Reviews (page 8 of 9)
Listened to this at work on a rainy Thursday morning. Such a vibe.
futuristista tosiaan, jo kasarisoundi vaikka ei ihan kasaria vuoden puolesta ole. eipä jäänyt tunteita tai muuta mieleen
Yli minuutin introja, kertosäkeettömiä kappaleita, turhia instrumentaaleja, junnausta... Syntetisaattori ei ole tekosyy säveltämisen minimoimiselle.
I felt like every song was building towards Cars. Then Cars happened and the rest of the album was ok.
Very cool and innovative, but needs a certain mood to enjoy it.
Not feeling it. Cars was catchy.
OMG when i saw this i got so excited !! mother has fed us today god bless
very consistent, but unfortunately so much that every song sounds identical
• Airlane was a cool sounding instrumental track • The album has a consistently strong bass throughout • Only three tracks in but every song has a distinct tone, with Complex having a markedly different sound to the first two songs • M.E. sounds like a lot of other songs, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it inspired or was sampled by other artists. • I like the melody in Conversation • I have heard Cars before listening to this album, though I’m not sure where (Edit: The Simpsons). I really like this one. • Oceans sounds like a Mario Galaxy song, while Asylum sounds like it’s from the Mario & Luigi series Favourite song: Cars
Int min grej
This is one of those albums that you rush out to buy only to play it once and say, why.
Had some cool electronic moments. I preferred the intstrumental songs. OK but I used to like Gary Numan more a couple years ago compared to now. I dunno why.
A very average album, from the vocals to the production to the almost off beat drumming to the forgettable songs.
Definitely can hear the influence of this album in the typical synth pop in the 80s. Doesn't make this album necessarily more than average for my own taste but can appreciate the inclusion of it.
I like it, some solid synth tunes.
Precursor to hyper pop!
Cold and charmless, sterile rather than sophistcated, records like this gave New Wave a bad name.
I definitely enjoyed this, but looking through the lens of how it sounded to me 40 years ago, it was pretty dang amazing at the time. An iconic sound.
I have no complaints here. This album delivered...it was everything that I expected that it would be.
This album was part of a specific place and a specific time in my life from which it cannot be disentangled. If it hadn't been with us then, would I love it so much now? I don't know. In any case, I do love all the spacey synths and Numan's nasally singing and the times when his voice breaks and the times when the bass drives everything forward, on and on. I can't tell if giving every song a one-word title is pretentious or its opposite. (Today, I say "opposite!" but I'm guessing if someone else did it, I'd change my mind.) I'm glad he was there then and I'm glad he's here now. Also: Cars.
The only two songs off this I have heard before was "Cars" and "Engineers." I have always loved both songs, so it was a real pleasure to listen to this whole album. I'm a sucker for a Moog synth, and this Moogtastic!
FUCK yeah. didn’t know shit about this outside of Cars, which I found annoying when my dad would play it one million times in the car. One of like sixty-eighty songs that he’d play over and over. But this album Jesus Christ dude. 1979 it had to be way ahead of its time. Zero electric guitar and it fucking ROCKS. I love 80s synth pop. This is the exact 80s synth pop that I like. One hour and nouns minutes of super layered and delicately produced utter bops. I love his aesthetic too. That androgynous robot shit. Screams David Bowie but less of a rockstar and more of a clone. This dude had to have been some kind of musical savant. This was really impressive and I almost have no words. I’m gonna listen again.
okay
I enjoyed this album way more than I expected. The electronic/spacey sound was pleasant to listen to. The vocals/style aren't my favorite. Even with the classic song "Cars" on here, I don't think I can give this any more than a 2.
“Cars” is in every 80s movie
Damn Gary, chill on the Vox Humana setting on your Polymoog. Nah, this guy fucks. I love the spacey future-sounding synths, along with the cool demeanor in the way he talks, his short lines, and the openness of how he ends them. The lyrics and industrial-sounding instrumentation give off a Metropolis 1927 vibe full of chrome, robots, and a major existential crisis. It's super coherent, at the slight expense of being repetitive. But since I like the sound, that just means I enjoy the whole album. I also like the 7.5-minute "Conversation", which gave itself plenty of time to grow and change, and is placed near the end AND before the massive hit "Cars", allowing people to digest it better in anticipation. But really, all the tracks are so atmospheric and controlled, never overbearing, to the point where most audiences can handle the whole 41 minutes without being pushed off, making this a gateway into more synthpop or even industrial music.
I loved this album. In the beginning, I thought everything was going to sound like Cars, so I was pleasantly surprised by how varied it felt to me. Solid. Standouts: Metal, Complex, M.E., Tracks, Cars (obviously)
This album is weird in the best way and doesn’t sound like anything else coming out in 1979. The synths in this song are relatively simple but amazing to listen to because they provide space for everything else to fit in. Each song feels like every element is placed perfectly into a jigsaw puzzle. Standout songs are Cars and Metal.
just ok
Very ahead of it’s time.
