The Pleasure Principle

I don't have much to say, it wasn't for me

Some great ideas, and I was very into the start of the record. It looser a bit of steam by the end, and I do believe a bit of editing would have given it a 5, but definetly worth a listen

I only knew 'Cars' beforehand, but the whole album turned out to be solid from start to finish

Couldn’t do it

Aight, pretty good

New wave nonsense

Despite the occasional spark of inventive soundscaping, this record has far too much in common with the rest of the pantheon of ‘electronic’ musicians (Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, etc.). So much time is dedicated to the same ugly synthesised strings and two note keyboard sounds, and this particular reliance is significantly grating after about fifteen minutes - never mind forty! As a performer, he comes over like a pretentious Bowie wannabe, Eno with hair, who wants to be Ballard, and I'm not sure I could listen to another album of his reedy, robotic vocals, they are the most off-putting thing here,. its thin, whiny tone may be a match for the notes which come from his synth. Whie it lacks vibrancy and sparkle, in its own idiosyncratic way, this album certainly seemed to strike a chord in the doomy landscape of Britain getting used to the austerity of Thatcher's government (Numan was reportedly a big fan, kudos to you Gary)

The only thing I know about Gary Numan is the song Cars. This album just sounds like an extended version of Cars. I feel like multiple songs had the same riff as Cars. I didn't totally hate it but I feel like Cars is the only song you need to hear from Gary Numan, I'd say a 2.5 overall.

Funky. Samples by Basement Jaxx in "Where is your head at?"

I really liked the style of this one but it did have a dragging effect as time went on. It just felt so repetitive and honestly it’s a tough sound to listen to for 75 minutes.

Sounds like the future, but it's *checks watch* 47 years old !!!

I was around when this came out and I never udnerstood the appeal of the album, or Cars. IT's not horrible, but, except for the fact that one song was mysteriously famous, I don't get the appeal.

2.5/5

This was surprisingly good

This was rad. 4.5/5

Fun to see someone go ham on early synths like this

Going into The Pleasure Principle, I really only knew one song: "Cars." And what a song it is! Nearly five decades later, I still love hearing it on the radio. But I was curious to discover what else Gary Numan had to offer beyond his signature hit. The album starts with the instrumental "Airlane," which I enjoyed, although it reminded me of a Broadway overture that went on a little too long. The next few tracks were decent, but I started noticing a pattern. The rhythms and melodies sounded very similar, and some songs seemed to stretch their ideas further than necessary. That's not to say I disliked the electronic sound. Quite the opposite! I actually enjoyed the synthesizers and the futuristic atmosphere. My issue was that the music didn't always develop enough to keep my attention. During "M.E.," I was texting someone and eventually had to check whether the same song was still playing. It was! Fortunately, there were some pleasant surprises. "Tracks" was one of my favorite discoveries. Its electronic beat reminded me of Kraftwerk's Autobahn, an album I previously gave five stars. "Films" was another track I enjoyed, and "Engineers" provided a very cool ending to the album. But my favorite discovery was "Conversation." At over seven minutes, it was one of the longest tracks, yet it held my attention better than several shorter songs. The music actually developed as it progressed, including a particularly cool instrumental section just after the four-minute mark. It demonstrated exactly what I felt was missing from some of the other tracks. And then there's "Cars." It's still head and shoulders above everything else on this album. That iconic synthesizer riff, the driving rhythm, and the changing lyrics make it a song that never seems to get old. It also highlights something important about my musical preferences: I don't necessarily mind repetition. I just want something interesting happening within it. Repetition isn't the problem. Stagnation is. I can certainly appreciate how innovative The Pleasure Principle was when it arrived in 1979. Gary Numan helped push electronic music into the mainstream, and I can hear why this album became influential. But historical significance and personal enjoyment aren't necessarily the same thing. Ultimately, this was an enjoyable listening experience with a few excellent moments, but not enough variety to make me want to own the entire album on vinyl. Final Verdict: 3 Stars. NO BUY. "Cars" remains a classic, and I'll happily revisit "Conversation" and "Tracks." But for my vinyl collection, I'll leave this one in the garage.

Sounds like Here in my Car... Yep.

Love this album’s impact on UK culture.

No pleasure at all.

