The Pleasure Principle

something that the 1970s thought you would listen to in your spaceship in 2070

Boring, monotonous and lifeless. The songs are very repetitive. His melodic ideas are extremely elemental. I didn't enjoy this at all. I'm told his later works are much more interesting. I'll give them a listen.

I'd heard, of course, that Gary Numan was practically the father of synth-pop and electronica, but I knew nothing of his work beyond his biggest hit, "Cars." So, when this record came up today, I was really curious to see what else the artist would have to offer. Bottom line: you don't need to listen to the whole album; every song on it sounds like "Cars," only worse. The cold, robotic sound turns this music into pure background music for me. There's background pop for shopping at H&M, and this background electronica for a tour of some car factory (pun intended) or production facility. I don't understand how anyone can listen to it consciously now; obviously, in 1979, after all the blues and other psychedelia, this was a novelty, but now the album sounds like AI-slope. Nevertheless, "Cars" is still a good song with a pleasant melody — it's the only thing that saves the album from a one-star rating. You need to be more humane!

I really like Tubeway Army’s Are Friends Electric. I like Gary Numan’s Cars. So yeah, this is nice. None of the songs hits those levels, though, so 4/5 is the most I can do.

Absolutely rules. Synth rock at its finest.

Favourite Songs: Airlane Metal Conversation Random

Catchy robot music!

unicamente melodia. nada de letra

Might have been innovative at its time, but the cheap synth vibe was both repetitive and annoying. The poor singing did not help either. 4/10

Kinda cool music

looooove

It's not hip hop. It's electro. ⚡⚡

(96/100)

From this 1979 perspective, the 80s sound like an isolated dystopian of rudimentary robotics with no Rubik's Cube, Pac-Man, or DeLorean time machine.

not bad, I enjoy instrumentals like these. favorite track was Metal. would recommend only to synth lovers; I enjoyed listening to this while writing a small excerpt for characters to a story.

music is love

I thought I might like this better. Was still pretty good but didn't have enough variety for me.

i like when it goes wowoowowoowoowowowo

Threw this on while I was playing a map game for an hour and it blended right in. Lot of fun.

This started off pretty enjoyable and interesting. I was on board for the first 5ish songs. Unfortunately, it just kinda stayed the same the whole time, getting a bit old on the second half. As unique as the whole thing seemed, every song on it ended up feeling a bit too similar to the rest. Pulsing synth and drums, pulsing synth and drums, more pulsing synth and drums. Even Cars, a pretty fun song, felt a little less so when hearing it on the album as a result. I still liked this album, but the repetition detracts from it for me. Overall: 3.2/5

Beautiful synths, worthy topics of discussion lyrically, 1979 must have seriously broke some ground. Still sounds fresh and powerful.

Eemmmm, i dont know, nothi g special, a bit boring, mid mid.

Love this one. On a roll, what next Wowee Zowie?

This didn’t actively annoy me, but also didn’t do anything for me.

what a different style wow very cooll

unsettling, a little uncanny valley, very techno, i don’t know how i feel about it to be honest.

It was a unique sounding album with some great tracks on it. Some became same same but overall all a good listen.

kinda a funky 70s/80s keyboard songs

Overall: 8/10 I listened to this with my 4 year old and we both had a blast. The tunes are catchy and the synths are suprisingly not terrible for a late 70s album. Cars has always been such a fun song and I'm glad the rest of the album was enjoyable as well. Fav Song: Cars

Not that exciting.

Good but super repetative

Listenable but not standout.

:/ not so much my style

i like this album. i also could have listened to cars 13 times and gotten the same experience. now cars is a great song. there are multiple times that a song started and i was like. oh okay here’s cars. and it wouldn’t be cars. fuck man this guy loves this sound, can’t knock it. i’d like these songs more if i was hearing them apart from each other and with time in between them. as an album experience, it’s a little much. damn i really thought i’d like this. idk what’s not clicking.

I’m in London and am in the middle of a pretty strong yet latent mental breakdown!! This album’s pretty cool though. Idk. Synthpop’s obviously not really my thing, especially when it relies so heavily on this mechanical darkness that in this album’s case most of the time ends up more of a detriment than anything else. Numan sounds like Tom Verlaine but David Bowie, and omg I’m in some random fucking Airbnb I didn’t ask for this get me out of here oh my fucking actual G-d. Sorry about that this is getting to me. 5 more days. 5. More. Days. Anyway uhh the vocals are incredibly unimpressive and when they’re actually good it just makes the bad ones stand out even more. None of the songs are necessarily bad they’re all just so robotic that they’re just kinda standing there. Obviously a lot of them stand out to an extent, and the monotonous style of the album does actually give it a lot of consistency, even though it’s fairly unimpressive most of the time. Additionally, certain songs, such as the absolutely spectacular “Conversation” (which stands out for all the right reasons, being the longest and also the most personally resonant song on this album) help this still stand above the line of mediocrity, even if just barely. AKA it’s pretty alright now I’m gonna go listen to the Lex Walton jawn like Isabelle’s been telling me to do. 7.0/10

Gosh, not heard this for maybe 40 years, brought back some memories of seeing Tubeway army in the late 1970s, decent album

An ode to synth and eyeliner. Cars is a banger.

I felt better about grading this when listening to it than I do right now, haha! I think the key to this musical set up is the drummer who is relentless. The keys make most of the songs sound similar, but there are some great beats and moments throughout the album.

What a nice mash up between new wave and the early Kraftwerk-y synth sound. "Cars" and "Films" are standout tracks, but pretty much all of the tracks are quite good. Still sounds timeless even using late 70s electronic sounds.

Not much to say. Pretty simple but surprisingly fun album. I can’t say it stands out much, but it’s very easy to listen to and vibe with. Cool synth, cool vocals. Very solid. 7/10

It took me 5 attempts to listen to this in full because shit carried on distracting me. I’m trying to not let that impact my score but it was a pretty awful listening experience. Cars is iconic, and realising that M.E. is where Basement Jaxx for their sample for Where’s Your Head At was a nice surprise. The rest all just has that overly familiar quirky Numan style, with synth lines and discordant vocals. Not much really differentiates an average Gary Numan song from any other one, but the few standouts are all-timer songs. On the balance, it’s just alright though.

7/10 – Good

Fun whilst shopping at Kroger

Pretty cool Standout tracks: M.E., Cars

Already liked this one! Cars is obviously the biggest hit, and while the rest of album blends together it's all very good. 7/10

nothing about this was pleasurable

This album is so much more than CARS, the only song that most Americans know from Gary Numan. Listening to this album years ago make me want to hear more from Gary Numan, and now I have most of his other albums. 4/5

Cool tones

mosty iconic & great, but some real duffers scattered around.

It’s a fun album with a couple of iconic songs on there

3 stars

Hmm interesting! I like Gary a great deal and think he’s done some great work in his time. This is very early synth stuff here, so often a bit boring but when it hits, it REALLY hits.