I dig it. Might have to pick this one up!
my better halves auntie is a Gary Numan Fanatic. i never knew that was a thing, but yeah it is. credit where its due to Gaz Man this is a lot more than just cars + a load of 80s synth shite where someone jabs at a keyboard with the 80s tones set to 11. still doesn't explain the fanaticism.
This record reminds me of the life I used to have. During the late 70s - early 80s, I worked as a pole dancer in a bar in Soho. Every morning I would cover myself in glitter and wait for my shift to begin. I was like a prowling lion, ready for action, ready for hot, glittery, pole dancing action. The amount of money I made was obscene and the things I'd do to my adoring public would bring a tear to the eye of even the most alpha male in the prison yard. Gary Glitter stole my act and went on to have more success than me as a prolific paedophile. The life I could have had.
Gary Numan vs Gary Oldman is a battle that has captured the imagination of the world for decades. Finally a winner has been declared.
If you like the song Cars by Gary Numan then the album The Pleasure Principle by Gary Numan is for you. It contains Cars and lots of songs that sound a bit like Cars.
Some classics, but a little repetitive after a while.
Numan at his best, some absolute bangers on this album, just not as good as some of the other albums I've listened to
Looks interesting… The album’s opener airline is a really interesting instrumental track that works great as a way to show all the sounds to expect in this album. Then it all stops for metal and it’s initially slow drowning synth part that slowly builds into a fully formed pop song but I wasn’t a fan of his vocals here (and I usually like unique sounding singers). It takes a while for complex to get going and his vocals are still not for me but the instrumental bits are interesting. Films is indeed a dark and brooding track in comparison to the first ones Numan is still sounding shit but there isn’t much singing on the song so I guess that’s good even though I much prefer songs with vocals. I’am very skeptical about the lyrics to M.E. but i’am guessing that’s the purpose, his singing is slightly better but still not my cup of tea. Tracks starts off as the lest robotic then gradually builds up quite nicely, while I don’t like this album much I quite like this as side 2 track 1. Ba ba ba, ba ba ba,ba ba ba is the only real thing I got from observer. Then is over 7 minute long epic conversation and well…zzz this is boring. Cars is a good single I can’t take that away from it! Engineers closes the album off with some great drumming, this is certainly one of the better tracks lyrics are sucky but they all are so good song I guess! It’s a 3 for 3 reasons 1) cars 2) engineers 3) for the time this was pretty cool and unique. But if cars/engineers weren’t here the album might as well be a 1 which is such a shame.
Really stripped-down, deliberately no-personality. Pretty interesting experience!
听上去是一张来自未来的专辑，可是我并不觉得是未来的声音，反而是一种老电子风，运用很多玄妙的电子乐，可是我觉得有很多重复，对我来说亮点不多，有些无法欣赏。
Overall it's a great album. Although it wasn't the first of its genre ( Bands like Kraftwerk had explored and released the same kind of music before The Pleasure Principle came out), the release of the album and the work of Gary Numan triggered an explosion of the genre, first in the UK and then spreading across the world. It opened the way for artists to experiment with electrical instruments, which are now widely used. Yes, it may be repetitive and monotonous at times (that's the whole point) and won't be everyone's cup of tea, but we cannot deny that this album started something great.
There are some good synth hooks & songs on this album and it’s interesting to read about Gary Numan/Tubeway Army’s decision to drop guitars and change their sound due to the violence at live shows during punk’s heyday. Watching Numan perform live he’s a cross between David Bowie and Kraftwerk. The songs are a bit repetitive, but that's expected and I’m adding an extra point for the viola.
Its interesting how my tastes have changed over the years. When this came out in the late 70s my friends and I thought this was the shit. The robotic singing, heavy synth melodies and beats were so cool sounding and a nice reprieve from the punk scene that so popular during this time. I guess if you weren't a punk in high school, you were a New Waver. Freak or Geek. Many folks talk about how influential Numan was to electronic music in the 80s, but I see him as a poor copy of the real innovators like Kraftwerk. He relies far too much on the heavy handed use of the polymoog on this album and most of the songs sound the same because of it. I guess he intentionally wanted to sound robotic but other bands were still able to imbue a sense of humanity into their electronic music and as a result their music doesn't sound so dated as this.
I am just not a fan of 95% of the Synth-Pop/New Wave era of music. This is not an exception. It is just mildly ok Synth music. I have heard much worse Synth music, but also have heard much better. "Cars" is a good classic track though. That however is all I really enjoyed about this album.
