpensive, but if you want to savour 'I Robot' in even higher fidelity, the extra outlay is very worthwhile.

And that's it - a brilliant, even better for remastering, better still on SHM. . . . . . .

Ah, Parsons.
The one that got me hooked on him. The first Alan Parsons record I ever heard. Perhaps the best of his work, when he and Woolfson were hot. Deep. Good vibes.

one of my favs from college
Great music - the extras are not all that intriguing. I loved this album when I was in college. .

Best APP Album ever released.
The intricate melodies and changes of rhythm really make this album. I heard this album in College in the 70's and was hooked. Later albums may be more varied (like eve and pyramid) but this was the first I heard and therefore the best.

Accessible innovations
. Continuing to elaborate what would be one of the more expansive ranges of pop as it entered the electronic age, Parson's sophomore release is a delightful and sometimes eerie retro-future celebration where masterful pop songcraft collides with expert, unpretentiously innovative production.

You can see a complete list of all The Alan Parsons Project discography, or go back to the The Alan Parsons Project tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.