Reviews (page 7 of 8)
Interesting but a little bit boring
This was fine, nothing special, average. A lot of synths, and very new-wavy.
So much damn synth.
Something new and a unique style to me. Feels like an intense movie score throughout most of the album. "M.E." and "Oceans" my favourite tracks. Though the album does feel quite repetitive after a while.
Quite a fun album; Numan makes some good synth-pop. Some of the songs dragged on for too long, such as 'Conversation,' and when the songs drag on for too long you can really feel the repetitiveness of some of the music, which detracts from the experience. Interesting and a great demo for what it spawned, but I don't see myself listening to the album again.
Yllättävä. Tykkäsin aika paljon. Kraftwerk ja Jarre -vibat paikoitellen. 3/5
Filmsin alku on siisti! Muutenkin hienoja synkkiä synapop-soundeja levyn täydeltä. Ei kuitenkaan mikään biisi iskenyt kuin miljoona volttia, joten loppuarvio ehkä 3.5 approx. 3/5
Nokkur mjög skemmtileg lög og nokkur ekki skemmtileg lög tbh
Synthy and wavey goodness, though I find the album to not be all that engaging.
Очень однообразно
A good listen and much more variety in it than I was expecting. Thought it was just electronica but a great mix of instruments too.
Better than I thought.
Electro Punk in the wild.
Great sound with some real good songs on here. I can see how it’s on the cusp of the 80s scene.
Great 80’s. Sound
It was ok, I remember the CAR song
I hear the Kraftwerk influences and appreciate the real percussion and strings, tasteful additions. Cars didn't quite wow, but was an easy favorite.
Abided by in an Aristotelian fashion
I appreciate what he did for the advancement of synth in music - but the album as a whole wasn't my cup of tea.
A tantalizing record
Interesting, and I can see how it was seminal.
Couldn't get through it all but Cars is a good jam 2.6
Revolution in Sachen Instrumentierung oder besser gesagt ihrer Synthetisierung. Eigendenk dessen übersehe ich gerne die recht flachen Song-Gebilde, die selten wie beim übergroßen „Cars“ schillernde Tunnel-Tiefe erreicht. Auch super: 3-chord Post-Punk Variation „M.E.“ 3.3
Classic 80’s synth pop. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
I'm not a big new wave guy, but this album was decent
interesting electronic sound, kinda of ambient but a bit more funky. Its a nice sound i hadnt heard before. But the album doesnt deviate much from this along the album which makes it a somewhat boring case. Nevertheless decent track
Thought I’d like this more. Dunno why but it just doesn’t ring. It’s not bad though.
Hard for me not to love this record. The cover art is really great. Reminds me a little of Led Zzeppelin's Presence, in that it has this ominous figure (a pyramid instead of an obelisk in this case). Musically, things can get a little repetitive but it's all balanced out by the great synth sounds for me. Sounds like soundtrack music a little bit. But the singles are memorable and nostalgic. In this moment, I want to give this a 4, but in reality, I think it probably only deserves a 3 given the company. Still, if Jane's addiction can secure at least three albums on this list, it seems like this should be rated as a 6.
I found this charming overall. Was familiar with "Cars." Many of the songs sounded super similar to each other, which became a problem in combination with the album length.
Good enough. Weird synthy, but I've always had a soft spot for "Cars." This whole album has that feel, and is worth listening to. I don't think I enjoyed it enough to call it 4 stars, but it's a solid 3.
Can't fault it
Really interesting record. Definitely out of my comfort zone since I'm typically a fan of guitar-based music. I can see why this is on the list from that perspective. The music is very sort of sparse and cold feeling. Apparently a big influence and Industrial music like Nine Inch Nails later on. Sometimes the synths sound cool and kind of square wave, other times it's a bit too... not sure the right term... orchestral maybe? It's a cool record. I liked it from an intellectual perspective but I didn't really connect to it otherwise. An interesting listen but not something I'll likely come back to.
IT WAS FINE. OK?! IT WAS JUST 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.
Interesting to hear the song sampled by Basement Jaxx
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.
Kind of cool but got a bit ‘one trick’ pretty quickly. Fun to hear the ‘Where’s your head at’ sample.
3/5
Sounds good today - imagine it in context.
Pretty intense and spaced. Not bad, but need to be in the right mood to listen to this!
Typical Numan. It was alright, just not my thing. 3*
I kinda liked it. Had a Talking Heads vibe
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.
Most of this sounds the same. Though M.E. is incredible, I could listen to that time and time again. I know people swear by this album and I'm well aware of GNs contributions to this space, but I wouldn't be able to listen to this much more than I have.