Cars
Fantastic album cover. Both in its own right but also in contrast to the flamboyant styles (especially hair) that I've come to associate with this kind of music. The more I look at it the more I love it. Buttoned down, everything grey, the only color a decidedly non-organic red pyramid. His posture and expression. The eye makeup. The non-sequitur name of the album. Perfection! I enjoyed the whole album, especially Complex, M.E., Cars (of course), Random; I found Asylum a bit distressing. All of the songs on the album feel very coherent, a pure distillation of a very specific idea about a cold increasingly non-human future. The music feels like it is driven by the beat of some alien factory floor populated by aliens shooting lasers around randomly. I'm here for it.
A big shiny robot comes and decides what will be played on the radio for all humankind. Some of the music just gets stuck in your head in an endless loop. The words don’t matter. Other songs have some meaning that you have no connection to at all. It’s there and whining its drill into the background of your brain. There is a flow but not emotions that register in your inferior flesh. I want to give this album a higher rating but I’m neither a robot or in a future ruled by them.
This is an extraordinary album. Difficult to overstate the influence that Numan had on music - taking electronica mainstream and paving the way for new wave, synthpop and - you might have to stretch your head around this - industrial rock and metal. One of the best, most delightful stories in music involves Numan. After a prolonged period of writers block, Numan felt himself at a loss. Nothing he tried was working, music had dried up and left him feeling a bit rubbish. And then he came across Nine Inch Nails. Listening to Reznor's work, Numan pressed some industry connections and asked if maybe he could talk to Trent at some point, thinking that he would be brushed off - after all, NIN were by this point on a massive upward trajectory on the back of The Downward Spiral. Trent Reznor heard of this and said "What, are you shitting me? I listened to Gary Numan literally every day.". Reznor wrote in support of Numan's US immigration application, and they've worked together on multiple occasions. So onto The Pleasure Principle. It is absolutely chuffing brilliant. Soaring synth, interesting and compelling bass lines, and as listen-to-able now as it would have been 43 years ago. Hooks aplenty, a legacy still cited today and genuinely new (at the time) directions in music make this a very, very worthy entry into the 1,001 albums.
It was like the most typical New Wave album ever. Lots of keyboard synth with the typical singing voice. I’ve never heard of him before but it was cool to read up on the history of him and his influence.
Pretty awesome sounds
Cold, minimalist, occasionally lovely synth pop. This is a striking, immersive musical vision of a mechanized future, with a sound that sticks with you. Gary Numan lacks the warmth and soulfulness of many of the post punk-influenced electronic bands that would follow him in the 80s, but I think that's very much the point of this album. It makes him less fun to listen to than some of those bands, but his imprint on the electronic genres that came after him is hard to ignore. "Cars" is the obvious star track, one of the great songs of that era. Fave Songs: Cars, Metal, Films, M.E., Complex
4.0 - It’s hard not to compare this to Kraftwerk but the full-on rock drumming lends a lot of heft to the sound creating an approachable hybrid of synthetic and organic. “Cars” is an obvious standout and there are other fun bops. Nothing mind-bending here but it is a composed and elegant record with a stylish and future-leaning aesthetic.
Ik waan me in GTA Vice City. Leuk voor de afwisseling
The only song I came close to liking was Cars. The rest were instantly forgettable. A very iffy 2.
Firmly stuck in the 80s and doesn't stand the test of time. Great for the era but it's time to archive this work and for good.
-In the bass synth in "Airplane" I thought I was hearing "We'd like to take you home with us" repeated like in "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" -Not much stood out on this one. I think I might start downgrading these to 2's
Numan, same old mistakes (ok c'était novateur mais répétitif et chiant)
difficile de distinguer les chansons les unes des autres mais j'imagine que c'est ça qu'on appelle la consistance ?¿
This reminds me how far back electronic-based pop goes. I hadn't heard most of these tracks -- honestly, probably only Cars because I remember the video from MTV's very early days -- and I am surprised by how contemporary it sounds in many ways. Sure, the moogs sound very much from their time -- my goodness, the sheer number of film and tv scores for years around this period that used those instruments -- but harmonically and melodically, it all sounds fresher than I would've guessed. He's a really interesting songwriter and composer, and the performances are great. The sound gets a bit redundant after a while, but that's true of a lot of albums. This is a good one.
3.5/5 Always loved the song “cars” and this album has a few more great songs. I enjoyed it very much.
4.25
Confirms that I don't like New Wave Never bad, but never all that great
This must have inspired lots of my favourite artists
Niet zo memorabel. Was wel verbaasd dat ik 2 nummers kende
A pretty enjoyable listen. Drumming surprisingly good and its mixed very well for its time and of course the synths can be excellent at time as you would expect for a synthpop album. For me the issue is that the songs are all very similar so it drags a lot on the back half. Cars is a legendary single but it doesn't really come together as an album as most of the tracks are forgettable. Highlights: Airlane, Tracks, Cars 3.5
Decent album, but why oh why end it with that pants version of Broadway? Hope it wasn’t on the original release. One star off for that.
