Review Summary: The highlights of this album show that this man is still very capable of making very good music, although this album may not be a huge hit with the original fans as it is something completely different.
When most people think of Gary Numan they remember his hit with Tubeway Army "are friends electric" or his first solo hit "cars". This latest offering from him is far from this, with dark, industrial effects and the ethereal voice of Numan, creating something completely different.
Five years (I think) from the last actual album (Pure, which was magnificent), with other remix cds etc released in between, jagged was released. Although not selling a huge amount, the album was considered more successful than originally thought.
Tent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails once listed Numan as an influence and Numan has turned this around and has used Reznors sound as a large influence in his later work. This can be more easily heard on this album than pure, the previous release.
Numans older work used a lot of synthesisers creating sounds that had never been heard before, at the time. This album however, as well as using electronic effects it also incorporates a lot of distorted heavy guitars that will appeal to fans of heavier music. An example of this is the song titled “haunted”. The verses of this song are heavily guitar driven, by a simple, but effective riff.
The mood of this album is set straight from the beginning with the very dark “pressure”, and this mood remains throughout the whole album. This means that this album is not the most “happy” album that you will hear but is great none the less.
The first single off this album, “In a Dark Place”, starts off sounding very similar to the verses of “We’re in this together Now” by NIN, however this soon changes when the pre chorus and huge chorus kick in. there are some other distinct similarities between this album and Reznors work, but to be honest I am certainly not complaing as I am a huge NIN fan.
In my opinion this album really doesn’t have a let down track, although a few of them may take a few spins to really “get”. On the other hand there are tracks on here which hit you instantly making you want to listen to them again. The choruses will stick in your head leaving you chanting the songs long after you hear them, (this happened in my case anyway). I also feel that the songs on this album have been very well written, and all fit together very well to create a decent album. Eg. “Jagged” is the perfect ending imo.
Overall, although not as good as pure, but very different, I feel that this is a great atmospheric album that fans of heavily electronic based metal or industrial music will enjoy. ALTHOUGH IT WILL TAKE A FEW SPINS as the album will feel akward at first.
DOWNLOAD:
Haunted
Blind
Jagged
In a dark place
Halo