I really enjoyed these odd robotic like nosies, very futuristic and fun to read along to.

How many people ripped off Gary’s beats?

Not my type at all

Who knew there were many other things to be named and run through the synthesized and transmogrified reality of Gary Numan's mind other than Cars? Not this listener. But I am pleasantly surprised to be enlightened by this erstwhile view of the future from 1979. Fascinating, he says in his best Spock voice. A scintillating gamut of sonic textures and analyses. Full marks.

It's ok, just really not my thing and gets pretty repetitive pretty quick

Based on the description I was afraid I would hate this, but it turned out to be...fine. Certainly not my cup of tea, but it didn't turn me off the way most 80's synth-heavy new-wave/pop stuff does. Not sure how futuristic this sounded in 1979, but I imagine this was at least a somewhat novel sound. So bully for you, Gary. Enjoy this 3. 2.9

Fine if you like the song “Cars”. Like mostly every other album I’ve had generated so far, okay for background music while working but I probably won’t listen to it again.

This was fun

Ok, so for 1979, this sounds pretty groundbreaking. Almost robotic sounding, but I guess that was the intention. It wasn't incredible, I can't say I enjoyed it that much, but it was an ok listen.

8/10

Cars was about the only jam on this… but a few others were interesting

Source for lots of samples in other tracks.

Sometimes you can really tell a songwriter's personality from their music and I feel like this is one of those times. Gary Numan must be really weird, huh?

Influential but cold

The title is a bit of a stretch, but this is a solid, if not bleak and simple, electronic album. Top tracks: "Cars," "M.E.," "Metal"

--Airlane...head-bopping instrumental --Metal...good low end groove --Complex...something a little more laid back --Films..."burn it all down". I feel that, Gary --M.E....despite being labeled electropop/new wave, Gary knows how to rock --Tracks...soaring synth time --Observer...very similar to "Cars" --Conversation...a little long but another fine bass groove --Cars...fun --Engineers...like the synths but this one is a bit boring

Man I had the hardest time not feeling like I was a computer nerd in the 80s listening to this. Art is supposed to make you feel something and I wish it wasn't that

not it

Cool new wave rock. Pretty much a perfect example of the style. The songs kept reminding me of another song, and then the big hit “Cars” came on and I realized it was that. Great song. And the album has plenty of other strong tracks in the same style. This album art is very funny. It captures the weird, futuristic, ironic tone of the music.

"Cars" is really a great song. I know this dude has to be a one hit wonder cause that song was huge and I don't think he had any other song come close at all to that track, but dang is it a uniquely awesome song. It's so catchy and fun. I love that it came out in 1979 too- it definitely has that spacey Bowie esque precursor to the 1980's synths-everywhere sound, but without the refinement of years of using them. I love his voice- it sounds like so many indie bands of today's day and age.

This is the kind of music robots should be making in 2026. I just assume Gary Numan was a robot who somehow transformed into a person. Synth pop. Get me to an dance club in 1981.

Debut new age album....nope. Except "Cars" that's a cool song.

Surprised I had not listened to this before as I have been really getting into New Wave. I love an album that feels written by a robot. Each song contributed to the overall vibe and none felt out of place. It is hard for me to pick a least favorite, but I guess I would go with Airlane simply because it lacks Gary Numan's distinct vocals, but it was still a great opening instrumental track. Felt like the overture for the album. Will definitely listen to again and one day I hope to own it on vinyl. Favorite Track: Conversation Least Favorite Track: Airlane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is pretty incredible. Electro pioneer really. More warmth than kraftwork.

Cars is still a great song and has aged well. The album definitely deserves its place on the list. Was good for a couple of listens through, after that the songs all sounded a little the same to me and I’m unlikely to be revisiting the whole thing for my general listening pleasure.

zu anstrengend

3 out of 5. To me this is synth done right.

The Good: This album is about principle The Bad: One man’s pleasure isn’t necessarily another man’s pleasure… The Ugly: … I got nothing… About a month ago I switched from using Spotify to using Apple Music. My reasoning was that, out of principle, I should use a streaming service that pays artist better, and which has better sound quality… Using one’s principle should be a good thing. Then you find out that there are other streaming services which pay artist even better, and might have even better sound quality… and then you start adding one and one together, to question all principles, yet again. This album, however, showed me one reason why it is more fun to use Apple Music over Spotify, and that has to do with the fact that while the album was playing, Gary’s fingers on the album cover were moving every-now-and-again… What does all of this have to do with this album? Nothing. The album was okay, but at times it was painful to listen to. The big song, Cars, was lovely, and I even found myself in some computer induced trance while listening to this album. However, just the thought that I would have to listen to this album more than once a year would make me very uncomfortable… thus, regretfully, I can’t give this album more than 3*

Light 3,5

Stripped of guitars and grounded in analog synth textures, the album commits fully to its mechanical aesthetic. The emotional distance in the vocals mirrors the rigid precision of the instrumentation, creating a unified tone that never feels accidental. While the sonic palette is intentionally limited, that limitation becomes a strength, it sharpens the focus rather than narrowing it too much. It may not overwhelm with variety, but its consistency and clarity make it compelling from start to finish.

DOPE

nasti

funky

Man, he really likes that one synch line doesn’t he. This was fine but incredibly repetitive. I did learn this is where Basement Jaxx got the sample for Where’s Your Head At though, so that’s something.

Kept thinking I was listening to his biggest hit Cars. The whole album is basically an extended version of that song... which at times was enjoyable, at times a little repetitive, but mostly, a good time!

I loved this, it's so mechanical and industrial. The repetition and synths really add to the machine vibe, but the real drums add a lot to prevent this from becoming a nauseating synth puddle and instead keep driving it forward. Airlane has that great Kraftwerk vibe and Metal is a great track too. Other favorites of mine here are M.E., Cars of course, Random, and the Bombers live track. Awesome album.

Honestly, this didn't do much for me. The occasional nice beep here, fun boop there, aside, I wasn't really grabbed by anything. Indeed it was a wee bit overly repetitive in times. Cars is the obvious hit, but coming towards the end of the album it still felt like I’d been listening to more or less the same track ten times by then.

Dig it! I have a soft spot for old albums, movies, comic books, etc that are trying to be futuristic. More often than not, they say more about the time in which they were made than anything else and the further you get away from that time, the more they have to say. The cover art looks almost like as if Kraftwerk recreated the cover to Led Zeppelin's (underrated) Presence. Well done! I also dig how side two builds up to the insta-classic Cars, with the preceding tunes Observer and Conversation borrowing heavily from it, even in the same key, I think. What a delightful weirdo. I need to check out more Gary Numan!

