CoronaVinyl Day 128 (Concept Album): I Robot by The Alan Parsons Project

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is concept album.  For those who don't know, a concept album is one that has a unifying theme or narrative.  The songs might be interrelated, either musically, lyrically, or thematically.  Prog rock bands seemed to really take to the concept album, and today's selection is 1977's I Robot by British prog rockers The Alan Parsons Project.

Whether they know it or not, Bulls fans should be familiar with The Alan Parsons Project because "Sirius," the band's instrumental intro to their biggest hit, 1982's "Eye in the Sky" (which went to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100), has been the Bulls' famous team introduction music since the '80s.

But five year before then, the band released I Robot, which was their second studio album.  The album was loosely based on science fiction writer Isaac Asimov's I, Robot series of stories.  You may recall the 2004 Will Smith movie I, Robot, which was also loosely based on Asimov's work.  I Robot the album dealt with themes of artificial intelligence, robots, and the decline of man.

I think the album cover is pretty cool.  It shows people in escalator tubes in a terminal in Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport looking at a giant superimposed robot.  Musically, the album is a little funkier than I expected, but it's definitely prog rock.  Interestingly, most of the songs are sung by people who weren't band members.

The album did pretty well, reaching #9 on the Billboard album chart and eventually going platinum in the U.S. (and double platinum in Canada).  It also featured the group's second Top 40 hit in the U.S., "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You," which reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100.  "Don't Let It Show" was also a minor hit, reaching #92 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)" got to #7 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart (then known as the Easy Listening chart).

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Breakdown"

While this song wasn't released as a single, it has gotten a decent amount of play on AOR and classic rock radio stations over the years.  It's got a funky bassline and some impassioned vocals from former Hollies member Allan Clarke.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "The Voice"
The first track on Side 2 is another one with a nice, funky bassline, and the song has kind of a disco feel.  Lead vocals on this song are provided Steve Harley, who was then the lead singer of British rock group Cockney Rebel.