Pure synth. Not bad. Good for focusing.
It's alright. I like what it will influence over the next decade, and track 1, 9, 13, 14 are my favorites.
Synth 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.
Želim više slušati, 3.5
блять что же это если не прародитель ебаного жанра? ММ??
Enjoyable listen lots of funky 80’s beats
Yet another band/artist/album I have never heard of until that one song that everyone knows. lol. Pretty good overall.
Some iconic tracks. Primed for samples.
Pioneering I suppose but sounds a bit basic now
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.
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
cars is ok
Added barely any tunes to the playlist but it's interesting enough for a 3
Cars" Released: 21 August 1979 "Complex" Released: 16 November 1979
Buen pop instrumental y con abuso (indiscriminado) de sintetizadores. Temas un tanto relajantes. Invitan un poco a desconectar
Man this week has been very average
buen experimento
starts very well then it becomes headache synth music
Pop sintético. Cosas interesantes.
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.
Obviously influential, but feels cheap and plastic compared to some of its progenitors.
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.
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.
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
2.6
Barnsligt och kul
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.
while technically interesting, it eventually meshes into one sound/tone for me
Haha den är kul ändå
I thought I would hate this. It's not terrible. Best track: Cars
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
synthmaxxing
cars is a banger and M.E is a theoretical banger. rest i cba
Songs all sound similar
Gary Numan is older than Gary Oldman - It's a fact... look it up.... mind blown? From the 'Robert Dimery Dictionary' Must: verb. - def a. Do something if you choose to do it. Don't do it. It doesn't matter. Context. 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. - Listen to these albums or don't. Up to you. You don't need to. Strange that this album claims to have 17 songs when I only heard 3 played over and over again
(3/7) more mid synthesizer music
Honestly, I got bored and didn't really listen to it all. Seems a little interesting, but not enough to listen to fully.
I understand this is important, but it’s not really my thing. 5/10 Decent
Not for me
All of the songs sound so so similar and the album is over an hour long. A chore to listen to. The fear factory cover of “Cars” is pretty great though, I’d definitely recommend listening to that after you slog your way through the original
I'm sure this hit super hard in 1979
Not for me. Listenable but I found it boring. I will give it two stars because I did the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at the TV meme when the track sampled in “Where’s Your Head At” started playing.
It all started to sound the same. Didn't love it
I guess obviously a huge influence on things that followed. But might go in the one-and-done pile for me.
I've always hated the stupid song Cars and this album was no better. Like an 80's caricature of futuristic music. Or Elroy Jetson learns the keyboard.
Nonsense weird background noise
mid excess album, i didn´t liked a single song in the entire record... im sorry, this is a 2 stars for me.
It feels like there's 10 different versions of the same song on this album. Same instrumentation, same 2-3 chords, all of which sound like they are in the same key. "Cars" is the best offering, imo. It's the greatest sum of its parts.
Juste une chanson qui est bien…
Most of these songs, They sound Cars, Like Cars, But not All, Like Cars, Observer certainly does, Sound Like Cars, Like cars. Why does it sound Like cars
No es mal album, tiene algunas canciones buenas, la mejor para mi Cars
It's incredibly invariable. I've heard the song Cars hundreds of times and I thought every song was Cars at some point. He knew what he liked and stuck to it I suppose.
Do you like the song Cars, that late 70s, early 80s classic? Well here’s an album where every song takes one of the musical elements of Cars and expands upon it in a super repetitive fashion for each individual song, some of which are seven minutes long. Once they all come together in Cars, you have the rest of the album, which can only be described as the songs that the Casio Keyboard engineers used to pull all of their weird samples from to create the sound effect button you played with as a kid.
18/05/2026 I appreciate it was innovative for the time... it was boring and just not for me. Spotify listeners: 1.2 million
In the beginning, you think "this is cool, Kraftwerk-esque but with acoustic drums and bass". By the third or fourth song, you think "I think I heard this before" In the latter half, you think "this is repetitive as fuck, end soon please". And then come Cars, a song that sticks in your head, making the audition a little bit less torturing. Definitely, not for me. I understand the hype and the cult, but didn't enjoy.
Ein Album das mich fraglich zurück lässt. ich höre zu aber es ist irgendwie gut nicht gut
I thought I recognized a song, then realized I was thinking of Cars from this same album when it came on. Which is also about where I was done with this album.
didnt like it
not for me
Not my thing. It wasn't horrible. I was going to give it a 1, but I like Cars.