I've always had a soft spot for Gary Numan's "Cars", mainly because it was the very first song I remember playing air guitar to with my older brother. (How ironic to read in the Wikipedia entry for this album that Gary Numan ditched guitars altogether when he went solo and disbanded the early Tubeway Army; but it was the concept of playing along, I suppose.) Given Numan's pretty distinctive vocals and the massive synth presence of "Cars", I'm not entirely surprised that the rest of the album stays pretty much in the same lane, but it doesn't make for the most varied album, sort of a pop-/song-oriented version of industrial in some ways, even down to the bonus-CD live recording (from 1979) of "On Broadway"). It *is* impressive, though, how well he channeled all the semi-dystopian futurism and scifi speculation in songs like "Metal", "M.E." and others, although the videos are a little disappointing (perhaps from the limitations of technology and/or his imagination, but how could "Cars" not even have a single vehicle in it???). Regardless, I'm happy that this album made it into the collection, and even if Numan was more of a one-trick pony than I'd like him to be, I'm really impressed at his longevity on the touring stage.

I feel that Gary Numan's Cars is enough Gary Numan for everyone. I had a compilation album "URGH!" of punk/new wave music and whenever Cars came on, I'd have to decide if I was going to listen or skip it.

I enjoy Cars of course, but I thought the album as a whole was a little repetitive and couldn’t get into the entire album. I recognize the significance of Gary Numan pioneering the 80s synth pop movement, so I give it stars for being original, but I had higher hopes with what I knew in Cars.

Not bad

I fuckin' loved this. I'm so happy this little British boy who couldn't connect to his modern world had synth to express himself

The song cars is fantastic but the rest sounds samey and repetitive

“Cars” und einige weiter Songs die Ihrer Zeit voraus waren aber auch nicht immer ganz ausgereift waren.

Repetitive af

Not my jam, but I can see where people like it.

I said 'meh' at first. That i heard the legendary intro to m.e. than I hear the rest of the song and said 'meh'

how did i not know this existed

One of the founding fathers of bleep bloop. It’s a fun, synthy listen, with M.E. and Cars carrying the pop peaks it needs.

Repetitive

Synth pop at its finest. Cars just scratches your brain in a very nostalgic way. 100% something you’d hear in a movie soundtrack about you guessed it - cars 🚗

Very of its time, and mostly in a good way! Worth listening to.

You've been playing with those synths again haven't you, Gary? No, Mum, I haven't I promise. I've just been sat here at my desk looking at the glowing pyramid.

it's not the worst thing i've ever heard but i guess it just feels very empty. too much synth and would have rather had more singing

This brings back a lot of memories, I had a record of hits for 1979 from KTEL that had Cars on it, and I remember playing that song over and over again, realizing now that Gary Numan had a lot of very good songs, and then my mind was blown when I heard the track that was sampled for Where's Your Head At.

hate it

Definitely a vibe.

infumable, al menos me ha servido para darme cuenta de que poco a poco voy sabiendo más de música. 1 estrella extra porque la portada está inspirada en un cuadro de magritte

dated.

Cars is the only song i really enjoyed from this album

A lot of redundancy on this album. I only really know Cars and thought it was coming on about 5 times. Every song sounds the same.

Vaikka en oo mikään kauhee New Wave fani tää miellytti yllättävän paljon. Ehkä tää on vielä vähän elektronisempaa kuin perus new wave. Where's Your Head At on samplattu M.E. biisistä :D Cars on myöa tuttu. Parhaat: M.E. , Cars, Conversation

I like this more as an electronic/avant-garde project than I like it as a rock/new wave record. I'd be interesting to hear it redone without the rock drums and with perhaps an alternative vocal of some kind (maybe Annie Clark would be interested?).

A perfect album. Dark and mysterious while having a lot of pop moments.

3/10

Some New Wave just isn't good. This is some of it.

Gary Numan – The Pleasure Principle On Day 40, The Pleasure Principle stands as another "decent" discovery that showcases "smooth" technical chemistry without securing a spot in my personal rotation. The replacement of guitars with heavy synthesizers was a "cool" and innovative move, creating an "immaculate" electronic wall of sound that still felt structured and grounded. Tracks like "Cars," "Conversation," and "Engineers" are the clear highlights, hitting "the brain just fine" with their "tuff" synth riffs and consistent momentum. However, despite the "sophisticated" engineering and great production, the overall "robotic" atmosphere lacks the "vocal triumph" or "lasting power" I need for a 4 or 5. A solid 3/5—a high-quality technical achievement that remains a "once-is-enough" listening experience.

Really liked this one! I knew "Cars" but wasn't familiar with anything else. I love the sound of this album, it techno and sythny with a cool funk to it. Definitely listening to more of his stuff!

Listened Before? N I love "Cars". Every song on this album is very close to sounding just like "Cars". That's a double-edged sword. It starts out great and then gets old. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Cars

I appreciate the innovative nature of the album, especially for its time- however as the album progresses the songs do sound more and more the same

can you hear the future coming?

Very good album. Easy to see how this would go on to influence a huge amount of people. I had never listened to Gary before and could only name one song if you had asked me to: "Cars", which I was pleased to find on this album. Would certainly listen again.

this came out in the 70s. THE 19-freaking-70S!!

👍👍👍 Seen as a father of synth-pop, I'm totally down for this.

Bold of Gary Numan to pay homage to the greatest film of all time Freddy Got Fingered in the tracklist As good as recall it being from middle school. Eerie, but still has sort of a danceable quality. The synthesizers both carry the melody and contribute to a cold, anxious atmosphere. His odd lyrics and vocal delivery make the thing still sound futuristic today.

This is a good album to showcase what synth pop would become. There’s a cheerfulness and a darkness to a lot of the songs. It’s a fun listen that’s very engaging and upbeat. Cars is clearly the standout on the album, and it’s obvious why, because it’s so dang catchy. I don’t know that I would reach for the whole album again, but I will keep a couple on rotation.

Absolutely surprised about how much I liked it. It's futuristic and unique. Also, always loved the song Where's Your Head At and finding out it samples M.E. was great.

2/5

really good album. The foundation of synth pop and just electric music in general. Really good storytelling

I love synth-pop, and this is a foundational piece of it. Gary Numan's synth work and arrangements are spectacular, and extremely catchy on the hit "Cars". I really love the instrumental outtake bonus tracks too

This album is the reason I got into this project in the first place. Finding pieces that are exciting and change your perspective of music and taste of music. Such a strong and revolutionary album. I’m appalled that I waited until I was 25 to hear this. This was amazing a very STRONG 4 — 4.5 for me. The back end is where I think it lost some points but hard to tell because the top half is that strong.

I only heard Cars before this. Who hasn't heard Cars? This album is coherent, beautiful, haunting, and I believe re-listenable.

Review - This is a really good album - even though I'd only heard a song or two before, so many songs had hooks I knew either because they'd been sampled or they'd been ripped off by later bands. Rating - 7/10 Need to hear? YES

Noooot my vibe

Just sort of passes by, no ebb or flow as an album, only real stand out track is cars as it has a bit of punch but otherwise it’s just pretty decent early electro pop - it’s fine. 3.2

I really like this. Loads of influence on other bands I like. Didn't know that basement jaxx used M.E. as a sample for Where's Your Head At either. Highly innovative considering it was released in 79.

