Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Gary Numan - Living Ornaments '79 and '80 (1981)
Gary Numan - Warriors (1983) + Strange Charm (1986)
Gary Numan - Exile Extended (1998)
Numan's most underrated album -- I've underrated it myself, in fact -- Dance is way overdue for a reappraisal. Contrary to what the name implies, the first side of Dance completely removes pop from the equation, leaving behind a series of abstract, protracted slow-burners with minimal drum patterns, darkly lush synth, and slightly more human-sounding vocals from a newly emotionally expressive Numan. The second half of the record sees a partial return to Numan's inimitable take on pop, while introducing a more fleshed-out, still hella synth-y sound that he'd further explore on later records.
In working on this writeup, I found out that Beggar's Banquet is putting out a rad-looking double LP reissue of Dance on the 18th of this month, so apparently they also think that now's a good time to give it a re-listen. There are a bunch of great b-sides -- his b-sides are almost always strong -- and the previously unreleased full version of the album-closing, "Metal"-referencing "Moral", so don't cheat yourself, treat yourself: buy that.
Track listing:
1. Slowcar to China
2. Night Talk
3. A Subway Called "You"
4. Cry the Clock Said
5. She's Got Claws
6. Crash
7. Boys Like Me
8. Stories
9. My Brother's Time
10. You Are, You Are
11. Moral
I'll forget who you are
I'll forget one of these days
You should also listen to:
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| Flowers - Icehouse (1980) |
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| Telex - Neurovision (1980) |
Oh yeah- you are so right. Forgot about thissun. Who is that on the delicious fretless? Mick Karn?
ReplyDeleteThanks a million!
Certainly was Mick Karn. Queen's Roger Taylor made an appearance too, bizarrely.
DeletePlease re-upload if you can. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteCurious if this reassessment, published the same day, was the inspiration for this post, or if it's just the timing of the reissue for both you and Ned. Either way, thanks! https://thequietus.com/articles/23814-gary-numan-dance-review-reissue
ReplyDeleteWow, that's crazy that it came out the same day. Definitely was not aware of this article until just now though, just a case of two people being on the same page at the same time. I didn't even know that there was a reissue coming out until I started working on the post. I just had come to really love the record over the course of a few years and wanted to talk about it.
Delete