Perus synapoppi, ei mitään kummempia tunteita herättävä, eikä oikeen mun makuun, 2/5 ei kuitenkaan huono albumi
I'll give points to the instrumentals cause I'll always be a fan of synths, and especially in this album they give off a cool spooky vibe, but wow those vocals completely ruined it for me. Usually I can look past bad vocals if the rest of the music makes up for it but not in this case unfortunately...
I don't much like post punk, I don't like New Wave, and I've never much liked Gary Numan's voice. So this doesn't bode well. But I have nevee heard this album, so I'm going to give it a solid, 6 inch chance. This is certainly groundbreaking. But it's more evidence that groundbreaking doesn't equal good. It may well have sounded futuristic at release, but it now sounds dated AF. All it reminds me of is the synth interludes which played over animated sequences in the cheap educational TV shows they made me watch in Primary school in the 80s. And it's definitely influential, but influenced nothing better than a whole load of electronic crap which has plagued the airwaves in the decades since. Numan is not a great singer and doesn't have a great voice. While most songs have something worth hearing, that something is usully heard inside the first minute and isn't built upon. The complete songs feel like momentary experiments fraudulently stretched to radio friendly length. So yes, it should be on the list. But it isn't very good.
Cars //
not bad for synth pop
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!
This didn’t actively annoy me, but also didn’t do anything for me.
Not that exciting.
:/ not so much my style
Not my type at all
Cars was about the only jam on this… but a few others were interesting
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.
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
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
3/10
Noooot my vibe
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.
It was ok. Interesting at times, but became quite repetitive. Standout songs: Tracks Cars
Honestly, all these songs sounded the same to me.
eh, its okay
Not much to say about this one. Not really my cup of tea.
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.
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.
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)
Repetitive, boring, annoying, uninteresting
No heart or soul in this. Completely robotic. Never understood why Cars was such a big hit. Bad new wave.
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 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
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.
not my thing
New wave synth type stuff that I am not into.
This album is soooo boring to me. 2 stars or D-.
Nice —————————————— Liked: — Metal — M.E. — Tracks — Observer — Cars
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.
Just no.
Airlane - pretty boring intro Metal - fine Complex - cool Films - 🥉 M.E. - 🥈, cool I wish the whole album sounded more like this Tracks - fine Observer - fine Conversation - fine Cars - 🥇, big single for reason I guess Engineers - bit too loopy Random - loopy interlude is fine unless it goes into another long loopy interlude Oceans - said long loopy interlude Asylum - chrono trigger boss music is cool but what is it doing on an album with songs like cars Overall - 2/2.5, obviously super influential and has a lot of cool stuff going on, but I think the cool factor wears off, wouldn’t really go back to anything on it but Gary seems cool enough and the fact everything is electronic makes the album in a concept cooler than the music
This album is why we don't let people use synths anymore. Cars is an all-time classic, so I can give him some credit for that, but an entire album is tough to enjoy.
A couple of decent radio hits surrounded by very gimmicky composition. Interesting as a proto-techno/EDM sound, but shows a lot of the same repetitive and uninteresting pitfalls in a lot of places. A few tracks are at least fun to bob along to, but there's a lot of skippable music on this album. Top tracks: Conversation, Cars
eh
This album is interesting and great background music. It weirdly kind of sounds like most of the songs are just versions of the same song but it's still a fun listen.
He gets 2 stars for Cars
Uh yeah hated this too. Maybe im the problem
Nice soundtrack for autumn weather.
Certainly would have sounded more like the music that came after it than before it. Not for me though
Lots of electronic synth bliss! I recognize their pioneering of sounds, but also not a sound I really enjoy to listen to. Recognize ME and Cars, but not something I would repeat.
Nice
Een elbum waarop gitaren verboden zijn.. Aldus de omschrijving van apple music. Tevens; een verzameling van aanstekelijke machineklanken. Ik moet toch eerlijk zeggen, dat is nou geen omschrijving die mijn vette hart sneller laat kloppen.... gelukkig is het maar een uur en 8 minuten, potverdikkie! Zo wilde ik niet het weekend in. Oke, het lijkt mee te vallen; een basgitaar is namelijk vrij duidelijk wel toegelaten tot dit album. Verder vallen de machine klanken tot nu mee, het is gwn een leuke synthesizer! Oke, het was echt een stuk beter dan verwacht, laat ik dat voorop stellen. Echt wel leuke stukjes tussendoor. Maar zoals wel vakaer als het toch net niet helemaal mijn ding is, duurt het dan toch net ff te lang en begin ik mij weer te ergeren. Halverwege zat ik aan een 3 te denken, maar helaas. Dit wordt toch een 2 voor mij. Zelfs voor 1970nogwat is dit te experimenteel.
