One record at a time: 299. Gary Numan - Metal Rhythm

Having struggled for a few years on his own record label, Gary Numan decided to sign with Illegal Records in 1988 and released the album "Metal Rhythm". 

On this offering Gary seems to be creating a kind of pseudo-industrial-funk full of Roland D-50 presents and ideas stolen from Prince. The first three songs are pretty much indistinguishable from each other and whilst they feature prominent female backing vocals, they are thankfully devoid of saxophone. Another slight annoyance on this record is the constant use of the same drum sounds. I am fairly sure Numan used a Roland R-8 here and I feel like I can hear the FATS1 snare sound on every track.

Numan only seems to offer us something original on "Devious" and "Voix" in which he recounts some of his experiences with the opposite sex. The single "America" has some nice rhythmical elements, but the sound still harks back to the PPG Wave albums he made two years before. There are some clever stabs at radio friendly pop with "Respect" and "Young Heart" but the sound was already out of step with 1988's chart fodder like Yazz and the Plastic Population or S'Express, so it's no wonder this album only found an audience with his loyal fans. I'm tempted to give this album a low score but I am conscious I have to allow room to go a lot lower. 2/5

One record at a time: 298. Gary Numan - Strange Charm

It's a shame "Strange Charm" isn't more highly regarded as, not only is it the best offering from Numan's 'wilderness years', it is one of his best overall.

I first heard this album when I began exploring Numan's back catalogue following the release of "Splinter" in 2013. My original pressing (replete with 38 year old cellophane) was purchased from eBay in 2014 and sounds very good indeed. 

Whilst I hate to find fault before we have even listened to any of the music, I do have to mention the sleeve. The grainy photo on the front is cropped from the cover of the Sharpe & Numan single "New Thing From London Town" and just screams poverty. The sleeve really does the music an injustice and has always confused me. 

However, it is worth mentioning that this vinyl has far superior sound reproduction to either of the compact discs of this album I own. Both the original Numa and the later Eagle records CDs have very strange mastering that sees the volume move up and down during tracks but the vinyl sounds much better.

The first time I played this album I wasn't too impressed by the dreary monotony of "This Is Love" and the horrible mess that is "This Need" left me totally perplexed. However, after playing the album a few times I realised the first track "My Breathing" was actually a work of genius and that the riffs on songs like "The Sleeproom" or "Strange Charm" have a habit of worming their way into your head. I also like the Sharpe & Numan single "New Thing From London Town" which is presented with revised lyrics by Numan himself. I even began to appreciate the relentless repetition of "I Can't Stop " eventually. Definitely an underrated album. 4/5

One record at a time: 297. Gary Numan - The Fury

Nothing says "I've lost the plot" quite like the cover of this album. Yet who amongst us can say we have never made a mistake? Happily, evidence of my wardrobe disasters from 1985 are safely hidden in photo albums only my mother has access to. Unfortunately for Gary Numan, his poor choices are preserved for eternity on a sleeve that is totally inconsistent with the music it contains.

This album finds Numan on his uppers and full of...well...fury. Opening track "Call Out The Dogs" has Numan sneering at the new boys and wondering why DJs don't know who he is. Elsewhere songs like "Your Fascination" and "The Pleasure Skin" have some great ideas but they tend to be played out on the same recycled synth sounds. We continually hear samples from the film Blade Runner circling around as the grinding synths hammer out proto-industrial beats.

Unfortunately the overbearing female backing vocals and saxophone solos of old return on "The Disease" and the disastrous "I Still Remember". These tracks are a clear indication that Numan was still confused about what radio stations wanted. When you read either of his autobiographies it's amazing how fixated Numan was on securing radio play. Yet in seeking to appease the Gods at Radio 1 Numan lost the very sound that led to his success in the first place. And this is how you end up with an album full of industrial tinged electro pop fronted by a man in a red bow-tie. What a mess. 2/5

One record at a time: 296. Gary Numan - Berserker

After Numan left WEA/Beggars Banquet he decided to set up his own record label and subsequently released "Berserker" in 1984.

I bought a copy of the original pressing from eBay ten years ago and it is in great condition for a forty year old record (the sleeve isn't nearly as badly yellowed as the photo might imply). As an unexpected bonus, my copy turned out to be a misprint as the labels are completely blank.

Whilst this record sold poorly and signalled the start of a fallow commercial period for Numan, I think the music sounds better than anything on his previous three albums. Yes the prominent female backing vocals and terrible saxophone solos are still here, but they don't dominate in the way they did on albums such as "Warriors". The prominent sound this time around is the mighty PPG Wave System. 

In his autobiography Numan mentions sampling into the PPG so he must have been using a Waveterm A alongside a Wave 2.2. This system was expensive and notoriously unreliable but produced a unique timbre that can be heard throughout this record. You can immediately hear a churning bass and cold stabs from the PPG on opening track "Berserker" - sounds that will be recycled throughout the record.

