The Pleasure Principle
Gary Numan
1979
Album Summary
The Pleasure Principle is the debut solo studio album by English musician Gary Numan. Released about six months after Replicas (1979), the second album with his band Tubeway Army, The Pleasure Principle reached number 1 in the United Kingdom.
WikipediaGary Numan was created in a lab in 1977, a collaboration between MIT scientist Garry Smirnoff and singer-songwriter Randy Newman (hence the name "Garry Nu-Man", or "Gary Numan" as it came to be known.) After 2 years of neural network processing, Gary wrote and recorded The Pleasure Principle, becoming the first AI-generated entity to create a full-length, original album. (A year previously, an AI algorithm developed by a team at Stanford created an album, but it turned out to be made up entirely of Captain and Tennille cover versions, a major setback and disappointment for the team.) The Pleasure Principle became a huge success, with Cars, an ode to Gary's fellow machines, shooting to number one overnight. Sadly, Gary's success was short-lived. Like so many that came before before, Gary succumbed to the indulgences of fame and wealth. While working on its follow-up album, Gary discovered Usenet, a recently launched distributed system of computers. This sent Gary down a rabbit-hole of increasingly niche porn, culminating in a visit to a robot tentacle porn newsgroup, where it contracted a serious virus from which its handlers were unable to recover. Gary was decommissioned and sold for parts in January of 1980. Soon after that, budding music producer and talent scout Lou Pearlman was asked to find a human stand-in for the fallen AI entity in order to capitalize on the opportunity. Lou signed up-and-comer Anthony James Webb, who adopted the Gary Numan stage name and persona and is still performing to this day. Follow-up releases have paled in comparison to the original computer-generated compositions, but at least we have this classic to always remember "Garry Nu-Man" by. 3 stars.
Android. British robotic music without electric guitar. Listened 3 times in a day. Like it.
Nope. Unrelentingly repetitive sine-saw-synth with atonal vocals shouting disconnected lyrics. This didn't need to exist. Hard no.
Pretty solid album! I like the genre - it's good while working. The album also has famous songs (Cars, M.E.) I hadn't liked in Spotify so I'm glad I found this album! I also think it's the influence for a couple of electronic bands. There's nothing I disliked about the album really.
I've heard the majority of Numan's albums, and this is the one. Absolute 80s classic. (Edit: it wasn't the 1980s yet! He set the tone for a whole decade of pop.) Coiled-spring energy of British New Wave combined with the new electro sound from USA. I love the deliberately artificial/robotic aesthetic, which would go on to be a direct influence on Detroit techno. The rhythms are a cold, mechanised version of rock, while the melodies are otherworldly synth. "M.E." turns the synth into a deep guitar sound, and is a highlight I'd slightly overlooked in the past. My only complaint is there's some minor repetition of ideas - e.g. "Observer" basically sounds like "Cars". But I don't even mind hearing that idea twice, tbh. FIVE.
все верно, отец. причем ещё того, гиковского нью-вейва, близкого скорее к панку, чем к приемлемой поп-музыке. ну че сказать, меня тащит такое. вот прямо эти убер неживые жирные синты, вот этот вибрирующий космический звук. понимаю, что фанаты блюз-рока вероятно не найдут в этом себя, но мы ребята прогрессивные и тут, в России, уже достигли британских 80-х в своём сознании. Поэтому годнота, заходит такое. Для меня 9/10, хуй знает. Инструментал Asylum вообще звучит как будто современный трэп бит, под него 808 бас подложить и будет бэнгер (бля, не то шобы это круто, но просто интересная штука)
Excellent synth album - maybe lacks a bit of soul, but I guess that's the point...
