Replica

A replica is an exact reproduction, such as of a painting, as it was executed by the original artist or a copy or reproduction, especially one on a scale smaller than the original.

A replica is a copying closely resembling the original concerning its shape and appearance. An inverted replica complements the original by filling its gaps. It can be a copy used for historical purposes, such as being placed in a museum. Sometimes the original never existed. Replicas and reproductions can be related to any form of licensing an image for others to use, whether it is through photos, postcards, prints, miniature or full size copies they represent a resemblance of the original object.

"Not all incorrectly attributed items are intentional forgeries. In the same way that a museum shop might sell a print of a painting or a replica of a vase, copies of statues, paintings, and other precious artefacts have been popular through the ages.

However, replicas have often been used illegally for forgery and counterfeits, especially of money and coins, but also commercial merchandise such as designer label clothing, luxury bags and accessories, and luxury watches. In arts or collectible automobiles, the term "replica" is used for discussing the non-original recreation, sometimes hiding its real identity.

Replicas (album)

Replicas is the second and final album by British band Tubeway Army, released in 1979. It followed their self-titled debut from the previous year. After this, Tubeway Army frontman Gary Numan would continue to release records under his own name, though the musicians in Tubeway Army would continue to work with him for some time. Replicas was the first album of what Numan later termed the "machine" phase of his career, preceding The Pleasure Principle and Telekon, a collection linked by common themes of a dystopian science fiction future and transmutation of man/machine, coupled with an androgynous image and a synthetic rock sound.

Fuelled by a surprise No. 1 hit single, "Are 'Friends' Electric?", the album also reached No. 1 in the UK charts in July 1979 and was certified Gold by the BPI for sales in excess of 100,000 copies.

Background

A loose 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). While 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 was not. Although Numan's Machmen were 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.