P445.1979. 2 stars. Late 70s Brit electro pop. Not as painful as expected, and still surprisingly fresh. Set against that, a lot of the songs sound the same ("Observer" is almost a clone of "Cars") plus he's got an annoying voice.
Feels like 10 variations of the same idea with the standout being "Cars".
So so
2/5. Я слишком ребенок для таких дедовских музык.
Meh, not a huge fan of synth stuff and this album is all synth.
Not a fan, but it wasn't unpleasant either. I probably won't come back to it.
I really like how this sounds, but once youve heard the first couple of tracks you've heard everything this album has to offer (albeit Cars, arguably the hest implementation of this recipe, comes later). I have a gut feeling this is most significant because of its influence - it is a pretty wild sound for '79.
2.5
Wasn’t thrilled to see this, as I was afraid it would be a bunch of songs that sound like ‘Cars.’ Turns out, it was just a bunch of songs that sound like ‘Cars.’ Goddammit, Gary.
Cars is kind of fun, so rounding this 1.5 up to 2.
This was so repetitive and not very good. The track 2 before “Cars” (the only Numan song I know) sounded just like it — I thought the first 30-45 seconds were a long album intro into his biggest (only?) hit.
I gotta be in the right mood for this kinda beeps and boops but they are good beeps and boops for when i am
Nothing really stood out here for me. Didn't love it nor hate it. Felt like every song sounded exactly the same. 2/5
A very deliberate dive into what would turn out to be the sounds of the 80's. Feels like a less experimental sonic relative of an album we had not too long ago, Another Green World by Brian Eno (one of my favorites of all time). Just as much, it feels like a progenitor for all things Rush; Gary Numan and Geddy Lee sing in a similar register. Most all of these songs are very straightforward in their compositions/arrangements. I do wonder if it wasn't so simple at the time though, no genre had been completely washed in electronics or given the "synth-____" prefix yet. Many tracks here just do the bare minimum by todays standards. "M.E." is cool but damn does it go on for too long. I imagine it was pretty neat to hear a synth lead go crazy like that towards the end of the song at the time of it's release, but I just hear a song that overstays it's welcome. Most every other song is passable at best, painfully simple at worst. I got no problem with little albums that have no real message or monumental achievement attached to them, but this one doesnt seem to set out to do much of anything. "Conversation" at 7:36 minutes long? come onnnnn. The hit "Cars" is unfortunately representative of this aalbum as a whole - the song doesn't have anything inherently wrong going for it, but man it feels like an 8th seed playoff team hat snuck into the postseason due to a weak division. "Random" is my pick from this project, I did appreciate the gated synth on loop. Just because an album constructed foundations for a genre doesn't make it's music any more gilded with age. Not mad about the music at all, mad about it's inclusion on this list. 2/5
Would I have liked this more if I had listened to it...IN CARS?? Probably not.
This album started over and I literally didn't even notice except that I felt like I had endured enough. It was not very good...
Gary Numan was absolutely no relative of Gary Oldman! A mistake Len Houmous so famously made during that infamous awards ceremony! 2.2 5/13 M.E
OK. 2/5
I guess it was innovative in 79.
Quintessentially 80's. All synth all the time
Synth late 70s - early 80s. I've never liked this type of music. Debated between 2 and 3. Felt 2 was more appropriate.
Very 80s. In cars
Not bad more rocky
Seems like this was the right song at the right time. Numan's songwriting is basic and repetitive, although he has a knack for catchy hooks and more willingness to leave space in his arrangements than most folks tend to. Still, it's basically one synthesizer patch (aptly called Vox Humana from a Moog), and it's basically the same song again and again. Interesting in its moment and the cutting edge of the '80s, but it doesn't hold up well out of context.
So I got this right after Bowie's "Low". Coincidence? There was definitely influence from "Low" here. Too bad none of the talent came over with it. This sounds like an AI tried to copy Bowie. There's no emotion here at all. Unless vaguely unsettling is an emotion. Cars saves this from getting a 1. It's actually a decent track.
Another charter member of the one hit wonders Club. Even in its era this kind of music was just okay. Now 40+ years removed it has not aged well at all. How did we go from the Beatles to this shit in a decade?
This was really dull, didn’t really have anything going on
A bit boring to be honest. Too much synth.