Most of the best songs on this album are on the first side with "The Secret" and "My Dying Machine" being amongst my favourites. There's some great rhythm guitar on "This Is New Love" and "Pump It Up" is unintentionally hilarious - but actually quite good.

Yes the title and sleeve image are a bit naff, but I insist this is a good album. You might think everything sounds old fashioned today but when you consider this was released at the same time as the first album by Art of Noise, "Some Great Reward" by Depeche Mode and "Hysteria" by The Human League, it doesn't sound so out of place. This album deserved to do better. 3/5

One record at a time: 295. Gary Numan - Warriors

"Warriors" was released in 1983 and I own an original pressing along with a version from 2022 that is a particularly vivid shade of orange.

I find this period of Gary Numan's career quite interesting as it is well documented that Numan and co-producer Bill Nelson didn't exactly see eye to eye. In fact, the relationship was so bad that Nelson had his production credit removed and Numan remixed all of the tracks alone.

Ultimately this messy situation created a messy sounding record. You can hear there are kernels of good ideas in these songs but the execution is muddy and indistinct.

To my mind this is one of Numan's least electronic records. Whilst there is a good amount of synths and Linn drum machine, they are dominated by electric guitar, electric bass, viola and worst of all, an omnipresent saxophone. The amount of sax on these songs is truly ridiculous and this could almost be called "The Saxophone Album". Tracks like "The Iceman Comes", "The Tick Tock Man" and "I am Render" are reduced to extended sax solos with short passages of singing thrown in. I can tolerate the occasional 30 second burst of sax, but seemingly endless warbling drives me absolutely crazy.

It's a shame one instrument was allowed to eclipse everything else as there is some considerable merit in the electro-funk Numan and Nelson created. It would improve this album immeasurably if all of the saxophone were cut out and the b-side "Poetry and Power" was added. Unfortunately things remain set in aspic and the potential for these songs is lost. 2/5

One record at a time: 294. Gary Numan - I, Assassin

Unfortunately Gary Numan was always on the outside of the "Futurist" sound he had inadvertently ignited. By 1982 Numan found himself increasingly at odds with current trends and the likes of Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet had run off with his crown.

Having missed the mark with his previous album "Dance", Numan decided to throw funk sounds into the melting pot in an attempt to recapture some credibility and commercial success for the follow up "I, Assassin". You can predict the outcome.

As the hackneyed Linn LM-1 sounds introduce "White Boys and Heroes" you can't help but feel a certain sense of dread. There's a very distinct sonic palette employed on this record and it hasn't aged well. There are plenty of needless saxophone solos and the ARP Odyssey seems to have been wheeled out to provide a few nods back to a time when he was more successful. Pino Palladino's excellent fretless bass is almost as central as Numan's voice but it becomes a little too intrusive after a while.

Despite sounding a little old fashioned in execution, songs like "We Take Mystery To Bed" prove that  Numan could still write a tune and the funk of "Music For Chameleons" is better than almost everything on the previous album. 2/5

One record at a time: 293. Gary Numan - Dance

Gary Numan's first two solo albums achieved gold certification and reached number one in the charts. In contrast, his third effort sold so poorly that the record company were forced to use left over "Dance" picture labels on Numan's next album. 

This is a 2018 reissue is pressed on two purple vinyl discs and housed in a gatefold sleeve; it is a collector's dream. And yet, six years after it was released, this edition is still available for purchase at the amazing price of £21. It seems there has never really been a demand for this album.

So what's wrong here? Well, firstly the title is a complete paradox: there's simply nothing on this record to make anyone want to dance. The rhythms here aren't the robotic funk of old and now seem to take an angular approach that make them difficult to navigate. A strange facet of this album is its near constant use of programmed Roland CR-78 rhythms with live drumming dubbed over the top. Unfortunately the drummers are never quite in time and the effect is intensely annoying to me. Numan really should have just let the machines do it.

To my ears this album sounds more like an artistic statement than a pop record and the involvement of esteemed collaborators Roger Taylor and Mick Karn suggest a level of self indulgence that erodes the quality of the material. The sound of the album seemed to leave casual listeners behind and this remains one of Numan's most dispensable.

There are some reasonably good tracks on here with the single "She's Got Claws" being the standout. This version of the album features largely the same content as the original but substitutes "Moral" for a new Extended Version and adds some b-sides, along with the title track that was culled from the original track listing. Also included is the Paul Gardiner single "Stormtrooper in Drag" which featured Numan as co-composer, producer, musician and vocalist. Fittingly the Paul Gardiner single is one of the best things on this otherwise lacklustre affair. 1/5