Dark, brooding, heavy synth rock driven by electronic riffs and a chugging rhythm section. Lyrically and musically evocative of machines, heavy industry and isolation. In 1979 Newman must have pioneered this sound. He also instantly mastered it. It still sounds fresh where many who followed in Newman's wake now sound dated. Distinctive, timeless, catchy, dark. Not a weak track on the album. I'd never heard this before, but it has to be a classic. Rating: 4.5/5 Playlist track: M.E. Date listened: 04/07/22
This is an extraordinary album. Difficult to overstate the influence that Numan had on music - taking electronica mainstream and paving the way for new wave, synthpop and - you might have to stretch your head around this - industrial rock and metal. One of the best, most delightful stories in music involves Numan. After a prolonged period of writers block, Numan felt himself at a loss. Nothing he tried was working, music had dried up and left him feeling a bit rubbish. And then he came across Nine Inch Nails. Listening to Reznor's work, Numan pressed some industry connections and asked if maybe he could talk to Trent at some point, thinking that he would be brushed off - after all, NIN were by this point on a massive upward trajectory on the back of The Downward Spiral. Trent Reznor heard of this and said "What, are you shitting me? I listened to Gary Numan literally every day.". Reznor wrote in support of Numan's US immigration application, and they've worked together on multiple occasions. So onto The Pleasure Principle. It is absolutely chuffing brilliant. Soaring synth, interesting and compelling bass lines, and as listen-to-able now as it would have been 43 years ago. Hooks aplenty, a legacy still cited today and genuinely new (at the time) directions in music make this a very, very worthy entry into the 1,001 albums.
Fantastic album cover. Both in its own right but also in contrast to the flamboyant styles (especially hair) that I've come to associate with this kind of music. The more I look at it the more I love it. Buttoned down, everything grey, the only color a decidedly non-organic red pyramid. His posture and expression. The eye makeup. The non-sequitur name of the album. Perfection! I enjoyed the whole album, especially Complex, M.E., Cars (of course), Random; I found Asylum a bit distressing. All of the songs on the album feel very coherent, a pure distillation of a very specific idea about a cold increasingly non-human future. The music feels like it is driven by the beat of some alien factory floor populated by aliens shooting lasers around randomly. I'm here for it.
This M.E. riff must have been sampled a thousand times. Clearly a groundbreaking record in its day. It feels a little like a museum piece now. It's intentionally non-organic but there are some melodies and chord progressions here that reach toward the human listening. The title of the album makes it interesting to think about how pleasurable the sounds on the album actually are. There's an antagonism there that's intriguing.
This album is expansive and groundbreaking. Numan’s reliance on the synth does not take away from the humanity of this album and elevates synthesized music to a form on par with traditional rock instrumentation
12/16 Heard some Bowie "Low" in there. One of the better Synth-Pop albums I've heard. Cruising through a future where mostly everything is chrome. Standout Tracks: Airlane, Films, M.E., Conversation, Cars
not bad, good mixing but repetitive at some point. I mean that song conversation is quite good for the fisrt couple of minutes but then it goes on the same for five additional ones. That cars song is a classic though (f*uck cars btw)
Let's be real: the reason this was on the list is because it pioneered the ensuing electronic music movement. This isn't very good except for "Cars," which is the most known song. Bad singing and annoying repetition across every song. 2/10
Let’s make music that sounds like it’s… From the FUTURE! I wonder what Gary Numan thinks of the future of music being nothing like what he seemed to envision in the late 70s and early 80s. Thank goodness new wave didn’t make more of a long-term impact. I didn’t like this. At all. My least favorite lead singer voice of the 1001 so far.
i really like him and his style, I don't think i didn't like any songs, get my 5 stars!
A landmark synth album with all those old-school bloopy tracks I crave, and also the one song that played on every Car commercial ever in the 2000s but it's not poor Gary's fault! :)
At first I thought, this is way ahead of its time, but DEVO’s seminal album came out the year before, so no. This was another album where I thought to myself, this is why I listen to 1001, to discover things I’ve never heard like this. But then I realized I’d definitely heard at least three of the hits on here, Films, Mr. E and In Cars, but because of the generic nature of his name, I didn’t put 2 and 2 together and I’ve written them off as one hit wonders. The songs on this are generally short and sweet. I like the sound created by the synth, guitar fix and analog drums. Good stuff, saved to library, 5.
Do you like Gary Numan? Perfect album and it's influence screams out in so many acts that have followed
I love Gary Numan's dystopian Sci Fi music. As someone who occasionally feels like a robotic alien outsider, this album speaks to me.
I loved this album. Was only vaguely familiar with Cars, but the sense of alienation and feeling different from others that pervades the album is exactly the world I know. Both Numan and myself are on the autistic spectrum, so I totally recognize the language (musical and lyrical) that he's working from.
This album is weird in the best way and doesn’t sound like anything else coming out in 1979. The synths in this song are relatively simple but amazing to listen to because they provide space for everything else to fit in. Each song feels like every element is placed perfectly into a jigsaw puzzle. Standout songs are Cars and Metal.