I can appreciate the influence this album had, but man was I bored out of my f****** mind listening to it. The synths were way too repetitive and overbearing. I get that that's the point, but I feel as if I would've probably liked this way more if I heard it for the first time in 1979. Favourite track: M.E. (even that could have been a minute shorter) 2.5 rounding up

If cars is the reason this album is on the list it’s not a good enough song to warrant that

Τον ατελείωτο είχε. Φαίνεται ότι είναι από τα πρώτα της ηλεκτρονικής ποπ ή κάτι τέτοιο.

Pretty cool, very different, quite repetitive, extremely synthy.

me when there's a glowing pyramid on the table:

As far as synth pop goes this is probably one of the best album ive ever heard. Wich doesnt say much cause im not a fan. I guess it was very influencial and all for its time but its barely listenable today. Atleast to me. Everything sounds so cold, calculated and emotionless. Not in a way were it serve the music very well. Also this guy just sing really bad. Its almost funny. Positive point: some realy good melodys and varied instrumentation that keeps the album atleast interesting. I wonder why he dindt just made a fully instrumental album.

Het is anders maar ik zou het niet vaak gaan luisteren

Dark brooding retro-futuristic masterpiece. Can’t tell you how other worldly this was at the time.

The original sample for “Where’s your head at” earns this album a bonus star. I’ve never heard an entire Gary Numan album before. Good stuff. Holds up well 40+ years later.

No thank.

Tento druh hudby nieje az tak pre mna, vacsina pesniciek mi zneli rovnako. Zaner asi electronic pop, trochu podobne depeche modu ale nezaujimavejsie. Asi 3 pesnicky boli celkom dobre tak som si ich pridala do oblubenych Celkove hodnotenie 3/10

Oh well, those memories. Numan was one of a kind in that musical era called New Wave. His androgynous, robotic, monotonous music and lyrics was instantly recognizable. The fascinating thing is, that although most of his songs sounded similar, they never got boring, at least for me. I've heard most of the album's tracks, but never as a whole album. Very interesting listen.

Nice vibe,mostly synth based

A pretty good album Would love it if it was a little less robotic

I love the dynamics of the album - Gary Numan’s voice against its mechanical backdrop is just perfect. An incredible synthesis of early electronic experimentalism paired with art rock sensibilities.

One of the best eps I've ever heard stretched way too long into an LP. There just isn't enough content here for how long this album is. But when this hits it's incredible. Plus I used to look like him in my early 20's.

Thought provoking

This is such a dark, rich and mesmerising record from Gary Numan. The electronica soundscapes layer perfectly with the beats & vocals to create a brilliant listen that had me hooked from start to finish. It's catchy, atmospheric and a great insight into rock experimentation of the 70s/80s.

Practically a step backwards from its uneven-yet-often-stunning predecessor *Replicas*, this record narrows the sonic palette considerably, relying on a very limited set of synth tones throughout with little melodic variety (by the time you get to the album's high point "Cars", it feels like you've already heard three or variations of the song already). Aside from that hit single, nothing else really stands out, making *The Pleasure Principle* decent synthpop background music but little more.

As I was listening to this driving to my family's destination I turned to my wife during the third song and sang "in cars". I had no idea that this guy even sang that song or that it was even on this album. 6/10 Top song... Cars

Meh.

Peak synth pop/rock. Brilliant use of synths, reminds me of Tame Impala, or it should be the other way around since this album paved the way. Really cool songs not just boring, monotonous sounds like some other albums of the genre and found in Britpop

Partially known. Musically, it’s interesting. But vocally and lyrically it’s a miss. It also all ends up sounding too the same.

Remember this from back in the day, especially Cars. Overall does not hold up that well but was still worth a listen.

This was Complex. To the untrained Observer this may have seemed like a simple Conversation.

Mechanical but never completely haunting or creepy; love Numan.

I'd only ever heard the song Cars, which I remember making fun of back in the day a lot. The other tracks also sound like that, so if a metric ton of cheesy 80s synth is your thing, then you'll love this. I recognized a Basement Jaxx sample in the one track (ME or Films? I forgot to check playlist while listening). I also never realized this before but it seems Numan is doing some sampling himself--the one riff from Cars sounds very close to that of Black Sabbath's NIB. Anyway, I'm going a two mostly because I hate new wave, but that being said, I could see how the fans like this album.