Typical synth overload … the one song in his own voice was best imho
Not bad, just not for me.
It had some okay songs on, but overall I found it quite dull
I only listened to a few of these songs and it ain't for me. Sorryyyy.
Very synthy with some nice bass lines. Lyrics and vocals are very 70s. Feel some similarities to Bowie’s Berlin trilogy, but I don’t feel the same heart (soul?) in these.
This seems ahead of its time and innovative for 1979. I liked parts of it, but over time the textures wore on me and vocal affectation of an androgynous cyborg grew irksome. I liked the song that sounded like “Cars” better than “Cars”.
I can see where this influenced a lot of other subsequent synth groups. Very raw sounding though. The synth is pretty one dimensional, but I'm guessing that's more a symptom of the limitations of the technology at the time. The drums and backing beat is right on though. In the end, not really my thing though. The vocals really grate on me. Side note: I checked out some of their recent stuff, and it's really interesting.
This was a bit of a weird album, so I assume people would have to be on drugs to fully enjoy it, or just have it in the background, although it's not really just a simple listen, but it's a bit intense. Everything sounded very repetitive, really nothing exciting, but I guess people were experimenting with making that kind of music at the time, so I understand why it sounds pretty meh nowadays.
Fun to listen to after all these years. But probably the last time. 2.95
Synth synth synth synth synth synth synth synth synthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Bwubwubwubwubwubwubwubwubwubwub There's some enjoyable moments within the sameness here, and Cars is a banger, but overall it's hard to distinguish between many of its tracks and Numan's vocal performance doesn't stand out enough to help the cause.
I prejudged this guy. I took one look at the album cover and thought he was gonna be a crooner (guess I missed the eyeshadow). At first, I was happy to be wrong. How interesting! But… every song is exactly the same. So this album is at least twice as long as it needs to be.
Paar goede nummers maar de rest is wel kut zeg
Turns out that I'm a fan of the guitar. Not having one on a synth-rock album for an hour is an interesting decision.
not my thang
Nicht schlimm, aber super langweilig
Cars and M.E are ok. The rest is just all the same
Too much of the same synth sounds made it a bit boring for me.
In a nutshell: Kraftwerk's #1 fan. One music critic described Gary Numan as "part androgynous Bowie meets Kraftwerk robot". Appropriate. There are variations in some arrangements, such as strings on Complex. For the most part, there is limited range to the analogue synth and Moogs. It sounds monotonous when the same notes are recycled through the album. IMHO, it's good, but it's more of 1001 Songs submission (for Cars or Are "Friends" Electric from Numan's previous project Tubeway Army) than a 1001 Albums entry. Overall: 4/10
Adventurous but feels like too much...there's a niche here but it's not my thing.
Good singles but not as good as Kraftwerk.
I prefer Kraftwerk. I just can't get into New Wave
Do I hate new wave? Maybe I hate new wave.
I’m sure when it was released it was groundbreaking, now it’s just boring
Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle For a genre that's called "new wave", it kinda does nail that on the spot, although it sounds very technical a lot of the times. Gary Numan presents this album with a lot of electronics and rarely any instruments that sound human at all. While it was revolutionary back then when it was released (1979) and also appreciate the ideas that Gary Numan was trying to put on the table, it sort of ends up going from one ear to the other, as it stales at times over the course of just 10 songs. I wish I could've enjoyed this because the concept of it sounds cool enough, but the music alone doesn't justify it, mostly songs made with an 80's feel, but overall, this is decent. 1.- Airplane = 5/10 2.- Metal = 7/10 3.- Complex = 6/10 4.- Films = 7/10 5.- M.E. = 8/10 6.- Tracks = 7/10 7.- Observer = 5/10 8.- Conversation = 5/10 9.- Cars = 8/10 10.- Engineers = 7/10 FINAL SCORE: 6.5/10
Pretty cheeks if you ask me
IMO, all the songs sound way to similar. That early synth sound. It's okay, but I won't come back to this again.
Nicht schlimm, aber super langweilig
This album just takes everything that's amazing about Kraftwerk's music, and just makes it really annoying. You can really tell that synths were this really new thing, and that electronic music was in its infancy just by how overused synths are in this album. It's all good and well for a song or two, but they all just sound exactly the same.
Do you like synth? This is for you! I can appreciate how experimental and out there this album is, and it reminds me od other songs I like (Random for example giving me shades of One of These Days by Pink Floyd). But overall this misses the mark with me, the only song I recognize is Cars, and even then it was a journey to get there. The latter of the albun doesnt improve much for me either.