This album was part of a specific place and a specific time in my life from which it cannot be disentangled. If it hadn't been with us then, would I love it so much now? I don't know. In any case, I do love all the spacey synths and Numan's nasally singing and the times when his voice breaks and the times when the bass drives everything forward, on and on. I can't tell if giving every song a one-word title is pretentious or its opposite. (Today, I say "opposite!" but I'm guessing if someone else did it, I'd change my mind.) I'm glad he was there then and I'm glad he's here now. Also: Cars.
Thought I would hate this but it won me over. Fun and unique, didn't overstay its welcome. "Cars" is the only thing here that I've heard before. Hell, I didn't even know that Gary Numan was a musician before today. I always associated his name with acting (I am aware of Gary Oldman, not mixing the two up). Also the red prism on the album art looks mad tasty for some reason.
Скучный, архаичный, репетативнй звук. Одиозные ленивые вокальные партии. Интересно, что все треки звучат плюс-минус одинаково заурядно (разве что у вступительного трека начало будто предвещает нечто интересно). Но почему-то мировым хитом стала Cars. Да таким, что Ньюман "был помечен как артист одного хита". Вторым по значимости стала Complex, но там хотя бы инструментал поинтереснее. На Metal было сделано множество каверов, даже от Nine Inch Nails, хотя трек тоже унылый весьма. В общем, пускай Гэри Ньюман стал "крёстным отцом электронной музыки", но ныне пускай сидит в монастыре, в 2к21 такое слушать неоправданно тоскливо.
Gary what is your prime directive? Why have you manufactured this album of sounds? Do you want us to feel technology induced alienation from the human "soul"? Is this a question you're programmed to understand? Gary do you have capabilities to receive gratitude? If so, thank you for Nine Inch Nails and Marylin Manson. Gary can you decipher sarcasm? C-
OK this is not half bad but I'm really not a fan of the genre. It feels like it goes on forever, I was getting bored, wondered how much was left and I was only on song #6.
It’s congruent, I’ll give it that. The vocals are lacking and what was novel the first couple songs becomes monotonous and annoying.
Numan, same old mistakes (ok c'était novateur mais répétitif et chiant)
I asked for one thing, Mrs./Mr. 1001 Album Generator! A 5 star album for Father’s Day. If what I asked for were a gourmet shaved prime ribeye steak and cheese sub, what I got was a pre-made ham and cheese vending machine version that expired 3 months ago. Observer was a bit enjoyable as was Cars, which I recognized. I can understand that the musical sound broke ground for the time. Nonetheless, I pressed my luck with my Father’s Day request and was delivered a whammy instead.
Except for one song from this album I was unfamiliar. Despite that every song made me think of another song I have heard but couldn't name. That tells me that perhaps a lot of people have sampled from this album? Anyway, I liked it.
Wow! Que excelente disco. Parece una película del futuro. De los mejores que he escuchado
Sounds pretty samey but I really like that sound so it works out. At the time this was ground breaking use of those techniques. It’s still great even all those years later.
This is how music lovers in the 80s believed the future would sound like. This is how the best of 80s sounds like for us today!
Awww yes! This really illuminated my pentahedron, if you know what I mean! Properly brought a cheery pink glow to my pyramid! I don't think there's any Vangelis on this list, so Gary Numan is the main source of synthesizer soundtracks of the future, from the past on here. Fave track - "M.E." maybe - source of that badass sample the Basement Jaxx used for "Where's Your Head At?". "Cars" is obviously an absolute tune. "Metal" was a stand out. The bonus track "Bombers" was excellent too...
Classic electronic album. If you have not listened to the album for a while, then the songs all sound a bit the same perhaps. But another reason for that is just that they are all of high quality and very consistent: the two singles Cars and Complex do not stand out at all.
This record reminds me of the life I used to have. During the late 70s - early 80s, I worked as a pole dancer in a bar in Soho. Every morning I would cover myself in glitter and wait for my shift to begin. I was like a prowling lion, ready for action, ready for hot, glittery, pole dancing action. The amount of money I made was obscene and the things I'd do to my adoring public would bring a tear to the eye of even the most alpha male in the prison yard. Gary Glitter stole my act and went on to have more success than me as a prolific paedophile. The life I could have had.