Already loved Gary Numan's hits but this was the first time I'd really listened to an album the whole way through. Was extremely pleased to hear where the Basement Jax sample came from. Pleasure Principle pleasantly good.
4.5
Hell yea gary
A new wave masterpiece!
If you like the song Cars, then you're in luck with this album, since the whole thing sounds like variations of that song. Unfortunately for me, I never cared for Cars.
Good not great
His hit "Cars" is on the album and always a banger, but everything else all blended together and just wasn't really feeling it.
Fun album, sooo 80s and Euro. I've listened to it a few times before. Innovative for its time and maybe kind of niche for most, but it brings me back to the early days of computers, synths, and tech where everything seemed so new and full of potential.
New age synth album not bad, had heard Cars before
that good new wave
Cars is a banger. The rest..... pretty much covering every 80s synth cliche
Dark, brooding, heavy synth rock driven by electronic riffs and a chugging rhythm section. Lyrically and musically evocative of machines, heavy industry and isolation. In 1979 Newman must have pioneered this sound. He also instantly mastered it. It still sounds fresh where many who followed in Newman's wake now sound dated. Distinctive, timeless, catchy, dark. Not a weak track on the album. I'd never heard this before, but it has to be a classic. Rating: 4.5/5 Playlist track: M.E. Date listened: 04/07/22
A other level of new-wave music. (6/10) FT: Cars
Whetehr it's corporate cynicism leavened by silly funk or silly funk leavened by corporate cynicism, the funk's the problem. Too slight, too weedy.
I liked M.E., was surprised to hear something I recognised from a basement jaxx sample. It's probably very influential in synth-pop, but I found most of the rest of the album a bit samey
27th June 2022 Listened on the Tuesday rather than the Monday. Things still not quite in synch yet post move. Reminds me of the mighty boosh. Bit out there, futuristic, robotic, edgy. Liked it a lot!
Huh. I mean, this is a weird one but not SO weird that I'd call it experimental or unstructured. Kind of feels like the audio version of David Lynch trying to be a normie. Which would never happen, of course, but I think that description captures the quirky conventionality here. Fave/standout tracks were "In My Car" (easily the most well known for a reason) and the cover of "On Broadway." Lots of good, solid stuff here but not quite at five star territory.
I always wondered if anyone that loved the song, Cars, had actually listened to the rest of the album? To be honest, I hadn't and I was kind of surprised how low-key and less commercial sounding the rest of the record was. Very synth-new wave-ish with a full synthetic sound (no guitars!) definitely a robotic feel, not really too surprising considering "Cars" robotic sound...the sound of the future? "Cars", came out at a time when me and friends were getting our drivers licenses and spent many a night car cruising to that song blaring out the open windows, so this song has a real nostalgic connection.
This is definitely a one song album. That song, “Cars” is a banger but nonetheless it suffers because almost every other song is super-fillery. It’s an okay record.
Numan's The Pleasure Principle is likely one of the pioneering records for what is now the big synth movement of the 80s. Was not expecting the M.E. track, it was quite distracting though, I kept expecting Basement Jaxx to yell out in my headset. And I really enjoyed Asylum, it had a dark haunting quality that would be home in a good sci-fi show or movie. Best: M.E. ; Asylum Worst: Oceans
Gary Numan was created in a lab in 1977, a collaboration between MIT scientist Garry Smirnoff and singer-songwriter Randy Newman (hence the name "Garry Nu-Man", or "Gary Numan" as it came to be known.) After 2 years of neural network processing, Gary wrote and recorded The Pleasure Principle, becoming the first AI-generated entity to create a full-length, original album. (A year previously, an AI algorithm developed by a team at Stanford created an album, but it turned out to be made up entirely of Captain and Tennille cover versions, a major setback and disappointment for the team.) The Pleasure Principle became a huge success, with Cars, an ode to Gary's fellow machines, shooting to number one overnight. Sadly, Gary's success was short-lived. Like so many that came before before, Gary succumbed to the indulgences of fame and wealth. While working on its follow-up album, Gary discovered Usenet, a recently launched distributed system of computers. This sent Gary down a rabbit-hole of increasingly niche porn, culminating in a visit to a robot tentacle porn newsgroup, where it contracted a serious virus from which its handlers were unable to recover. Gary was decommissioned and sold for parts in January of 1980. Soon after that, budding music producer and talent scout Lou Pearlman was asked to find a human stand-in for the fallen AI entity in order to capitalize on the opportunity. Lou signed up-and-comer Anthony James Webb, who adopted the Gary Numan stage name and persona and is still performing to this day. Follow-up releases have paled in comparison to the original computer-generated compositions, but at least we have this classic to always remember "Garry Nu-Man" by. 3 stars.