Too repetitive. But I could play it on the background

“I could wait for a day Or I could wait for an hour I could wait here for a lifetime Watching you and thinking always I could observe you all” It is no surprise how influential this album is based on the first few tracks alone. A key proponent of Electronica Gary Numan has created a record which is essential listening for anyone hoping to understand the evolution of electronic music. I am by no means the biggest fan of Synth Pop or Electronica but I still found myself invested throughout “The Pleasure Principle”. Numan achieves some absolutely huge sounds, most notably on “M.E.” which would famously go on to be sampled by Basement Jaxx on “Where’s Your Head At”. “Cars” is of course a classic and understandably went on to be Numan’s biggest hit. It is instantly recognisable and brought a smile to my face as soon I heard the opening bars. It has always come across as cheesy to me when heard in isolation but in the context of the rest of the album it slots in perfectly. The theme of the album is one of the relentless march of technology and the effect it will continue to have on society and the way the music sounds plus the timbre of Numan’s delivery reflect this brilliantly. I am certainly not a convert to the genre all of a sudden but it would be ignorant of me to not recognise how groundbreaking and crucial this album was.

Only one listen so shooting from the hip but I really liked this. M.E. stands out, that deep synth throughout sounds great.

Where has this been all my life? 😂 Love these tracks and recognize some stuff thats been sampled (M.E.). In my opinion, this is close to what Brian Eno and the gang were trying, but this delivers a better end, poppier product. Loved Airlane, Cars and M.E.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say I was pretty into this album. From the first moment of the first song my ears told me "this is def this guy who sang Cars" and I was right - but he makes you wait like 14 tracks for the hit! And I was into all the synth the whole time. I'm a sucker for an 80s (ok 1979) period piece and this really tickled me. It's so campy I fkn loved it

This kind of feels like one long song. Cars is so good. But Observer is the same song isn't it? Either way, fun album.

- I love synths and I had fun listening! - Standout: M.E., Cars

Crazy innovative for the time, ages kinda nice actually

Surprinsingly good synthpop

On first listen I like it but don’t love it. Love the synthy electronic style and the production but the songs themselves aren’t very interesting.

Delightful

There are moments I like. The songs with those moments go on too long, though. And I dislike most of the songs, even Cars which is super famous. There's worse new wave stuff out there, but this one definitely wasn't for me.

This is a strange one. I love the synthy background tracks a lot but most of the songs on this album didn't jump out at me. I don't really like Numan's voice. But I adore those synth tracks. Favorite lyrics: "i turned off the pain/like I turned off you all/now there's only me"

It was ok. Interesting at times, but became quite repetitive. Standout songs: Tracks Cars

Je l’ai trouvé en très bon état et à joli prix aux 33 Tours juste avant de partir pour la Colombie. Pour moi, Tubeway Army est son bijou d’album.

Pas mauvais en soi, je dirais même que le combo synth/bass groove pas mal, mais je trouve le tout assez répétitif. Il semble avoir des atomes crochus avec Bowie!

More like Gary No-man

A bit same, but some classic tracks too like M.E and Cars

Mukavasti taputeltu alkutahdit kasarin syntikkamusalle

Cars löytyy jopa omalta spotifyn suosikkilistalta! GTA:ssa joskus tuli iltahämärällä huristeltua ja "radiosta" tuli numanin karia niin kyllä iski. Noin muuten jäi vähän fiilis, että keksitty yksi synasaundi ja sillä ratsastettu koko levy.. Mutta hyvin ratsastettu!

Ei tämä ärsyttänyt, ihan kivasti taustamusana meni, mutta siinäpä se. Kokkikolmosta pöytään.

Viehkoo tavaraa! Hauskoja ratkasuja ja mahottoman mukavaa tunnelmaa.

Omituista, mutta samalla harmoonista. Gary Numanin ainutlaatuinen tyyli kiehtonut aina. Kappaleet ovat melko minimalistisia ja hitaasti eteneviä, mutta Numanin tapauksessa se on lähinnä plussaa, koska monotonisuus usein rikotaan yllättävillä käänteillä.

Jollain erikoisella tavalla ihan tykkäsin tästä! Oli kyllä ihan neverheard-äijä. Niputetaanko tämä sitten uuteen aaltoon vai mihin genreen, sitä en osaa sanoa. Ekan biisin kohdalla ajattelin että tulee kyllä tylsä reilu tunti tämän parissa jos on vastaavaa instrumentaalia koko levy, mutta sieltähän tuli sitten kakkosbiisistä eteenpäin ihan laulukin mukaan. Näyttäisi olevan 70-luvun lopusta tämä levy, mutta kuulostaa kyllä niin kasarilta kun vaan kasari voi kuulostaa. Kovaa synapianon ajoa kautta linjan, niin keskellä levyä tullut pianointro pääsi yllättämään. Tavallaan ihan kiva että tämä on niin aikaansa sidottu soundeiltaan, mutta ehkä olisi ihan mielenkiintoista kuunnella tästä joku nykypäivän kultasormen tekemä remixaus. En tiedä tuleeko tähän välttämättä ihan heti palattua, ei tuolta mitään yksittäistä helmeä löytynyt mitä viitsisi vaikka soittolistoille lisätä. Toisaalta kokonaisuus vakuutti niin paljon, että koko levyä voisi kyllä ihan hyvin luukuttaa napeista vaikka lenkillä.

A decent synthwave album even if don’t like synthwave.

Yes, I would throw Cars on a set list. Sadly the entire album mostly bored me. Not inspired to dive into this particular rabbit hole any further.

There was a brief time when all we listened to was Death from Above 1979. While reading through the liner notes, one of the reasons for the ‘1979’ was this was the year The Pleasure Principle was released. At this, my friend triumphantly yelled “Ha - I knew someone else liked that album”. Then there was a brief time when we all listened to Death from Above 1979 and Gary Numan.

Honestly, all these songs sounded the same to me.

Boring and repetitive, nothing really stood out to me. But I can acknowledge how impactful this was at the time of it's release. Plus Mr. Numan seems to really love what he does and that's important.

Going into this I only knew Cars. By my estimation I have been missing out. This album kicks ass. This type of electronic music has been doing it for me lately and this got my left eye to jumpin'. I even listened to the extra tracks that weren't on the original album. Except for Broadway, that song sucks. I don't care who's doing it, I'll skip that tune every time. I'm adding this album to the rotation.

This was a very 80s album lol it had a song I knew, his most popular song basically but it wasn't a terrible album, most of it sounded pretty much the same lol

This is definitely a product of it's time but not a bad one. I only ever knew Newman's song "Cars" from its ubiquitous play on MTV so it was interesting to hear the rest of this album. My hopes weren't high going into this but I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.