FUCK yeah. didn’t know shit about this outside of Cars, which I found annoying when my dad would play it one million times in the car. One of like sixty-eighty songs that he’d play over and over. But this album Jesus Christ dude. 1979 it had to be way ahead of its time. Zero electric guitar and it fucking ROCKS. I love 80s synth pop. This is the exact 80s synth pop that I like. One hour and nouns minutes of super layered and delicately produced utter bops. I love his aesthetic too. That androgynous robot shit. Screams David Bowie but less of a rockstar and more of a clone. This dude had to have been some kind of musical savant. This was really impressive and I almost have no words. I’m gonna listen again.
The only two songs off this I have heard before was "Cars" and "Engineers." I have always loved both songs, so it was a real pleasure to listen to this whole album. I'm a sucker for a Moog synth, and this Moogtastic!
I have no complaints here. This album delivered...it was everything that I expected that it would be.
album is good M.E. is awesome kind of ends up getting repetitve though. i swear a bunch of this album is just in the same key or something. album cover is kickass though and the 80s synthpop soud is nice amde even better by the fact that this was made in 1979 . the buzzy synth sound...<3
I was pleasantly surprised by this. Never listened to this album before and only really knew Gazza's hits but I enjoyed this one.
Great album, ME is a masterpiece I think and Cars has always been good to me
Alright liked the songs but was fed up by the end as it all sounded very repetitive.
Solidly strong throughout. I love the consistent tone of the synth. Great songs. And Cars is such a masterpiece. 4.5
Iconic! Its funny how far synths have come and these now remind me of 00s Casio keyboards BUT some great tunes in here. Enjoyed
- its robots singing what can be more perfect, the synths and drums and BASS
Better than I had anticipated. I'm not a huge fan of "Cars", and a lot of the tracks sound a lot like it, but it grew on me. "Metal" is a banger!
Some bangers on there and interesting to note the number of samples that other artists have used
Never heard of him, but amazing album for 79. Grandfather of the 80s sounds.
This is the album with Cars on it. Everything else is also really good though.
Like Berlin era Bowie, The Cars, early Cure, and a little proto-NIN mixed together. Pretty cool!
I think it's pretty solid honestly. This is the second Numan album I've gotten and I've liked the both of them. Some very interesting sounds on this, and while there is a lot of synth, I think there is a lot done with it. Especially on the more atmospheric tracks like Aslyum. It's cool.
I was on the second track when I was like - “this sounds like the guy who sang that Cars song” - the I found out I was right a few track later! This isn’t normally my favorite genre, but I really like this one. It’s aged really well, which I think is saying something. Good on you, Gary.
Solid, classic electronica, and who makes the single the ninth cut on the album?
I thought this one was a boring album, but must confess that I was wrong. Mr Newman knows how to write hypnotic and catchy tunes.
Really liked the whole vibe of the album, love 80s synth music; however, there weren't really any stand out songs (aside from the one I already knew - Cars). But, wow, had no idea this was made in the 70s (1979), it sounds quintessentially 80s to me. Guess he was ahead of the game. Asylum was really creepy.
Definitely of it’s time, but I enjoyed it. Could see how it’s not for everyone. A little slow, but great if you are into the synth/futuristic sound. Don’t know why, but I really like the cover art. Perfect fit the album. Like he’s discovering something new.
Pretty wild stuff. This album is known for the popular hit Cars, and all the other music kinda sounds similar. But it’s funky new wave
Did not know that M.E is the foundation of Basement Jaxx - Where's Your Head At
There's something very sweet about Gary Numan, he was a musician who was unafraid to embrace his inner nerd. This album is a little underwhelming, probably because other artists have remixed and amped up his songs.
Experimental drone music. No idea how it was received at release but I don't think it's aged well. Very little substance, lots of repetition and in songs that overstay their welcome. It's definitely been influential though, I instantly recognised "M.E" from the sample used in "Where's Your Head At" and no doubt helped pioneered the genre and further electronic music. "Cars" really stands out head and shoulders from the rest of the album for just how catchy it is.
I've vaguely heard of this guy before and going in I had absolutely no idea what I would be listening to. It is definitely weird but it's the kind of weird that just works for me. I can't explain why. The vocals aren't that great, but somehow combined with cheesy at times and repetitive music, it just works. I also found out that a song I've loved for over a decade by a small indie band was a cover of Metal and I had absolutely no idea. I'd say this album is 3.5/5 so I have to round up. This is the kinda of stuff why I like this generator. I'd have never listened to this otherwise.