Too repetitive, and not enough lyrics. Maybe that's just how synth-pop was before the 80s, but I don't like it.
6/10/2022 - ALBUM #134 Today's Album: "The Pleasure Principle" by Gary Numan - It's quite unfortunate that this album had to quickly follow up the Pet Shop Boys because by comparison, this new-wave album simply does not hold up. As I researched this album, it seemed like it was one of those albums that was super influential for the invention and progression of electronic music, but as I listen to this thing I really just cannot force myself to like it. There are some very admirable things in here like the aforementioned usage of synthesizers and I have to say there are a lot of cool synth sounds being used here. The way everything is mixed is pretty mediocre, with a lot of things feeling like they speak too loudly in the mix or the thing overall just feeling a bit too cluttered or messy, but I do think that everything is really well produced in terms of the actual sound of most of the instruments. It makes it feel even the slightest bit grand or important. However, I think that all of it is ruined by some pretty lousy performances across the board. Not only are the vocals nearly unbearable, but the synth work is pretty sloppy, the drum beats and basslines are poorly done and fairly basic, and the instruments sort of don't feel like they mesh together very well, both meaning that they do not synergize well together and they often are not really on time together (feeling like it's dragging). The track Cars is probably the only redeeming part about this album, being a pretty solid 80's synth bop, but besides that there is really so little to write home about with this album. There are a lot of songs where the sound of it is pretty cool or at least listenable, but often times it's just looped too much to be very interesting to me or the vocals sort of ruin the experience. Overall, this is an important album in the progression of music, but it doesn't hold up very well today and the shoddy vocals are not really made up for by any other musical performance. Listen to cars and then I would drop this album outside of that, unless if you really dig new wave and want to dive really deep into it's history. I see the value in it, but it just isn't for me. Highlights: Conversation, Cars Score: 5.5/10 Probably super impressive for it's time, but doesn't hold up well today
Used to love "Cars", but after wading through this album and getting to the point of where you understand this came from, it makes sense, but then it loses a lot of its magic because you can see behind the curtains.
Gary's electronic/synth sound is great. It's not as dated as I expected and all the songs are pretty easy to enjoy... though the lyrics are pretty sparse and forgettable (even Cars which seems to have the most words, on retrospect, is also pretty shallow). Engineers was the only "ouch" track (weird and unnecessary sound effects).
Wild that the Moog sound on Cars is so distinctively Cars, but it’s also on nearly every other track here.
How the hell could Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark be the supporting act for this maniac. If this is what he thought the future would sound like, I'm really glad he was wrong. 1
Classic electronic album. If you have not listened to the album for a while, then the songs all sound a bit the same perhaps. But another reason for that is just that they are all of high quality and very consistent: the two singles Cars and Complex do not stand out at all.
GOTH SYNTH
It’s congruent, I’ll give it that. The vocals are lacking and what was novel the first couple songs becomes monotonous and annoying.
A pleasure to listen to this. Coherent exploration of a sound - cold, mechanical nostalgo-futuristic. I was only familiar with Cars (which was played to death on TV when I was a kids) so glad to hear the rest of the album
okay but the whole album not totally my style.
Retro futuristic. I understand the impact this had on mainstream music, but Gary's voice can kind of start to get grating. Still, fun to dance the robot to. Favorite track: "Cars"
Great - much better tunes than I'd imagined & it works together so well.
I try not to let my friends reviews influence mine but this was a 5 already and I totally agree with the faves. --- Fave track - "M.E." maybe - source of that badass sample the Basement Jaxx used for "Where's Your Head At?". "Cars" is obviously an absolute tune. "Metal" was a stand out. The bonus track "Bombers" was excellent too...
Supposed to be from the future but just sounds weird and out of place 🥱
Hier vond ik weinig plezier in
Bijna helemaal kunnen draaien, maar alles ging op elkaar lijken. Niet heel spannend dan ook.
Hier kon ik veel te weinig mee.
Begin van de plaat was best tof, maar dat kale syntesizer geluid begint op een gegeven moment wel een beetje suf te worden. Maar vanwege 'Cars' toch nog 3 sterren.
In het begin was ik enthousiast, maar op een gegeven moment werd ik een beetje simpel van steeds hetzelfde riedeltje.
It's such a cool sound that becomes so important for the following decade. However, the album runs a little too long and there's not a ton of variety song-to-song
OK this is not half bad but I'm really not a fan of the genre. It feels like it goes on forever, I was getting bored, wondered how much was left and I was only on song #6.
decente
2/5 forgettable af
Lite variasjon mellom sangene, ingen som festa seg spesielt. Ok, men kan ikke skjønne at det hører til på denne lista.
jeg kom aldri inn i denne. tung materie å få tak på. Ble mye pling plong.
