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Film: Logan's Run (1976)
Album: I-Robot - The Alan Parsons Project
Format: NTSC/Blu-ray PAL
Discovered By: Todd Ellis and Andrew C. Wendland
Set Up: Begin the album once the MGM lion appears on-screen.

Length of sync: 2 Hours and 38 Minutes (Put album on repeat to cover movie length). 

Notes: Exclude any bonus tracks, play the original 10 tracks.

Connections

  • Consider the cover of this album. Lots of people are going up and down escalators which all center around a giant robot sculpture with a red atom-like shape in the center. In the film, the residents of the city live in an enclosure filled with escalators  which all center around a giant hand sculpture with a red crystal shape in the center.
  • Both the album and the movie were based on science fiction books of the same name.
     
  • A robot named Box plays an important role in the movie.

Lyrical/Musical Connections

I Robot

  • Reversed synths fade in as the opening text appears.
     

  • Drums start as the scene changes to inside the domed city.
     

  • Mood of the music suits shots of everyday life in the city.
     

  • Music fades out slowly as the residents of the city file in to watch the Carousel ritual.

I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You

  • "If I was high-class" - as the audience and the members of the ritual both look high up into the air, at what resembles a disco ball (during a disco-esque song).
     

  • Guitar solo starts as the giant platform begins to rotate and the ritual begins.

Some Other Time

  • "It's the evening of another day, and the end of mine" - as the Carousel participants start to explode, ending their lives.
     

  • Second verse starts when the scene changes to Logan 5 and Francis 7 chasing down a runner.
     

  • Music picks up pace as we see the runner try to run from the duo of Sandmen
     

  • "Held before me" - as Logan holds his gun before the runner.
     

  • "Some other place, somewhere.." - as the scene cuts briefly back to the Carousel ritual.

Breakdown

  • "I break down" - as the Stickmen spray liquid on the runner's body that will break it down.
     

  • "When I break down" during a close-up shot of the runner's dead body breaking down.

Don't Let It Show

  • "If it's getting harder to face every day, don't let it show, don't let it show." - lyrics could apply to Jessica, who fears her approaching death at 30 and plans to run, but is forced to keep quiet about it.

The Voice

  • The song, which is about the omnipresence of technology and artificial intelligence, begins as Logan approaches the city's master computer.
     

  • "Before you run and hide" - as the number of unaccounted-for runners shows up on the computer's screen.
     

  • The fast-paced string solo begins as Logan starts to undergo the retrogram procedure, and ends when the retrogram is complete.
     

  • "Scared of the darkness that's there in your mind, you're frightened to move because of what you might find." as Logan frighteningly notices that his life-clock is now blinking, indicating that he has just lost 4 years of his life.

Nucleus

  • Song begins as scene transitions.
     

  • ​Prominent synthesizer melody as Logan shows Jessica the metal ankh, revealing that he knows about Sanctuary.

Nucleus

  • Song begins as scene transitions.
     

  • ​Prominent synthesizer melody as Logan shows Jessica the metal ankh, revealing that he knows about Sanctuary.

Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)

  • Nucleus transitions into this song when the scene changes.

Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)

  • Nucleus transitions into this song when the scene changes.

Total Eclipse

  • The low hum heard as Logan and Jessica travel seems to emulate the sound of the car they travel in.
     

  • This eerie, apocalyptic orchestral piece begins as Logan and Jessica approach Cathedral, a run-down area of the city as the screen in the mazecar flashes "Cathedral Station: Personal Risk Area".
     

  • The chaotic mood of the song suits Logan and Jessica walking through the run-down wasteland.

Genesis Ch 1 V 32

  • Begins as Logan and Jessica are confronted by the "cubs".

Genesis Ch 1 V 32

  • Begins as Logan and Jessica are confronted by the "cubs".

Second Play-through

I Robot
I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You

  • Song starts up as the doctor tries to kill Logan with the machine.
     

  • "I wouldn't want to be like you.." - as Logan pushes Francis off him, he no longer wants to be a Sandman like Francis; he wants to run.
     

  • Mood of the song changes accordingly as they enter the Love Shop.

Some Other Time
Breakdown

  • "When I break down just a little and lose my head." - as Holly 13 confronts the duo, in hysterics.
     

  • "Freedom, freedom take the wall away" - as a bunch of Sandmen break through a wall to capture Logan.

Don't Let It Show
The Voice

  • "You look all around you, but nobody's there.." - as Logan looks through the abandoned parts of the city.
     

  • Music changes tone as they enter the icy caves.
     

  • The song plays as Jessica and Logan meet yet another form of artificial intelligence, Box the robot.
     

  • "He's gonna get you.." in a robotic voice as Box describes his job to Logan and Jessica: freezing runners in blocks of ice.

Nucleus

  • Some of Box's movements match with the robotic sounding voice/tape loops.

Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)

  • "Gaze at the sky" - as Francis looks out at the setting sun.

    "You knew what it meant to be happy and free, with time on your side.." - Describes Logan and Jessica. Now that they're free of the domed city, time is on their side: their life-clocks no longer dictate if they live or die.
     

  • "Longing to reach them.." - as Logan and Jessica make their way through the overgrown desolate outside wasterland, searching for Sanctuary.

Total Eclipse
Genesis Ch 1 V 32
  • The instrumental works very well as music for the scene of Logan and Jessica exploring the abandoned town.

Third Play-through

I Robot
I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You

​

Some Other Time

  • "In a matter of a moment" - Francis grabs Jessica and takes her to another room.
     

  • "lost..." - Logan calls to Jessica only to see she's not there.
     

  • "Some other place" - Logan finds Jessica and Francis

Breakdown
  • "...my friends" - Logan and Francis as shown in the film are/were friends.
     
  • "Anybody else can see what's wrong with me" - As Francis looks at Logan's hand, his crystal no longer lighting up.
Don't Let it Show
  • "If you smile" - Logan and Jessica as they smile around the fire.
The Voice
  • "come up from behind" - as everyone looks behind to see Jessica call out to them.
     
  • "He's gonna get you" - Sandmen come and take Logan and Jessica.
Nucleus
  • Voices and typing can be heard as Logan's mind is being read by the machine
Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)
  • The song starts to play as the city starts to fall.
     
  • The songs lyrics help illustrate the films ending, with the people now free and seeing the Old man.
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