3.7 - solid album, if a bit repetitive at times. Nice synth throughout. M.E. and Cars are two standouts.
So much more than just "Cars & Other Songs Collection" like I imagined. Simple, repetitive, strange, cool.
The only song I heard before from Gary Numan was Cars, and it was the Fear Factory version. I thought I wouldn't enjoy this album, but goddamn I was wrong. It is super fun to listen to! Favorite tracks: * Cars * Metal * Observer
That plaintive voice against the robotic background gives these songs way more heart than I expected. This is so early in the electronic era yet sounds better than most. He brings a lovely musicality, especially the swirls of sound that add colour to several pieces.
Interesting. I never knew he pioneered such amazing sounds that would be sampled providing the background to a whole new generation of music. Great stuff.
This is wild. Love the retro-futuristic feel of those synths. “Cars” has been my only touchpoint for Gary Numan, but the rest is pleasantly surprising, connecting maybe even better than that single? I love how “Complex” delivers an emotive twist with the addition of strings and similarly “Tracks” uses more traditional sounding keys (or is this a real piano?). These juxtapositions do a lot for me, especially coming in with the assumption that this would be samey. I mean, it *is* very much of the same flavor, but Mr. Numan works it. Also, he reminds me a lot of Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes (who I love), so there’s probably a bit of backwards compatibility going for me there. Overall, TPP is a synthy textural feast with some rock solid drumming and organic accents. Sign me the fuck up for more. 4
I have a friend who loves Gary Numan and has seen him multiple times (he’s also much older than me), but I only really knew him for Cars. So this is new for me, and I love it? The synth work is really expressive and singular, even if it’s primitive compared to later new wave. That’s arguably part of the charm, though, and Numan comes up with some killer hooks. I don’t think that we needed the 7 minute track, but I otherwise had a lot of fun and will def come back. B
Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. New wave stuff just generally isn't my thing but this was really cool. "Metal" has some next level atmospheric sound design for its time. "Complex" has a really nice hook played by strings. "Films" is groovy as hell. Also a nice surprise to suddenly realise that "M.E." serves as the sample for Basement Jaxx's "Where's Your Head At". All in all a very interesting sounding album that kept me engaged throughout.
Good album. Of course I knew Gary Numan, but never listened to a full album. Observer sounds *very* similar to Cars. Funny that they're only 2 tracks apart. The thing that's stopping this from being a 5 is that some songs are same-y. 4/5
The sound of this album captures this era of time so well for me. So many great obvious and subtle synth sounds. There's times when I can't tell if some of the backing tracks are stringed instruments with effects or synthesizers made to sound like stringed instruments.
Excellent, love the analogue synth sound on this. Many classic songs on here such as Cars, M.E. (sampled by Basement Jaxx) and Films.
Great - much better tunes than I'd imagined & it works together so well.
Huh. I mean, this is a weird one but not SO weird that I'd call it experimental or unstructured. Kind of feels like the audio version of David Lynch trying to be a normie. Which would never happen, of course, but I think that description captures the quirky conventionality here. Fave/standout tracks were "In My Car" (easily the most well known for a reason) and the cover of "On Broadway." Lots of good, solid stuff here but not quite at five star territory.
27th June 2022 Listened on the Tuesday rather than the Monday. Things still not quite in synch yet post move. Reminds me of the mighty boosh. Bit out there, futuristic, robotic, edgy. Liked it a lot!
Fun album, sooo 80s and Euro. I've listened to it a few times before. Innovative for its time and maybe kind of niche for most, but it brings me back to the early days of computers, synths, and tech where everything seemed so new and full of potential.
Already loved Gary Numan's hits but this was the first time I'd really listened to an album the whole way through. Was extremely pleased to hear where the Basement Jax sample came from. Pleasure Principle pleasantly good.
4.0 - It’s hard not to compare this to Kraftwerk but the full-on rock drumming lends a lot of heft to the sound creating an approachable hybrid of synthetic and organic. “Cars” is an obvious standout and there are other fun bops. Nothing mind-bending here but it is a composed and elegant record with a stylish and future-leaning aesthetic.