Not sure how people can listen to this genre for pleasure. Unless you're a Tesla robot. Couple of songs (the most popular) were a good listen but could have left the rest.
80s synth, not for me but not bad
not for me
Nichts besonderes in meinen Augen. Viel gleiche Sounds mit wenig Lyrics. Songs der Playlist hinzugefügt: Keine
I listened to the entire album—it's not the worst thing I've ever heard, but definitely way too repetitive for me. It's a shame 'cause I'm usually really into synths. 2.5/5 stars
eh
Was vibing a bit. Thought this was for sure like late 80’s, ahead of his time.
It's a fun vibe, but a lot of these songs sound the same tbh... Prefer my New Wave to have a little more dancey or a little more post-punky vibes Faves: Cars
Synth pop, apparently. Mostly instrumental, not super interesting
a whole lotta synth I think if it weren't for the connection from this album's M.E. and Basement Jaxx's Where's Your Head At I'm not sure I would have really enjoyed anything besides Cars which or course was a pretty big hit
Pretty good synth pop music. I have never heard the whole thing, only "Cars". The album is pretty good with a few other catchy songs. I don't know if I will listen to the whole thing again but I'm glad I heard it.
I understand why this album is on the list, and I can hear the influence it had, but I’m underwhelmed. Admittedly, this is far from my favorite genre, but the songs really started to sound the same after awhile. I didn’t hate it, though. This is honestly a 2.5 for me, but I’m rounding down.
Very impressive synth-work and I can tell this album is influential, but everything outside of the synths leaves a lot to be desired for me.
Gary Numan is the FOSS version of electronic music.
I thought I would love this but honestly it made me a little sad as I listened to it. Not really my vibe
Just Cars for me
Quintessential 70s synth man in a suit boppin to his robo beats. Good background music and I did recognize cars, but yeah liked not loved
Meh
Very much of its time.
I would say that I think Cars is an alright song on its own. On the album so many of these songs sounded like Cars that by the time it actually came around I didn't want to hear it. Some it sounded like ambient film soundtrack stuff, with the last track an 80s horror/stranger things scene. One of the songs was sampled by basement jaxx on where's your head at but it wasn't as good. This stuff didn't really add anything but it thankfully didn't sound like cars. If you've heard cars, you've heard most of this album, and what you haven't heard isn't worth it, so don't listen to it. 1.5.
I don't know about this.... It all gets a bit samey and this type of synthy music doesn't do too much for me. Again, bet it was a lot more impressive in 79 than it is now. I remember the video for cars being on mtv2 all the time and turning it off when it came on. Not sure my opinion has changed that much.... However it is probably the standout song.... Although there are quite a few that sound very similar 2.5
I don’t mind new wave and there is some that I really love. But this album was overly long and became monotonous after a while. I don’t doubt that it was influential in its time, but I won’t go back to it.
1. airlane - 1 2. metal - 0 3. complez - 1 4. filmz - 0 5. me - 1 6. trackz - 0 7. obzerver - 1.5 8. converzation - 1.5 9. carz - 1.5 10. engineerz - 1 11. random - 2 12. oceanz - 1.5 13. azylum - 1.5 14. me - 1 15. bomberz - 1 16. vapour - 1 17. broaduuay - 1.5
Always thought "Cars" was mediocre at best...and that's the best song on the album. Too many of the songs sound alike...way too much electronica for my tastes.
Not even Cars could save it from being baby’s first album.
Maso...
Not for me
Very spacey and atmospheric, but I don't think it all lands. To me it feels like some cool ideas that aren't quite coming together, almost like a walmart David Bowie.
I don’t know if he ever did it but hopefully Gary Newman got into scoring 80s and late 70s sci-fi fantasy motion pictures. His sound is perfect for that. This is a weird album to listen to while you’re driving, which is how I listened to it. I was stuck in a construction zone while Metal was playing and it really went well with it oddly. Something about that driving beat with these machines, tearing up road and sending asphalt bits into a dump truck. Did Bowie know Gary was out there stealing his whole act? I think seeing this guy, Live must’ve been a trip! This album reminds me of when my kids get a hold of the keyboard and turn the synthesizer sounds up and you just go, I gotta get this thing away from them.
Interesting to look back at this kind of music and try to imagine their frame of minds as they thought they were creating the music of the future. There's some strong melodies in here, but it's just so weird and over the top synth that it doesn't age well at all. The drums were cool though
Apparently, this is a great synth album. It's lost on me though.
Eh, it had moments but I feel like I wasn't surprised after song 1
Not that great.