Eno lite
So good. Hasn't dated in the way you might imagine
i know what new wave sounds like now
Rating: 6/10 Best songs: cars
3 1/2
Haha pretty wild. A pretty classic 80s sound with all the synths even tho its a 79 album. Has some classics like "Here in my Car" and was fun for a bit but ultimately got a bit repetitive.
Eh. It's robotic and kind of cool but very repetitive and not very evocative
No me gusta. Demasiado psicodélico
Excellent, love the analogue synth sound on this. Many classic songs on here such as Cars, M.E. (sampled by Basement Jaxx) and Films.
Kraftwerk on my mind listening to this. Felt more frantic.
I loved this album. Was only vaguely familiar with Cars, but the sense of alienation and feeling different from others that pervades the album is exactly the world I know. Both Numan and myself are on the autistic spectrum, so I totally recognize the language (musical and lyrical) that he's working from.
The sound of this album captures this era of time so well for me. So many great obvious and subtle synth sounds. There's times when I can't tell if some of the backing tracks are stringed instruments with effects or synthesizers made to sound like stringed instruments.
Good album. Of course I knew Gary Numan, but never listened to a full album. Observer sounds *very* similar to Cars. Funny that they're only 2 tracks apart. The thing that's stopping this from being a 5 is that some songs are same-y. 4/5
Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. New wave stuff just generally isn't my thing but this was really cool. "Metal" has some next level atmospheric sound design for its time. "Complex" has a really nice hook played by strings. "Films" is groovy as hell. Also a nice surprise to suddenly realise that "M.E." serves as the sample for Basement Jaxx's "Where's Your Head At". All in all a very interesting sounding album that kept me engaged throughout.
I have a friend who loves Gary Numan and has seen him multiple times (he’s also much older than me), but I only really knew him for Cars. So this is new for me, and I love it? The synth work is really expressive and singular, even if it’s primitive compared to later new wave. That’s arguably part of the charm, though, and Numan comes up with some killer hooks. I don’t think that we needed the 7 minute track, but I otherwise had a lot of fun and will def come back. B
Feels kind of dated in this day and age. Not bad, but most of the songs are a bit underwhelming.
This is wild. Love the retro-futuristic feel of those synths. “Cars” has been my only touchpoint for Gary Numan, but the rest is pleasantly surprising, connecting maybe even better than that single? I love how “Complex” delivers an emotive twist with the addition of strings and similarly “Tracks” uses more traditional sounding keys (or is this a real piano?). These juxtapositions do a lot for me, especially coming in with the assumption that this would be samey. I mean, it *is* very much of the same flavor, but Mr. Numan works it. Also, he reminds me a lot of Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes (who I love), so there’s probably a bit of backwards compatibility going for me there. Overall, TPP is a synthy textural feast with some rock solid drumming and organic accents. Sign me the fuck up for more. 4
Interesting. I never knew he pioneered such amazing sounds that would be sampled providing the background to a whole new generation of music. Great stuff.
Wel prima, niks bijzonders
kinda weird and cool definitely had an influence on later artists 3.5
He might be a robot. This is probably what it sounds like if KORG Synths or a ZX Spectrum was trying to flirt with you. Best Tracks: Metal; M.E.; Cars
Weirdly I have never listened to this album in full but for years was familiar of Gary Numan though his Living Ornaments 79 and 80 live albums. Most of the songs on The Pleasure Principle were featured on them and they stand out better live with more energy plus added guitars. Nonetheless, you still get some great songs here with Cars, Metal, M.E. and Complex. There a couple of duds though, particually Engineers and Conversation.
Nice post disco bump...
This feels really ahead of the time for a 1979 album. I recognize several tracks: Cars and M.E.. I like this album because it's still recognizable to me, but I don't believe it's one I will listen to again as it's not my preference.
culturally and aesthetically significant but this is a little grating to listen to. Nice to finally hear the album behind "Cars" though.
Awww yes! This really illuminated my pentahedron, if you know what I mean! Properly brought a cheery pink glow to my pyramid! I don't think there's any Vangelis on this list, so Gary Numan is the main source of synthesizer soundtracks of the future, from the past on here. Fave track - "M.E." maybe - source of that badass sample the Basement Jaxx used for "Where's Your Head At?". "Cars" is obviously an absolute tune. "Metal" was a stand out. The bonus track "Bombers" was excellent too...
That plaintive voice against the robotic background gives these songs way more heart than I expected. This is so early in the electronic era yet sounds better than most. He brings a lovely musicality, especially the swirls of sound that add colour to several pieces.
Interesting 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.