Cold, minimalist, occasionally lovely synth pop. This is a striking, immersive musical vision of a mechanized future, with a sound that sticks with you. Gary Numan lacks the warmth and soulfulness of many of the post punk-influenced electronic bands that would follow him in the 80s, but I think that's very much the point of this album. It makes him less fun to listen to than some of those bands, but his imprint on the electronic genres that came after him is hard to ignore. "Cars" is the obvious star track, one of the great songs of that era. Fave Songs: Cars, Metal, Films, M.E., Complex
There are some good synth hooks & songs on this album and it’s interesting to read about Gary Numan/Tubeway Army’s decision to drop guitars and change their sound due to the violence at live shows during punk’s heyday. Watching Numan perform live he’s a cross between David Bowie and Kraftwerk. The songs are a bit repetitive, but that's expected and I’m adding an extra point for the viola.
Overall it's a great album. Although it wasn't the first of its genre ( Bands like Kraftwerk had explored and released the same kind of music before The Pleasure Principle came out), the release of the album and the work of Gary Numan triggered an explosion of the genre, first in the UK and then spreading across the world. It opened the way for artists to experiment with electrical instruments, which are now widely used. Yes, it may be repetitive and monotonous at times (that's the whole point) and won't be everyone's cup of tea, but we cannot deny that this album started something great.
If you like the song Cars by Gary Numan then the album The Pleasure Principle by Gary Numan is for you. It contains Cars and lots of songs that sound a bit like Cars.
I loved this album. In the beginning, I thought everything was going to sound like Cars, so I was pleasantly surprised by how varied it felt to me. Solid. Standouts: Metal, Complex, M.E., Tracks, Cars (obviously)
Damn Gary, chill on the Vox Humana setting on your Polymoog. Nah, this guy fucks. I love the spacey future-sounding synths, along with the cool demeanor in the way he talks, his short lines, and the openness of how he ends them. The lyrics and industrial-sounding instrumentation give off a Metropolis 1927 vibe full of chrome, robots, and a major existential crisis. It's super coherent, at the slight expense of being repetitive. But since I like the sound, that just means I enjoy the whole album. I also like the 7.5-minute "Conversation", which gave itself plenty of time to grow and change, and is placed near the end AND before the massive hit "Cars", allowing people to digest it better in anticipation. But really, all the tracks are so atmospheric and controlled, never overbearing, to the point where most audiences can handle the whole 41 minutes without being pushed off, making this a gateway into more synthpop or even industrial music.
I definitely enjoyed this, but looking through the lens of how it sounded to me 40 years ago, it was pretty dang amazing at the time. An iconic sound.
Ultimate sounds of the 80s! From now on, whenever I'll be watching any movie, that takes place in those times, I'll be subconsciously waiting for this album to be in the background. The record was surprisingly entertaining, every songs stands on its own, fitting in the album, but also being unique. Each song has that weird quality of tracks from 70s and 80s, where they perfectly fit for a long car ride, suitably during the night. Electronic sounds, usually a little overwhelming, were really on point on this album, especially on tracks like "M.E." and "Conversations". I really liked this record, even though its not my favourite type of music. Synth pop at it finest!
I have never heard Gary Numan before and I really liked it. I can definitely see how innovative and influential it must have been at the time. Nowadays it’s still enjoyable and sometimes surprising. In particular I was impressed how they used layers of synths as guitar riffs. Cars is the obvious hit here but I think M.E. is my favourite. I’ll be definitely coming back to this. 4/5
Suprising amount of the band uses regular, non-synthetic instrument for an artist whose image relies so heavily on being robotic. Banger btw
I'm no expert on synth music, but I feel like this is pretty darn exemplary for the genre. Great listening!
This was good, very consistent, I like how it became calmer towards the end, kind of weird too
This is a review, I’m writing it right now. I love to write reviews online. Take that to the melody of Cars and slap some basic synth melodies and you have this album
while technically interesting, it eventually meshes into one sound/tone for me
Feels like the soundtrack to an 80s movie. As synth-pop is pretty cool but not really my thing. Cars is a classic and probably my favorite song on the album. 5/8, respect its popularity but not my thing.
Some great synth work here - tracks tend to drag on a bit longer than they should but it's easy to see why this LP was revolutionary
I'm not sure I ever listened to a Gary Numan song other than Cars before this. New Wave was THE new music of my youth and I retain an affection for it from that. The cover art for this album is superb.
