The Markman and The Machman Review Your Faves
Welcome to the NAGNFC's latest addition! Mark Darmofal and myself will peer into our collective psyche and review your favorite Gary Numan releases. Yes, we take requests. If you agree or disagree with anything we say, chime in with your side of things. All such comments will be included at the bottom. Real democratic, eh? Mark's comments are in parenthesis whilst The Machman's comments are not. In this month's review, Mark and Mach review a modern-day Numan classic, The Fury (1985). See below for a bonus review for Sacrifice (1994)!:
The Fury (1985)
('Here Am I/Like a Target in Flesh/One More Time/For You to
Call Out
the Dogs.' So begins Gary Numan's "The Fury," a 1985 release that
remains his highest charting album post-Beggars Banquet. Do you
have the exact chart placing Machman?)
Yes, indeed Markster! The Fury climbed to Number 24 in September of 1985!
(The most striking difference between this and the 1984 Berserker
album is the image. Shifting from the sci-fi blue haired image in
Berserker, Gary chooses to don a white suit and red bow tie to
grace this album's cover.)
Gary’s father, Tony, actually called it his “James Bond” look. Gary
revealed this in an interview to promote The Fury, after which he revealed
he wouldn’t mind replacing Roger Moore as the next Bond. Could you
imagine
our tech-gadget-music hero out there fighting the bad guys in all that
decked-out machinery? That would’ve rocked!
(There had been recent talk of Gary Numan in a leading movie role, but it
never panned out. The Fury also marks the beginning of songs targeted at
the media and lack of radio airplay that Gary had been experiencing in the
mid-80's despite his releases charting. 'Call Out the Dogs' is the 1985
version of 'I Die: You Die' but here Gary he admits 'I'm so nervous' this
time. We also see the return of the ballad in 'Miracles,' the first ballad
since 'Complex.')
Well, there were ‘Love Is Like Clock Law’ and ‘Child With The Ghost’ in
the
interim, but to my mind, ‘Miracles’ was the first ballad since ‘Complex’
that definitely touched base in that way. I felt compelled to share
that song with my high school friends. I’m glad it was a single, though
it
only charted at #49.
(While the album charted well, the singles did not. Despite the references
to his early hits, this album is the first since 1979's "Replicas" to
have
no contribution from any member of Dramatis, his touring band during the
1979-80 tours. In their place are Mike Smith, Andy Coughlan, Ian Herron,
and Dick Morrissey, the latter a jazz musician seen first with Numan in
1983's "Warriors.")
A most excellent point Markster! What an excellent choice Dick Morrissey
was for the Numan sound. As you know, Gary was deeply influenced by the
story ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’ which later was turned into the
movie ‘Blade Runner’. Morrissey did the sax for the movie soundtrack
which
spurred Gary to use the stark, rainy, future-laden imagery of saxophone
sound that Dick could bring for the next few albums.
(The female backing vocals are also heavily present throughout
the album, except for 'The Pleasure Skin,' one of the album's
simplest and strongest tracks: 'We are new men/We're the service,
the pleasure skin/We are new men/No words, no image, no hope and
fame.' Also check out 'God Only Knows,' which Gary has explained
is about a plane crash he experienced and 'How I survived God only
knows.' The final track 'I Still Remember' ends with 'This could
be/My last song/Everything must end someday' which rumouredly
Gary added in as a joke.)
I remember when my kind but cynical father heard that line “This could be my
last song…” He just said, “Yeah right”. Ha-ha! Gary
was making every
attempt at becoming dancy with the introduction of the female singers.
There was a clique of musicians overseen then by Stock, Aiken and
Waterhouse. These included Rick Astley, Kylie Minogue and other throwaway
acts. If you were a musician then and not represented by S, A & W, it
was
unlikely you would get any airplay. Gary tried hard to stay fashionable
while maintaining his distinct sound in hopes of breaking the very corporate
mindset. Luckily today, that corporate mindset is primarily by folks like
us who grew up with Gary Numan and thought he got a bad rap.
(In a 1985 interview Gary said he liked 'This Disease' and 'Tricks.'
The B-sides from this album continue in his tradition of being
solid listens, in particular 'The Fear' and 'Anthem,' which
features only Gary's vocals. 'Puppets' was updated on the 1995
Babylon releases while 'Tribal' is an early demo of 'Call Out the
Dogs.')
I found it interesting that ‘This Disease’ and ‘Tricks’, were
constructed
mainly with the live show in mind. Gary revealed this in another 1985
interview. The live set was one of the biggest he’d ever done. Two
computers ran it, there were hydraulic lifts, thousands of light bulbs and
even a monstrous lit up “NUMAN” sign in the background. The only video
that
I know exists of ‘The Fury’ stage show is the ‘Call Out The Dogs’ video.
(The Fury UK Tour set was certainly an ambitious project, one that Gary
frequently discussed in interviews at the time of the tour. Gary always
spoke about how it was run by two computers, which at the time was not
commonplace. While the previous Berserker Tour was released on video, many
fans wished one was released for The Fury Tour).
Sacrifice (1994)
Ah, Sacrifice, a diamond in the rough of CD offerings in
1994.
Numanoids worldwide praised Gary immensely for playing on his strengths on
this excellent release.