The only song I heard before from Gary Numan was Cars, and it was the Fear Factory version. I thought I wouldn't enjoy this album, but goddamn I was wrong. It is super fun to listen to! Favorite tracks: * Cars * Metal * Observer
Cool sounds, not really engaged with the album though.
Big british synth pop. Quare decent album
literally so good thank u for the music gary, numan (complimentary)
Loved it.
Best Song: Cars. Don't even know if it's better than any of the others, or if it just benefits from the fact that I recognize it. Worst Song: Observer. Exactly that chunky, slow, 80s synth style that I dislike. Overall: Not my style. Sounds like big hair and neon clothes. It just feels like so much emphasis was placed on using weird and space-y sounds, rather than having them sound good and fit together in any cohesive way.
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.
So much more than just "Cars & Other Songs Collection" like I imagined. Simple, repetitive, strange, cool.
Yllättävä. Tykkäsin aika paljon. Kraftwerk ja Jarre -vibat paikoitellen. 3/5
Noh, ei ehkä parhaiten aikaa kestänyt syntikkalevy. Alkupuolella pari ihan voimakasta biisiä, mutta b-puoli ei tarjonnut enää juuri mitään.
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
I wasn't impressed by the synth really. Just okay for me.
3.7 - solid album, if a bit repetitive at times. Nice synth throughout. M.E. and Cars are two standouts.
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
Amazing in the sense that almost nothing like it existed before it.
maravilhoso
It's a classic, but not my cuppa
I've vaguely heard of this guy before and going in I had absolutely no idea what I would be listening to. It is definitely weird but it's the kind of weird that just works for me. I can't explain why. The vocals aren't that great, but somehow combined with cheesy at times and repetitive music, it just works. I also found out that a song I've loved for over a decade by a small indie band was a cover of Metal and I had absolutely no idea. I'd say this album is 3.5/5 so I have to round up. This is the kinda of stuff why I like this generator. I'd have never listened to this otherwise.
Nie wiem skad kojarze postac, ale muzycznie pierwszy raz slysze, a pan Numan uraczyl tym czym lata 80 swoja, czyli popem i synthem, plyta z 79 jest jego debiutanckim solowym materialem, chociaz samemu nie gra, bo klawiszowiec, drumer i basiarz mu towarzysza na tej plycie, 41 minut i 10 trakow opartych na tym co syntezator wypluje, zastapily one gitarowe brzmienia, lirycznie rowniez stara sie byc futurystyczna jak tylko sie da, wiec roboty, samochody, czy inzyniery sa tematami na utwory, a to wszystko wyspiewane z tak denerwujaca maniera, ze tylko dziekowac za tak niewielka dawke lirycznej strony plyty, bo spora czesc materialu to instrumentalne brzdakania, a co do brzdakania to najciekawszym efektem byl znieksztalcony basior na M.E. ktory featuruje takze wiolaczele chyba jako jedyny kawalek plyty, wiec kolejny egzotyczny smaczek, najbardziej mi podeszly trzy traki bonusowe, ktore calkowicie poszly na instrumental i najbardziej przypominaja kraftwerkowe tworczosci, natomiast glowna czesc plyty, to synthowe brzdakanie dla wyspiarza oi
that trippy 70s shit lets go
Experimental drone music. No idea how it was received at release but I don't think it's aged well. Very little substance, lots of repetition and in songs that overstay their welcome. It's definitely been influential though, I instantly recognised "M.E" from the sample used in "Where's Your Head At" and no doubt helped pioneered the genre and further electronic music. "Cars" really stands out head and shoulders from the rest of the album for just how catchy it is.
There's something very sweet about Gary Numan, he was a musician who was unafraid to embrace his inner nerd. This album is a little underwhelming, probably because other artists have remixed and amped up his songs.
Another that contains one song that we've all heard a 1001 times. Rest of the album is variations on that theme, no need to hear this before I die.
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.
Thought I would hate this but it won me over. Fun and unique, didn't overstay its welcome. "Cars" is the only thing here that I've heard before. Hell, I didn't even know that Gary Numan was a musician before today. I always associated his name with acting (I am aware of Gary Oldman, not mixing the two up). Also the red prism on the album art looks mad tasty for some reason.
Cars is good (I've been listening to it recently cos it was on the soundtrack of the last game I was playing), but the rest kinda blend together.
A bit boring after a while
Very good song writing, but the synths just make it boring and too repetitive for my liking.
Better than I thought.
Electro Punk in the wild.
not good
Great sound with some real good songs on here. I can see how it’s on the cusp of the 80s scene.
The live percussion backing electronic and synth sounds make for a couple of decent tracks. However most of the more electronic tracks sound like the daft kids pissing about with the preset sounds on the keyboards in a music lesson. A little too repetitive at times and forgettable.