My mental idea of this album had been "the one with Cars on it", but it's actually just a really fucking good album.

I’m really surprised that I wasn’t familiar with this album given that I was really into some of the artists who were obviously inspired by the music in the 80s. A reminder of how it was a lot more difficult to explore more obscure (at least in the US) music in those days. I’d only previously heard Cars. I don’t listen to much New Wave or Synth-Pop these days, but I still really enjoyed this album. The compositions were fantastic and I can appreciate how experimental it was when it was released. Based on its influence on music that followed, I can see why it is on this list.

Honestly, that was pretty fun

hell yeah!! bowie-esque synth ramble that got better as it went

I didn't know this artist. Not my type of music. Fair album.

It's coldcore, not cool-core - this isn't cool music per se (Numan saved the funkier stuff for the non-album singles, bar "Cars") but it isn't uncool either. It seeks to exist in its own pocket universe, like a factory with the windows blacked out so that nobody sees in or out. The use of live drums (and what sounds like no click track) is crucial; it gives the proceedings an uncanny sort of wobble that's critical to what the album is trying to signify. Which, as far as I can tell, is the gradual, but not complete, loss of humanity - or, perhaps, the persistence of humanity despite attempts to make it obsolete. The narrators here are persistently baffled by their inability to connect (interesting word, that); they can see the way things are supposed to be and can't understand why real life isn't that. As such, the feeling here is one of being kept at arm's length, for better or worse - mostly better. This has been justly influential and it's also highly enjoyable.

01) Airlane - 7,0 02) Metal - 8,0 03) Complex - 8,0 04) Films - 8,0 05) M.E. - 8,5 06) Tracks - 7,5 07) Observer - 7,5 08) Conversation - 7,5 09) Cars - 10,0 10) Engineers - 7,0 TOTAL: 7,90 (79/100) Current ranking: 317/1046

This had a decent sound but got really repetitive after a while. Middling rating from me

Synth pop from my early college era - can’t say I didn’t lik it!

Good early electronic music. Some of it lingers a little too longer, but the highs are great.

I'm glad this exist. I have it in my collection. It's weird and hard to listen to, but it's also worth listening to. The things it gets knocked for (vocals, repetitiveness, boring) are intentional and substantive. Similar to serious and challenging films or literature, it's not always a go-to for fun and enjoyment, but definitely rewards those willing to sit with it and reflect on what it's there to do.

Loved the bass and drum sounds. The late 70s synths sound a whole lot better than what the 80s would bring, which is probably true because they sounded new and futuristic when they first arrived in my teen years. Seems like this record was huge in influence.. both sound and attitude.

Extra star for having the sample to Where’s Your Head At

Great

Enjoyed it but def felt like I was listening to diff versions of the same song. Amazing album to work to

This was pretty interesting I'm not going to lie and wether I like it or not I'm glad this album is now added to my list. His voice gave me Bowie vibes sometimes but I really like the vocals across the album. In general I think this project is influeced quite a bit by David Bowies Berlin trilogy. Gary Numan created a very dystopian hard and heavy electronic rock sound here. The general theme of the album with the science fiction machine industrial inspired lyrics work hand in hand with that sound and combined they do a great job at painting pictures in your head. I have never been the biggest fan of electronic music but I also never listened a lot to it so I may need to get used to it a bit more and listen to a broader variety of albums from the genre. Particularily this record while not being my genre as mentioned was way more entertaining than I thought though. I was able to stay focused through the whole album which is not the standard with me and electronic music. Often it just tends to become background music for me after some time. Not so easy to decide where I rank The Pleasure Principle. I feel like my taste shouldn't fit to this but somehow it does. 3,7/5

This is truly an interesting one. On one hand, Newman is so clearly almost completely ripping off Kraftwerk, but on the other hand it's done so superbly, one cannot help but love this, probably easy 4 stars here

It was electric, melodic, and addictive. I knew a lot of the melodies but didn’t know this is where they were from. Very enjoyable overall

Love the synth sound. Quite cold sounding but the rhythm makes it work.