Gary Numan is one of those artists that you've heard everywhere but can't place. I actually found it really fun. The sampling and vibe of it which became staples in other bands Iike was interesting. Some songs dragged a bit. The live tracks showed how cool he would have sounded live. Got to love that Car song. And Metal was really cool. Yep, 5 stars.

This is like that school field trip where you got to stay overnight at the planetarium. At first you were excited at the scientific wonders of the world, as you learned about black holes, shooting stars, and some bullshit about why Pluto supposedly shouldn’t be considered a planet. Later, when it’s time to sleep, you grow pretty tired of the space soundtrack (how could sound even travel in space? It’s a vacuum), and the twinkling stars and regular comets become pretty annoying. You don’t sleep that well.

First off, Cars is a hell of a tune. This album has enough to it that it could have come from a number of different decades and you can understand how influential this sound was on artists to come. The use of some viola (or violin) at one point was a nice touch and change up. But at times some of the songs felt like they hadn't been quite flushed out and a few songs were almost indistinguishable from each other. But overall, a great album id happily put on again while lazing around the house

3/5 - good, but not my style.

Bit too disturbing to be background music.

No puedo creer que este disco sea de 1979. Si en 2026 se escucha adelantadísimo, no me imagino qué fue para el público recibir esta música tan única, tan vanguardista, antes de la explosión musical de los ochenta. Una joya.

"So we've got this shiny new Juno 106 synthesizer. Pretty rad, right? OK -- the first half of the album, we're going to use the peppy setting. For the second half, we'll use this other setting that's a little more swooshy. No guitars! Just beeps and boops!" There are some catchy hooks buried in there. "Cars" is still a fun little tune. At the end of the day, it's cut-rate Brian Eno.

Really nice synth album. No electric guitars never sounded so good.

This was the inspiration for a genre... A genre that I hate almost in it's entirety, so it's no surprise that this was lost on me, no nuance, no subtlety. Repetitive and draining; I couldn't wait for it for end.

This is absolutely ace! Vocals can get a bit robotic but then that’s the point isn’t it? This has made me appreciate Numan in a whole new way.

Trop bizarre parfois

I saw him live for the first time a few years ago and I was blown away by the show! His music still stands the test of time and amongst all the synth sounds there’s a bit of a dark and ominous feeling to his songs. Definitely need to hear his other albums.

Now I know where the basement jazz sample came from, but also now realizing now influencential this is.

Still think it's kinda weird

Kind of the same after a while

This was fine, but felt very one note.

needs a bit more sauce on the songs I like the base but its not enough

gary!

I generally don’t love albums that lean this hard on synthesizers, but this one worked for me. It has a clean, moody sound that stays interesting instead of feeling overdone. Cars is obviously an all-time classic and still sounds great. Asylum really stood out too. It has that spooky, eerie vibe that feels like it could slide right into a Michael Myers movie soundtrack. This would otherwise be three stars but bonus star for Cars.

eh, its okay

Gary Numan looks like he’s auditioning for Kraftwerk on the cover of this album, and that’s not too far off what’s going on here, though with more pop leanings. I like this era of electronic music before MIDI was introduced; I think the music and the instruments lost something when everything started to be able to communicate in a standard way. There’s this neat vibe to it all that still feels futuristic, that makes me think of a lot of illustration of the era about the technological promise of the future with flying cars and cities built in orbit, when instead we ended up, well, where we are now. Where I’m less enthusiastic about the album is that while I only knew it from the single “Cars” prior to this, I’m not sure the album as a whole brings out many more ideas than those that are expressed in that song. Interesting listen overall.

Good themes, but gets grating after several songs.

Not much to say about this one. Not really my cup of tea.

7/10

9/10 holy geilheit (wenn lyrics beim lied sind)

I'm tired of New Wave. Nothing about this stood out as a must listen. I'd give it one star, but that's just because it's the 10th New Wave album that's mostly the same.

Interesting to see just how much this style of music would influence the next decade or so with the synths.

4.5 stars

Cars is one of my least favorite 80's hits, so I wasn't expecting much from this. But it was solid all the way through. 3.5

A few campy fun songs, a few dated songs. Another 3 unfortunately, quite the run

Debut solo album. Pop / Synth / New Wave. An extraordinary and deeply influential album. Right from track one the mood is set, Airlane sounds way ahead of it's time for 1979. The dystopian and almost oppressive feel mixes in with an other worldliness for such an atmospheric album. I totally identify with Numan's 'I don't fit in' vibe. Track after track hits home. Then there's Cars, what a song ! A wonderful album !

Dark electronic sounds and synths manipulated with pedals, but sounds rather simplistic now. Drumming is so tight it sounds like a machine but isn’t. Has a clear sense of groove but sounds like a lot of other things- kraftwerk and krautrock especially. It’s pretty good- some great songs, but overall a bit same-y.

Again. No particular feeling towards this one.

4 cos it’s revolutionary and for cars

I did not enjoy this. I like the song Cars. That’s about it. Too much synthesizer. Originally I thought this inspired Devo, but devo was first. Way too much synthesizer.

First thought. I hope this improves. Second thought, ok. A little better. But Could there BE more synthesizers? 80s just before 80s. Third song… get on with it. Where are we going? Vocals are somewhat robotic. Failing to find much depth. By M.E. I am annoyed. This is not good. Observer sounds familiar. This must be the “hit.” I can’t wait for this to be over. I’ve heard the future… and this is not it. Oh wait… Cars! Now I know why Observer sounded familiar. It’s the same riff. There is certainly a consistent sound on this album. I’ll give it that. Otherwise this album sux.

Surprisingly cool

I have heard the name Gary Numan before, but was not familiar with his music. It was not what I was expecting. Had a early techno, Kraftwerk type vibe. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Great album! Good boops! Awesome intersection of rock and electronica, and an early one at that!

Cars fit the Principle. The rest? Not so much.

I see why but not my thing. 3.4

7/10

Synth heavy new wave. Very good album, but the synths could wear you out over time. Favorite tracks include Complex, M.E., Conversation, Cars, Me I Disconnect From You.

Day 121 7/10 Highlights ME Cars

Some good songs, but not a great album

I’ve heard this quite a few times before. It’s good, especially the tracks metal and cars. The album is a little bit repetitive in terms of synth tones, but I still really enjoy listening to it.

