The Alan Parsons Project – I Robot

I heard someone say this is the closest we'll get to a sequel of the dark side of the moon and that really stuck with me

Can I give this six stars? This album makes me think of the Alan Parson's quote, "audiophiles don't use their equipment to listen to your music. Audiophiles use your music to listen to their equipment." This may be the best my equipment has ever sounded. Wow.

bought immediately, back in 1980 when a mentor played it or me. one of the most extremely well thought out and produced recording far a head of its time. this alan parsons project lp is best played loud on a high quality sound system where the magnitude of the excellent song arrangements can be FULLY appreciated. true fan of ALL of their relases but this is their master piece.

Consistently one of the best sounding records I've ever owned.

Excellent pressing of an excellent album. Great sound depth, it always impresses people, and probably the best Alan Parson Project album anyways, so if you are going to buy one album in this genre and from this band, this is the one to have in your collection!

My copy has the AL 7022 followed by MR 25381 (all etched) and the Sterling imprint on the runout. Any ideas which version this is?

I believe that I have an unlisted version. It is Arista 1977 based on the I Robot labels. The cover has the pressing code on the spine and back cover matching the German release. The inside of the cover indicates that it was printed in . The back of the cover has "Printed in U.S.A." in yellow after the copyright information (the Printed in USA part is smudged like it is wiping off.). The vinyl itself has R140099 stamped in the run-out and printed on the robot's shoulder on the label. It still has the AL 7002 at the top under the Arista logo. The unusual label marks are actually:
side 1: R140099 A / Mfd. by RCA / Music Service / Under License
side 2: R140099 B / Manufactured by RCA Music / Service Under License

In the run-out on side 1 it is R-140099A -2, with a 1 on the opposite side and a 1A at 3 o'clock. There is a very faint handwritten C next to the 1A.
In the run-out on side 2 it is: R140099B 3, with what is either A2, 12, or 42 at 2 o'clock and a very faint handwritten M next to it.
There is no CRC underneath the copyright info on the back cover.

My theory is that Arista was not able to pace production with demand, so they cut some masters and had RCA press them, then they put them in covers that they had printing in where they were able to scale up production. It could also be a separate club pressing, but I'm surprised they wouldn't put any branding on the cover. It could also be that a previous owner put this vinyl in a German cover, but that wouldn't explain the yellow "Printed in the USA" stamp.

I have 2 of AL 7002 and noticed on the edge where it says the catalog number and artist and title of the album one is in white letters and the other in red letters. I inspected the album covers front and back to see if I could find a quick difference.I found that the album with the white edge lettering has Mfd. by RCA Music Service under License, 6550 East 30th Street , Indianapolis, Indiana 46219 then on the 4th line in slightly larger font R 140099 All of this is next to the Side Two listing starting at the 3rd song DAY AFTER DAY (THE SHOW MUST GO ON ) . Does anyone know why there is a difference ?