Difícil de escuchar, just like 3 good songs and quite sampleable things from know and then, fuera de eso estaba esperando a que terminara. 4/10 y soy generoso con este rating.
I hate the robotic sound of techno and have never liked synthesizers, so this album never had much of a chance with me. Like I said to my brother after trying his homegrown beets - they didn't suck entirely.
This list keeps reminding me how little I know about music.....and I am thankful! It is a list of 2's!!! This album I could listen to, but barely. I have said that too many times.
Synthy new wave. I enjoyed it a little more than I expected.
Wieder 80er Sythiepop. Der Einsatz von Vogelklängen war dieses Mal außergewöhnlich, aber sonst…
A lot of the songs sounded the same. "Conversation" ended and lead into "Cars" (the hit song on the album). I had to stop what I was doing to make sure the same song didn't repeat itself.
Het was weer niet veel
Behoorlijk matig, en ook net iets aan de lange kant
Rare muziek zeg
80s synth music. Not objectionable but there are better things to listen to
Very 80s, so much synth. Cars is the popular song.
Cars was good, and I don't remember anything else from the album. Completely forgettable.
This is not a type of music I enjoy aside from being background music in Revenge of the Nerds 1. Plus isn’t this guy a pedophile? Cool to listen to once but I’m not feeling it.
This is some really forward-thinking and well-polished music for its time, but man does every song here sound the exact same. There is no swell or crescendo anywhere to be found.
Yeesh, what an unremarkable album. Synth pop to the max. Very few lyrics, and the lyrics are barely noticeable when there. Repetitive drums and melodies. The only interesting song was Asylum
Não tem guitarras, mas apresentou a original da música cars, que funciona muito bem na versão nu-metal. Para mim não precisava de tanta repetição de sintetizadores.
Some songs I kinda recognised, it was alright
This is from what i hear and read an influencial album. I had heard cars before and thought it was nice and catchy but a whole album of the same synth patches and exact same voice really made the album boring and monotone. It is not unlistenable but if you heard cars it is the peak of the album and the rest feels like an extension of that song
2 out of 5… not really my kind of music
"Hey check it out, we can create music electronically now! Listen:" beep boop bwwwwp - "Cool, right?" Every other track sounds like the pre-installed demo tunes electronic keyboards play.
Another UK synth pop album, authors wildin (its not that bad, quite like the use of synth with more sustain to give an ambient sound, but still)
Extremely new wave, completely devoid of guitar, sounds like it’s completely devoid of humans. I appreciate the cold, futuristic sound. Observer and Cars are well known and sampled many times. The rest blends together 5.5/10
Fun concept album that was ahead of it's time.
This sure is new wave. It went right through me, which either means it's genuinely not compelling to me or I need to give it another couple of listens. I was relieved when it got to "Tracks" and there was a drum buildup. I've heard "Car" before, but in the context of this album I swear the same synth riff was used already. I'd be halfway through a song on this thing and thinking "Gosh, I can't wait for this to be over," then the song would end and I'd go "Wait, that was it?" Maybe I'm just not a new wave person.
Brani Preferiti: - nessun brano preferito Note: Non sono un grande fan di musica elettronica, ancora meno di suoni synth.
Just not my type of music. I recognized the track “Cars” which was pretty cool. The synth sound on this record is iconic. I’ll give it an extra star for being influential and pretty ahead of its time.
It's a little kooky, a little strange, but well created and sounds really good. His voice is a little off-putting, but it works well for his style. I ended up tuning out for over half the album. I like it, but it becomes really good background noise.
It's interesting, but not for me. I think it would work great as a soundtrack for a movie, tv show, videogame, etc. In insolation, like just sitting and listening to this whole album, it's a bit too much. Rating 2.4 and rounding down to 2.
Not for me
It definitely had that 80s sound. I knew the song Cars. The album consists of more songs like similar to Cars. It was not particularly entertaining.
one good song in an album exploring how the first computers can make sounds. felt like a crappy early 80s horror movie soundtrack at times
Honestly kinda stinky
Nope. I won't be listening to this again.
Has some cool ideas, but I’d rather listen to something that builds upon those ideas.
Weirdly boring
Gets on my nerves and feels a bit edgy
Liked only a couple songs
Ahead of its time. Few good tracks. Not my style.
one of those albums whose influence you hear everywhere in modern music, but it does nothing for me. everything is just... boring as fuck. it was probably revolutionary when it came out but this just seems like the most basic synthpop music. every song sounds like it should be playing in the breakfast club opening credits. Rating - 4.4 Favs - Cars - M.E - Me, I Disconnect From You
IDK If i remember listening to this, but it's too high energy to be backround music. I'm sure I'll go to **** for saying this, but 2 stars.