Here is one that really fits the bill, a unique and truly influential record that most folks have never heard outside of the single. I enjoyed this more than I expected to but it does get a bit repetitive. There are three other tracks that are Cars adjacent. The synths get pretty repetitive, probably because they were still figuring out what could be done. All in all, an enjoyable listen to a record that launched a new genre of pop music

Heard Before: No Standout Tracks: Tracks, M.E., Cars Would I Listen Again: Probably Not When listening to the album, the tracks seemed to overstay their welcome and drone on a bit too long. Which would have been okay if it were just one or two, but not cool when checking the runtime of almost every song to see if it was ending soon. Rating 1.5* (round to 2)

When I started this project, I was most looking forward to hearing albums by artists that I knew due to 1-2 songs but I had not listened to their entire catalog. A lot of this music was 70's R&B, punk and late 70's/early 80's synth-pop. Gary Numan falls under the last category, of course. I have an affinity for synth-pop such as this. I only knew Gary Numan from Cars and the very weird video he did for the song. While I think this album falls off towards the end, it's really good and entertaining. Could I go without instrumentals? Of course I could. Numan is known as a one-hit wonder, and while that may be true in some ways, I enjoyed a lot of this music. The lyrics are somewhat non-sensical to me, but the synth sounds are an interesting listen. I also find it interesting one of the singers in Wolf Parade sound a bit like Gary Numan. Their voices are somewhat similar, especially on the song Films. My favorite tracks were: Airlane Metal Complex Tracks Cars Engineers

Repetitive, boring, annoying, uninteresting

Long before Disney came out with Cars (the animated movie) Cars the song put Gary Numan on the US music map; big but not huge. The Pleasure Principle has a futuristic, robotic sound (with some Star Wars sound effects) that was on its way up in ‘79. Bombers is the top track, also enjoyed Airplane, a lot of the other songs seemed pretty similar. (3.1*s) In ‘70, Gary’s sound was new, man.

Gary takes on a creepy, emotionless, androidian persona as he searched for the Pleasure Principle on this album. It's great and lays down some early electronica foundations. "Cars" will remain the best track but the album is full of other great ones. "Metal" and "M.E." are surprises that I have known more for the covers but like these originals a lot. Numan is a bit of weirdo and I'm in for his synthy, exotic robotic beats...3.8 stars.

I associate Gary Numan with Cars but didn't realize how into robots and technology he is. This is all very evident from music, lyrics and album cover of The Pleasure Principle. I enjoyed what I think is an early look at electronica/electro-pop genre. Hard not to call this one ahead of its time as it seems to be an influence and helped morph the techno and other EDM genres. The Pleasure Principle was a pleasure to listen to. As a whole this album is a little weird though. It seemed like Gary Numan knew that he had a hit on his hands with Cars so he attempted to churn out a couple songs that evoke the same beats/sounds. Without looking at the track listing a couple songs started and I was fooled into thinking Cars was about to start. It's clear that nobody loves an echoing high synthesizer more than Gary Numan. Fun stuff. 3.23 stars

I think this album accomplishes exactly what it set out to do, but unfortunately that isn’t something I really want to listen to. It’s fine but many songs felt indistinguishable from each other.

No heart or soul in this. Completely robotic. Never understood why Cars was such a big hit. Bad new wave.

Kind of eerie. Very 80s except that it came out in 1979 so this guy was ahead of his time! Cars is catchy but I would never choose to listen to this willingly.

Here in my car...

One his three best albums. Always thought it would have been better with some guitar on it but still a good listen

not a big Bowie clone fan. seams to have made all these on a six key stylaphone

Easy 5. Sometimes a weird guy makes a perfect album.

Caaaars

Quite a pleasant and smooth listening experience, but feels being on repeat a noticeable amount. Good enough to not stop listening if this album pops up, but also not good enough to start it by myself.

This is clearly a foundational work in synthpop, like if Jean-Michel Jarre had gone into pop instead of prog. It's an enjoyable album, but definitely suffers a bit from being early in the genre and gets very samey - plenty of shared basslines and chord progressions across tracks.

Another album that I feel like I have to rate higher due to historical context. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but I feel like I prefer newer types of electronic music over this. Can't however deny that this paved the way for modern electro.

New wave icon. Numan defines an unique sound. Favorite track: Cars

A one trick album, but damn it's a good trick

I have to say, I feel like Gary Numan is more of a singles artist. There are some interesting sounds and ideas on this album, but they're somewhat few and far between. I think that's most plainly illustrated in the songs Observer and Cars, where the former genuinely just feels like a duller imitation of the more popular latter. I'd find it hard to believe they were 2 tracks from the same album if I was shown them in isolation before listening to it. Favourite tracks: M.E., Conversation, Cars

So forward-thinking that it still sounds futuristic today. Gary Numan had just discovered a Minimoog synthesizer sitting around in the studio before making this album, and his fascination with his shiny new toy creates a record like no other. Every track is thoroughly coated in the warm, spacey sound of the synth, while the limited composition and songwriting trap each song in a claustrophobic atmosphere. These two conflicting forces paint a picture of an advanced, futuristic fantasy world hiding a somber note of isolation and paranoia. Of course, with every song containing similar textures and structures, it can often feel like the whole project bleeds together, and no particular track stands out (except, of course, for the hit single "Cars"). Despite this, the album comes together into a mesmerizing proto-New Wave classic that convinced me to check out the rest of this man's catalogue. Standout Tracks: Airlane, Metal, M.E., Conversation, Cars Score: A-

I conflated Gary Numan and Randy Newman, which made this an interesting listening experience. Not bad though, and feels extremely influential.

This album helped bring the synth heavy sound to the massesin the US, becauise people just didn't get artists Kraftwerk (we Americans blew it there.). Anyway, very good, solid album. The songs do sometimes sound similar , but Cars is one of the greatest songs of the 80s and still sounds great today to these ears. Best songs: Cars, Complex, Metal, M.E., Films Oh, and all the songs titles are basically one word...

My first experience with Gary Numan was, of course, driving around in a stolen sports car in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, turning on the stereo, and hearing “Cars.” I still genuinely enjoy that track, even though it makes it harder for me to take it seriously. Listening to his other work for the first time, I gained an appreciation that he’s not just a one-hit wonder but capable of expanding on that synth landscape (although the album did feel a bit repetitive). This would probably gain higher marks from me but it sounds so indebted to the likes of Roxy Music, 801, etc. Also I didn’t care for the last couple tracks where it veered into “spooky movie soundtrack” territory.

This is a great album (coming from a Kraftwerk fan) I'd only previously heard Cars which I've always enjoyed. It sounds like the music I loved as a teen in the 2010s. Come to find out, those artists I thought were being so revolutionary were just ripping off Gary Numan (I'm talking about you, LCD Soundsystem) Jokes aside, I really enjoyed this one and will be returning to it. I didn't find much fault in any track. That can also be translated as "I didn't find myself very bored while listening to this album". Strangely, just about every track sounded the same. Likewise, I'd argue each track was different in its own similar way. A very interesting album for sure.

Great listen

I actually liked this more than I thought when I first heard and it grew on me as it went along. A little repetitive but interesting new wave sound. Worth the listen.

Everything sounded the same

I didn’t mind this. It’s not the type of music I would normally listen to. I thought it was good.