La neta tiene tres o cuatro rolas muy chidas y luego tiene todas las demás muy pinche fumadas pero en el mal sentido. ¿Qué pedo con Oceans? ¿Por qué nos tenemos que chutar esos malviajes? Tres estrellas porque las chidas sí están muy chidas.
Obviously influential, but feels cheap and plastic compared to some of its progenitors.
I dig it. Had only heard “Cars,” before this and wasn’t expecting those cool ass instrumental tracks. Some of these tunes sound a little too much alike to my ears, but I really just want to know if Andy also saw people fucking at a Gary Numan show because I feel like that would make sense.
Added barely any tunes to the playlist but it's interesting enough for a 3
Its different. Never heard the synth used as a hook so much. Reminds me of death metal, but instead of riffs its the synth. All that said still not my cup of tea, even though I kinda liked it
I mean I liked this one a lot, a very pleasurable listen, and it's not weak at any moment but it neither has any particularly strong moments.
Yet another band/artist/album I have never heard of until that one song that everyone knows. lol. Pretty good overall.
I warmed up to this album. The vocals are very counter culture esque with their simplistic and wavering tone. The synth melodies are simple , but pretty effective and the drums and bass give a sense of structure for the synths to sit on. Favorite song: Cars
Album nije loš, možda mi je došao u krivi trenutak da ga više razumijem, ali što sam čuo, prolazan je. Dobar. Mislim ima pjesmu Cars koja mi je obilježila djetinjstvo zbog toga što je bila u nekoj igri s autima, to moram potražit točno koja, e od tada znam to. M.E. pjesma mi je sjela odmah na prvo slušanje, a također i Conversations (iako je u početku sporo krenula), međutim je do kraja pjesme pogodila promjene i postala je zanimljivija. Album je dobar, samo nisam imao više vremena da ga preslušam.
It's alright. I like what it will influence over the next decade, and track 1, 9, 13, 14 are my favorites.
Saved Prior: Cars Off Rip: Airlane, Metal, Films, Random* Cutting Edge: None Overall Notes: Pretty good early obtuse synth music. The Basement Jaxx flip of M.E. is iconic, and the beat to Cars is so good he uses it twice on the album. In general the album has cool ideas that he takes and uses, but nothing transcendent comes of these cool new ideas that others will master. Don't want to know what kind of parties they were throwing back in the late 70's-early 80's where this could've been thrown on aux though.
First impression: this slaps. Second impression: it is a bit repetitive in places, and particularly the song 'Conversation' goes on a bit (a lot) too long. Overall impression: enjoyed it, though. Will I listen to it again in its entirety? Maybe.
Pretty intense and spaced. Not bad, but need to be in the right mood to listen to this!
An album of songs that sounds like Cars, but are mostly not as good. Each song I can take in isolation, but I just can't take a whole album of this.
My previous familiarity with Gary Numan is limited to his hit from this album, Cars, which while it was grotesquely overplayed at the time, I actually like. It's a snappy, lowest common denominator distillation of Krautrock jammed into a four minute pop song. Interestingly, that description pretty much applies to the whole album. The robotic beats and chilly synths from Krautrock are wedded to disaffected vocals and succinct pop structures, surely a formula for mainstream success. Frankly, I'm surprised that more of the tunes on this album didn't make it onto the radio. And while everything here is fairly basic, it's not dumb, incompetent or tasteless, which is what I expected. The layers of synths are artfully constructed and anchored by a strong rhythm section, with occasional dollops of strings or piano to add dimension. Maybe the reason why I find The Pleasure Principle remarkably painless is because Numan has obviously taken so much inspiration for his sound from Low-era Bowie, which I love. Unfortunately, it's equally obvious that The Pleasure Principle has been massively influential up to the present, but the signifiers, like thin metallic synths, have been imitated but almost always without any of the taste or art that informs this release. Since The Pleasure Principle is rather shallow by design, it's hard to imagine that I will ever listen to it again all the way through, but I wouldn't mind if any of these tunes came on the radio. How to rate? Well, it's a perfectly realized album, but it's ambitions are depressingly modest.
Kind of cool but got a bit ‘one trick’ pretty quickly. Fun to hear the ‘Where’s your head at’ sample.
It's the Gary Numan sound that this album has in its favour (and Cars), but that can only go so far. Which is fine.
I think that many of the songs on this album blend together. Great Freud reference though. Definitely had a defining sound for the 80's.
Classic new wave that I will always listen to, but really not that many bangers.