Like one long song that i don’t dislike. A lot of these albums are very one note

I enjoyed the album more than I thought I would. I don’t usually like new wave as it can be kinda out here. But cars still holds up.

Many songs sound the same

Didn’t like it. Sounded repetitive and basic

Kinda super fun. MGMT if it was good

Whoops. I got sidetracked by listening to "Where's Your Head At" by Basement Jaxx, after the opening of "M.E" - who knew? (I know, everyone else did, I'm just super late to the party). Biggest takeaway for me is that everything on this album sounds very much like the song "Cars." I've basically heard this album, just by hearing that one song. It's decent, I could see myself using this for concentration/background music (that's not damming with faint praise either). Call it 2.5 rounded up to 3.

a perfectly fine album that doesn't do much for me. a respectful 3.5

Dark, industrial and messy at the same time, 80s, and very British. The combination is fun enough to see through the fact that all the songs sound the same.

og synthpop

i feel put off by its lack of depth. basically goofey disco sound.

Never listened to Gary Numan before but I knew a few tracks like Cars. It’s a good synth based album with just the right amount of weird. I can see how it was influential given this came out in the 70s. I had no idea Where’s Your Head At was answered sample, but makes sense

Can see how ahead of its time this was. But i can't get over the goofy robot singing on a lot of the tracks. That being said, there are some bangers on there. Just wish it was more fleshed out because the melodies are iconic. "Metal" and "M.E" are favourites.

Man, Gary Numan. He's a weird dude. This is WEIRD music. Especially for its time. The music is all cold and mechanical, but if you pay attention to it, there's warmth hiding under all the circuitry and robotic twisting and turning. This one gets an additional point just for "Metal" and "Cars". And for sounding like a Flash Gordon soundtrack. My Rating: 4/5

Great album! Clearly a strong inspiration for one of my favorite bands of all time Nine Inch Nails. Amazing music and sounds for a late 70s electronic band.

i liked it more than the first one and found a song that tickled my brain that i’d love to hear a house edit of

This album is an absolute vibe right from the start. Obviously Cars is a highlight, but I also loved M.E. (I had no idea Basement Jaxx sampled this, so it had me smiling manically when that realization hit) and Observer in particular. The influence on many acts that followed is crystal clear.

I think repetitive is the best descriptor here. Wasn't all bad, had some kinda neat spooky synth vibes sometimes, but it felt like I was listening to the same song on repeat. 3/5

This was released in 1979 and no doubt this was revolutionary back then, but I never cared much for Gary Numan. I expected this to be Cars, but one hour long. That was pretty much what I got, but I expected it to be more boring.

Brilliant. Properly sounds like a hard rock record where instead of guitar there are carefully crafted synth sounds. So many good production choices. The voice is a really important part of that thick spooky atmosphere. The drums are simple but killer.

Not a bad song on here, just good from start to finish

Pleasure your thing son

In cars

still so modern its insane

crunchy bass and sweeping synth - could be no one else but Numan . great way to start any song let alone an album Sounds of its time and somehow futuristic after 40 years

Gary Numan is older than Gary Oldman

For så vidt ingenting galt med det her, men du verden så Ikke For Mine Ører det va likevel. På ingen måte hverken solgt eller overbevist, sjøl om det e gøy med små dykk inn i sin tid.

I like some of his songs. But I don't like electronic music

još jedan jako dobar album

Really enjoyed this! What a pioneer.

I love love love this era of music. Felt like the inspiration for a lot of newer albums I enjoy. Hadn't heard this full album before but it's delightful.

When this kicked off, I was like this sounds like the guy who did “Cars”, and it is, because every song sounds like the song “Cars”. Never really deviates from the same formula start to finish. While I didn’t hate it, it gets boring hearing the same shit over and over without much to differentiate between tracks.

It’s a fine album, pretty generic, cars is a pretty good song but the rest is ok

Lost my initial review but I was hoping for "Short People" but whoops that is Randy Newman. This is pure electronica. One well known hit and the rest in the same vein. Didn't mind it but couldn't get to a 4. The last 7 tracks on the Spotify album are added tracks later on and don't really add much to the original album, but I did enjoy the "On Broadway" cover to finish. 3 1/2.

A classic. Used to roller skate to Cars at the roller rink.