It’s so dope to hear an iconic sound at its infancy. This brother was responsible for pioneering one of my favorite sounds of all time and he did it with flair and emotion. It did kinda get repetitive towards the middle of the album but when something is so new I guess there is only so many ways to differentiate it. All in all, I enjoyed the listen and I can only knock off one star for my “critique”

Genre: Synthpop Crazy to just invent a whole genre. Gary Numan’s debut album is forward-thinking, totally eccentric, and absolutely great. The synthesizer is doing a large chunk of all the work here. Big heavy, metallic sounds, with Numan’s new wave chants overtop make for a very distinct and interesting sound. It’s pretty impressive what kind of music has come after this, maybe not because of this album directly, but certainly tangentially. Cheers to Gary. Cars rules. 4/5

I really didn't expect much from the guy who made "Cars," but this was actually pretty solid. A certifiably beepity-boopity affair with airy synths and plenty of songs that sound like Cars reprisals or false starts. Gotta say this was far more enjoyable than I expected. Airlane is a solid instrumental opener, that leads with airy synths. Metal takes that momentum and flips it into a more aggressive stomp that sounds almost like if ZZ Top were given synths instead of guitars. Films is another more muscly jam that sounds vaguely like Rush. Observer and Conversation both feel like they are teasers for Cars. Like slight modulations of the foundational synthline from Cars. And I'll say, Cars is a lot more fun than I remember -- also faster. Jam. I could get down with this... High 3 verging on 4 in my mind.

Listening to Observer thinking it sounds so much like another synth pop hit that I don't know the name of. I now know that song is Cars which came two tracks later. Sounds like Kraftwerk a lot at times. Really nice album to round out 1,000 albums!

Boy sounded straight robotic the entire time. Synthy overload but in a pretty cool way the whole album. I knew I would recognize a song based off the voice and Cars was certainly it. This was pretty above average for enjoyment beep boop beep

Not the worst of the synth-pop we've gotten so far. Weird I literally was singing "Where's Your Head At?" to Lauren last week, and M.E. is def used as a sample in that if I'm not mistaken. Also feel like I've heard the Observer. Cars is a classic one I know! Had no clue it was by this dude though. One of the more fun synth-pop albums we had. Was lamenting it going in but that was fun! Low 4.

Not really my thang - I did not receive a lot of pleasure from it. An early example of my mom’s music taste, though, which is cool. And these songs are objectively cool as hell. Hence the 3 stars.

What does the red pyramid on the album cover do? Why is the man that I assume is Gary Numan staring at it? I'm very curious now. Anyway, this album's pretty good. I'd say that I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The genres are listed as new-wave and synth-pop, but The Pleasure Principle is pretty different from the other bajillion new-wave and synth-pop albums on this list. It kinda reminds me of Kraftwerk at times, which is not an insult in any sense. In fact, I'd argue that this album is more of an electronic album than anything else. I like it. The style is pretty fun. The album has interesting sounds that work together to form good music. Gary Numan's vocals are a bit different from how I thought they'd be, but they're not bad either. The writing is where this album really gets interesting. This album has a lot of songs about machines, and its messages still ring true to this day. The album's kind of ahead of its time in that sense. All of these things come together to make an album that I found to be pretty enjoyable and not particularly redundant for the list. I liked it quite a bit. 4/5.

Listening once is probably worth it, but it would get very annoying if you did more than that.

Gary Numan is a vaguely familiar name, though I don't think I've heard of this album before. Going by the album name and decade of release, I'm suspecting that this will either be an artsy rock album or a progenitor to punk. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see. New wave. Oh well, I was close enough. This was quite the interesting listen. The sound is a lot more atmospheric and reserved than what I'm used to with new wave. The growling guitars and droning synths are paired quite nicely with one another, and I quite like the harsh, brutalist, futuristic feel that this album has going for it. Truth be told, it's pretty alienating and I would constantly oscillate between being engaged and dispassionate about what I was hearing, though I still fundamentally respect this album for what it dares to be. Maybe I'll come to like it in the future. "Metal" is cool. Very characteristically 80s with those brooding synths, though I kinda dig em. The growling guitars also work surprisingly well with such an ambience. "Films" has a cool bassline. It reminds me of sci-fi horror movies from around the time. The droning, atmospheric outro is pretty great, too. "Conversation" has another great bassline. The punchy instrumental makes for a pretty good listen overall, even if it is immensely long. I've heard "Cars" before, though I'm not sure how. Anyways, decent tune. I like the very alien lyrics, and the wavy synths/looming atmospheric is pretty great. Book time. Blends a ton of influences together. Revolutionary and timeless sound. It is pretty unique, but I'm not sold yet. Wikipedia says that this album topped the UK charts and has a modest critic backing. Yeah, I guess I can let this one through. I cosign this inclusion.

I really liked this! Became a little samey, but vocals and production are great, and the songs were far less dated than expected.

The greatest "wave" album of all time

This is #day472 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… here's to one of the earliest specimens of electronic music that would go on to influence the likes of Nine Inch Nails and IAMX, to say the least. Innovative and retrofuturistic, The Pleasure Principle is easily one of the genre's essential records. The obvious standouts are "Metal" and "Cars," but the whole thing is of just the perfect length to derive pleasure from. A great mix of live instrumentation, synths, and unmistakable vocals. This is a 5 out of 5. Looking forward to #day473.

this reminded me of the janet album of the same name in that i can recognize how influential they were for the genres they are in but i don't think this did much for me

ok was shook that this is the song that WHERE'S YOUUURRRR HEADDDD ATTT ATTTT sampled from. but this album is still boring as hell lmfao and very late 70s synth

This album is really conflicting to me. Do i like the sounds? Yes, does it grab me? No, do i want to listen to more? Yes, will i listen to it again? No, do i think its an amazing album? No, am i happy to have listened to it? Yes, would i recommend it to someone? No, is it an good artistic expresion with vision? Yes. Its really conflicting to me. I absolutly dont hate it and think its by far not the worse album i have listed to in this experiment but its also not the best by a long shot. Its an intresting flavour of spicy mid that i find hard to explain even to myself. Maby due to the fact that the artist is a pioneer in the genre that it gives me sutch trouble. The notes of modernism and abstraction i get from this album leave me uneasy and unforfilled and yet content. Its an experience to say the least

Perhaps the best album of the 1001 albums at this point. It sounds timeless yet it is also a pure distillation of 80s synth music, yet again somehow made before the 80's. I can only imagine how influential this album must have been. An artist I've never heard of before, although I did recognize some tracks from general exposure to the internet. Definitely an album I am adding to my rotation. Not a perfect album, it can be a little repetitive at times, but that gives you move opportunity to keep listening to the catchy beats. It does kind of drag near the end als the energy dips during "conversation", but then it picks up again during "Cars". (Kachow) I'll grant it the first 5/5

A weird one, definitely did like, but nothing in this album stood out, however that is a weirdly positive thing here. I feel like to really get a grip and an opinion I'd have to listen to it at least 5 more times, and I just might.

