Background
Something of a concept album, Replicas was based on a book Numan hoped to complete someday, set in a not-too-distant future metropolis where Machmen (androids with cloned human skin) and other machines keep the general public cowed on orders from the Grey Men (shadowy officials). Whilst the album’s setting and lyrics were directly inspired by the science fiction of Philip K. Dick, particularly his seminal work Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the title, surprisingly, was not. Though similar to "Replicants", the term used for androids in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, based on Dick’s book, Scott’s film came out three years after Tubeway Army’s album and Dick never used the word "Replicant" in his original 1968 novel.
Read more about this topic: Replicas (album)
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