(The album opens with 'Pray,' which begins with spoken words over sparse
music. A leader is preaching to the masses, exhorting them and rallying them
to pray to the Maker. At the end of his speech, the drum machines kick in
and Gary's vocals jump in: Maker, We are disciples to your desire ... Maker,
rise from the ground and be our salvation.
The album continues in the vein throughout, from the nightmares of
'Deadliner' and 'Bleed' to the wrath of 'Love and Napalm.' It's moody,
it's
dark, it's moody and dark.)
It wasn't until Gary saw his Sacrifice emblem symbol on an
episode of
Star Trek: Next Generation in a sick bay scene (and receiving thousands of
e-mails) until he realized it was a worldwide symbol of the medicinal
community.
But the music is all good. Gary locked himself in the
studio sans
distraction to produce the likes of Desire and The Seed Of A Lie, the
atmosphere heads and diodes above the previous and widely panned release
Machine & Soul.
(The key to Sacrifice is that it is all Gary: he writes, performs, produces,
engineers and mixes. The result is an album that is consistent throughout
all its tracks.)
(The songwriting itself is vastly improved from his 1992 Machine & Soul.
"I'll be the in to your sane," Gary sings in 'A Question of Faith,'
which
was also released as a single. The traditional ballads are there, as well,
although for all its moodiness, the ballads have rays of light in them.
'You Walk in My Soul' is an invitation for the object of his devotion to
"pick up a piece, a piece of my heart and stay with me."
Although 'Magic' begins with Gary singing about the "lie," the end is
undeniably positive: And I believe in faith and magic/ And I believe in love
and wonder/ And I'll believe in you when you come for me/ And I'll believe
in you when the world comes apart)
(Sacrifice was released only in the UK in 1994 and released in the US in
1998. The US version includes four bonus tracks. They include extended
versions of 'A Question of Faith' and 'Love and Napalm.' 'Play Like God' is
the B-side to AQoF, while 'Metal Beat' is a fascinating rough demo from
1993. It is not a direct link from Machine & Soul to Sacrfice,
listening to
it shows Gary went off in a different direction after this demo.)
Pure (2000)
We lucky Numanoids have been treated to "pure" uncensored Numan gravy
with Gary's latest release. There is no hint of succumbing to fashion. I
have a 20 year old Tubeway Army patch which reads in digital letters: Gary
Numan: Pure Electric. The makers of this patch were quite adept at telling
the future.
(Back in June of 1999, there was Internet discussion among the Numan
faithful about whether or not his creative well has run dry. In response to which, I wrote,
"The time is perfect for this new album. With Sacrifice and Exile being
lyrical masterpieces (perhaps an overstatement), and fantastic mood-setters, this new album will be the best of his career." Bold statements, made before hearing any
material of the then-untitled album which became "Pure." It was not released in the U.S.
until the fall of 2000, but "Pure" fulfills those earlier expectations, expectations raised
by the fans and media due to increased public exposure. Seizing the opportunity to relaunch himself, Gary Numan does not go it alone on this effort. He has added in Sulpher into the mix, along with Steve Harris (guitar) and Richard Beasley (drums) from his touring band. The end result is an intentionally darker album than his previous efforts, yielding numerous positive reviews.)
With the exception of the highly personal Telekon, no other Gary Numan
albums have been so real. With Pure, Gary invites you almost unsettlingly
deep into his psyche. He provides his beliefs, his recent tragedies, and
his own unique take on music that has inspired him lately such as Nine Inch
Nails and Marilyn Manson.
('One Perfect Lie' is about the decision to put a family pet to sleep, in
this case Gary's dog Spooky. 'Prayer for the Unborn' and 'Little In Vitro' vividly
portray the intense personal loss Gary and his wife Gemma have suffered recently, as
well as Gary's anger reaffirming his disbelief of God.)
Back in the day, there was a creative cat and mouse game of tag between Prince and Gary, both in musical styles and album art. The trend continues today, only with more contemporary artists. Expect this to continue, with Gary's much anticipated side work with ex-Smashing Pumpkin front man Billy Corgan. The project is said to be something Gary would drop everything to do.
('Fallen' is an instrumental with backward lyrics, and its distinctive sound separates
it from the rest of the album. Gary has said there are about 25 more minutes of unreleased
similar material. The title track is an adaptation of the modified version of 'Friends,'
that was showcased on his 1998 U.S. tour. 'Walking with Shadows' is about a woman in a coma who tries to bring people into her world. While religion is not the focus of this album, a few songs do relate Gary's attitude towards it. 'Rip' is about the thoughts Jesus has as the first nail enters him as he is on the cross. Gary has said this was written ' slightly tongue in cheek' as he expected that if his Dad was God, the nail would not hurt. 'My Jesus' is about a man who hears voices that he believes is Jesus, with the screaming chrous 'I'm praying to your soul' the ultimate sing-along point of the album. Gary has said that 'Torn' is about someone willing to die at the point of orgasm to achieve the ultimate sexual satisfaction. There is not one weak track on this album. From the opening menace of 'Pure' to the wailing chorus/guitars of 'I Can't Breathe,' Gary Numan has released his best work in the late stages of his career. Buy this album now.)
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