One of my principles (no pun intended) is never to Google anything by the artist before listening, so I cannot be unduly influenced. The negatives of that is you are stuck with my less than encyclopaedic musical knowledge and I just tell you what I think about the album. What I know about Gary Numan is two songs essentially - Are Friends Electric and Cars, both fine enough in their own right (I much prefer the former, but I believe that was Tubeway Army, so I think this is his debut album). I also know that he is actually older than Gary Oldman. Obviously you hear a lot of influence of the likes of Kraftwerk but also recalls David Bowie and you can see some influence on certain future rock bands . Cars is the penultimate track and easily the most radio-friendly. 'M.E.' sounds immediately familiar as it's what Basement Jaxx used (and improved upon) for 'Where's Your Head At' 20 years or so on. I felt I detected future samples elsewhere too but couldn't put my finger on what they were. It's obviously a synthesiser-fest but somewhat psychedelic also. I have a feeling it may be a concept album of some sort, but I generally can't really understand a word he is saying in most songs so don't quote me on that. This isn't offensive or anything but just sounds like background music in a 1980s computer game kind of thing, not sure you'd add it to your favourites.

This album, with its dark electronic riffs, great rhythm, machine like vocal ambience. Never been much into electronica, until doing this list funnily, but always had a soft spot for Numan and this sounds just as fresh and apt today. 4 Star

Great electronic music

Has some good moments and no denying it's influence on 80s synthpop

140/1001 :: Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle Heard before? ✅ Would I revisit? ✅ Rating: 8 Listen before you die: Yes Albums just don’t sound like this and the influence this album has had on industrial and electric music should not be understated. These songs are just so damn cool. But also have pop appeal in some robotic kinda way. The repetition here is apart of the charm but also can make it predictable and lastly Gary is certainly no Adele it works for the vibe but you also kinda have to wonder how a better singer would have approached this. I recently listened to the whole thing for the first time when M.E. went viral on TikTok. Today was a welcome return. The songs grow increasingly catchier with each listen

This album is worth it just for Cars.

Wannabe Kraftwerk without the Kraft or the insight, dull as a thud.

seem monotonous to me

not my thing

New wave synth type stuff that I am not into.

I knew a few of these tracks. The album is okay. It probably belongs on this list because it's groundbreaking in terms of electronic pop music. I really like "M.E." but I feel like I would like it a lot more if the synth parts were played on guitar instead, and Gary's singing isn't great either. And in general I feel like that holds true for most of the songs on the album. I'd probably really enjoy some rock/stoner band taking up the challenge of doing a full-album cover of this.

Airlane: extremely whatever. the first couple bars of a song for three and a half minutes *Metal: I like this one. finally having vocals helps a lot because the instrumental is pretty straightforward, so it just doesn't hold up by itself (see: the first song) *Complex: this is like David Bowie mixed with Alex G, super interesting sound Films: it's fine M.E.: Grouplove from another planet Tracks: it's fine Observer: it's fine Conversation: long ass song. it's pretty good. Cars: I know this song from like vacuum commercials or something Engineers: somewhat strange which is good I think Random: it's dope to start with but it doesn't go anywhere. there just isn't enough variety or interest to hold my attention in a lot of these songs, they're not bad but they're quite simple. Oceans: yaaaaaaaaaawn Asylum: ooky spooky. it's giving indie RPGMaker horror game. I respect the nerve to end with three fully instrumental tracks, feels like a confident choice. it was fine. wasn't offended by it but I have basically no thoughts about it __ SCORE: 6/10 ADDED TO PLAYLIST: Metal, Complex

This album is soooo boring to me. 2 stars or D-.

I really try to like most things in this list, try to at least stick them out and get through the album. I was familiar with Gary Newman just through 'Cars' which I never really liked but had never really explored much beyond that. God damn that synthesiser tone was awful and it never changed. That 'Cars' 'Bomp, De-Bomp' thing was in every song. It was slow, high pitched, boring and off putting. I can't imagine going to a club and trying to get a crowd to dance to that, it's just not good. Zero variation, either tonally, tempo wise or in terms of melody. Just this weird white guy, angular squealing for an hour. That one was a slog, I've found something that I really dislike.

Overall kinda enjoyable, somewhat repetitive and boring. 5/10

My synth pop king <3 I love Gary Numan and I love synth pop and it's just so good overall.

The musicality of the synthesizers is plain to see, the songs are sonically cohesive without feelings particularly same-y. Very enjoyable listen.

In cars! What an album. And from 1979! Insane.

This is one I'm very familiar with, a little disappointed to get it on the second day, but it was bound to happen with a good handful of these. Anyway, great album all the way through, very interesting sound combining cold synths with live instruments that'd go on to influence EVERYTHING for the next 40 years directly and indirectly. Easy 5.

A groundbreaking yet strangely distant album, The Pleasure Principle feels like an early glimpse into today’s discussions of the tech-driven music landscape. My first exposure to Gary Numan was through Fear Factory’s collaboration, which makes revisiting the original even more interesting, as it’s mechanical, minimal, and intentionally cold. Numan’s use of Moog synths and rejection of guitars gives the album a machine-like pulse that mirrors its themes of technology and alienation. It’s not explosive, but it’s distinct - a calculated, robotic statement that feels more relevant now than ever.

Deliciously synthy. You can hear the entire rest of the 80s in this album.

Very repetitive. Electronica not my thing.

6/10 Is this really that essential? Kraftwerk was releasing better albums 5 years earlier. Highlights: Complex Engineers

Great synth-pop record that really holds up. Cars is obviously a banger, but the rest of the album also holds its own. Enjoyed this!

Love me some 1979 synth-pop.

Nice —————————————— Liked: — Metal — M.E. — Tracks — Observer — Cars

Местами интересно, можно иногда послушать, когда хочется чего-то электронного. 6 из 10. (4 звезды с небольшой натяжкой)

Extremt inflytelserik för synthmusik och tycker det är riktigt härligt, men jäklar vad lika låtarna är varandra!

Alltid trevligt att förkovra sig i tidig syntmusik. Även om jag känner att låtarna inte sticker ut från varandra så mycket så är det väl på ett sätt också ett plus. Lagom trevligt!

Jovars. Cars känner jag igen men tycker bara är sådär. Resten var också sådär. Svag 3a.

det här förtjänar nog mer egentligen men det var inte rätt dag för det hela.

Synths are fun. That's just true. Felt like there could have been something more.

Nice

I knew Gary Newman from when I was a kid and I know of this album, but never listened to it, just the single. I'm guessing that he was influenced by Kraftwerk and that he was a huge influence on electronic music of the 80s, if not pop in general. Overall, I found The Pleasure Principle a pleasure! Liked Songs Added

Nope. Hated this genre then, and a strong dislike lingers. Simple grade-school fancy. Gary’s vocals are the highlight, but the music is pure Radio Shack. Funny… the bonus live tracks on Apple Music are much more appealing. Still not saying much, but it keeps the album off the bottom tier.