HERE IN MY CAR, I FEEL SAFEST OF ALL, I CAN LOCK ALL MY DOORS, ITS THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE IN CARS. You know how that song is now stuck in your head and you hate it? Yeah imagine a whole album like that. Mediocre, repetitive shit.
Fine but not mindblowing. Has its moments. Best tracks: Cars, Airlane, Complex
It's all highly experimental and very serious. The experimentation I liked; the self-seriousness I found a bit off-putting.
This is a pointless and boring record. Hears cars froma mile away and to my surprise...
Genres: Synth-pop, new wave Formed: !979 solo album whilst still with Tubeway Army. Run time: 17 songs, 1 hour, 8 min The debut solo studio album by Gary Numan. (He was the former frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army.) Spotify: Least popular song: 87k Most popular song: over 88M I loved track 9, “Cars”, I loved the sound of the synthesisers, but I can only put up with one track of Gary Newman’s monotonous voice. It really just needs some variety, otherwise it might as well be a robot. Perhaps it is. Listen Again?: No My Rating: **
Pitkäveteinen ja tylsä. Voin kuvitella olleen tyylissään edelläkävijä muttei se silti iske kasarin lapseen.
Jaha semmonen. No ei se ihan paska ollu
Not sure an album that is all variations of annoying electric music and a grating voice suddenly works for Cars but I think that's the one hit. Final iteration that works or nostalgia? Didn't have much fun on the train
For a split second after being generated today’s album, I thought to myself that I hadn’t heard much Gary Jules. Then I remembered that Jules and Numan are actually different words, and so they’re more than likely different people. Let’s listen! Songs I already knew: Cars Favourites: Cars I was hoping to enjoy this a lot more than I did. 80’s synth pop is usually something I love, but this mostly just didn’t hit for me. Cars is a very catchy song, but that was unfortunately where the fun started and finished. It was interesting to hear M.E. as I instantly recognised the synth - it was later sampled in Where’s Your Head At by Basement Jaxx. The Gary Numan version though, aside from that synth lock, was quite uninteresting. Overall, I loved Cars, but one great song does not a great album make.
Decent but ultimately uninteresting
Framúrstefnulegt á sínum tíma, en aldrei neinn hittari fyrir mig.
Fun fact: This album invented the flanger. Idk if it’s true but it’s used enough on here to be. 2
2 Got this guy confused with Randy Newman at first and was really confused when the album started. Anyway, I’m not familiar with Gary, but from what I heard here it seems like he was majorly influential on the upcoming new wave scene. That being said, I think Kraftwerk had already been doing this kind of thing for a few years now. Maybe they were an influence on him, maybe they just sound similar due to the limitations of early electronic music, either way, I think I enjoyed Kraftwerk a bit more. Whereas their album felt like it had a sense of atmosphere and innovation to it, this just kind of sounds like one long electronic loop… like seriously, there were multiple moments where the next song kicked in and I was like “Isn’t this just the same beat as before?” I might be exaggerating a bit when I throw that kind of claim out typically, but I am 100% earnest when I say it here. Bum BUM Bum. Bum BUM Bum. Bum buuum Bum. Bum buuum Bum. You can hear it, right?? Didn’t hate it, but it’s not for me. I’ll stick with my TRANS. EUROPE. EXPRESS.
Weird, repetitive, not catchy, not a nice singing voice. Yet kind of intriguing anyway? It’s definitely atmospheric, and as much as I don’t care for his voice it adds to that nervy, icy vibe that the whole album has. I wouldn’t listen to this again but I can appreciate what it’s going for. Frankly baffled he got a #1 in the UK off of this though. What is going on on that weird island. Best song: Random
The album certainly gets it's point across with being robotic and cold. Since I wasn't alive for it, it's difficult to tell how this hit the zeitgeist at the time but everything I know retroactively would suggest that it pretty much set the tone for the 80s where there was hope that the digital age would free us but at the same time bend us to the will of our corporate overloards. It's kind of a bleak experience and lives as an interesting precursor to the post history 90s where a lot of these feelings solidify. Effective as it is I can't say I care much for the style though.
CARS!!!! And some other songs that are cars but worse
Not really into this. Went in thinking it would sound more like the Cars. Not sure because of the era, or because, well, Cars. Not surprising that I did not enjoy the album as the Cars song I never really liked either.