Did not know that M.E is the foundation of Basement Jaxx - Where's Your Head At
Pretty wild stuff. This album is known for the popular hit Cars, and all the other music kinda sounds similar. But it’s funky new wave
Great 80’s. Sound
"Cars" alone is an absolute Hall Of Fame track. And the other great songs on this album sound an awful lot like "Cars". And, Mr. Newman: I served with Thomas Dolby. I knew Thomas Dolby. Thomas Dolby was a friend - and LOVER - of mine. Mr. Newman, you're no Thomas Dolby.
He showed us the future. Now we live in cars.
Numan never got the respect he deserved, did he?
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.
Definitely of it’s time, but I enjoyed it. Could see how it’s not for everyone. A little slow, but great if you are into the synth/futuristic sound. Don’t know why, but I really like the cover art. Perfect fit the album. Like he’s discovering something new.
Exquisite. Superb.
Honestly... just felt so dated. Even as someone who enjoys late 70s and 80s music just... very very dated. Only like 2 songs on the album that I thought were really enoyable.
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
Nicht mein Ding, aber nicht schlecht gemacht.
12/16 Heard some Bowie "Low" in there. One of the better Synth-Pop albums I've heard. Cruising through a future where mostly everything is chrome. Standout Tracks: Airlane, Films, M.E., Conversation, Cars
This is how music lovers in the 80s believed the future would sound like. This is how the best of 80s sounds like for us today!
Excellent synth album - maybe lacks a bit of soul, but I guess that's the point...
Really liked the whole vibe of the album, love 80s synth music; however, there weren't really any stand out songs (aside from the one I already knew - Cars). But, wow, had no idea this was made in the 70s (1979), it sounds quintessentially 80s to me. Guess he was ahead of the game. Asylum was really creepy.
I thought this one was a boring album, but must confess that I was wrong. Mr Newman knows how to write hypnotic and catchy tunes.
Interesting, and I can see how it was seminal.
Eh. 5/10
Couldn't get through it all but Cars is a good jam 2.6
good sound. I liked it quite a bit.
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
Ich find Gary Numan schon ganz cool, hab hier aber nur mittelmäßig aufmerksam gelauscht. Eine Frage ist geblieben: ist er ein One-Trick-Pony? Jedenfalls scheint er auf diesem Album den einen Trick relativ gern aufzuführen. Naja. 2,4 kann ich dafür schon geben!
Classic 80’s synth pop. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
Muy bien. 9/10
Not a huge fan of it
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
i am convinced that every single album in this list is secretly the same album
I can only imagine how futuristic this album must have sounded in 1979! Personally, I just don't dig it. The songs drag on way too long and the vocals are too winey. But I can appreciate how revolutionary it is. 2/5 - Didn't resonate with me
Thought I’d like this more. Dunno why but it just doesn’t ring. It’s not bad though.
Solid, classic electronica, and who makes the single the ninth cut on the album?
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 was on the second track when I was like - “this sounds like the guy who sang that Cars song” - the I found out I was right a few track later! This isn’t normally my favorite genre, but I really like this one. It’s aged really well, which I think is saying something. Good on you, Gary.
Fun and quirky album. Cars is of course the best and a classic.
I think it's pretty solid honestly. This is the second Numan album I've gotten and I've liked the both of them. Some very interesting sounds on this, and while there is a lot of synth, I think there is a lot done with it. Especially on the more atmospheric tracks like Aslyum. It's cool.
okay synth and that one single
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.
I love Gary Numan's dystopian Sci Fi music. As someone who occasionally feels like a robotic alien outsider, this album speaks to me.
I want to like Gary Numan more than I do. Not a huge fan of his vocal delivery unfortunately, but it could grow on me. I like Cars and some of the other more instrumental ones, but overall the album drags for me a bit.
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
Pop con sintetizadores. No está mal.
Do you like Gary Numan? Perfect album and it's influence screams out in so many acts that have followed
Starts off ok. Lots of 80s sounds. Not bad throughout but only a few memorable songs
220619 16:41 3.5
Sounds pretty samey but I really like that sound so it works out. At the time this was ground breaking use of those techniques. It’s still great even all those years later.
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.
fine i guess, but not something i wanted to listen to at 10 am. i made it halfway through
Gary Numan kicks ass
What if the song cars but an entire album in length? Numan really just picks one kind of syncopated synth beat and really runs it into the ground.
Very cool. Love this early electronic/synth stuff
Like Berlin era Bowie, The Cars, early Cure, and a little proto-NIN mixed together. Pretty cool!
IT WAS FINE. OK?! IT WAS JUST FINE.
Amazing.
Classic new wave that I will always listen to, but really not that many bangers.
Gary what is your prime directive? Why have you manufactured this album of sounds? Do you want us to feel technology induced alienation from the human "soul"? Is this a question you're programmed to understand? Gary do you have capabilities to receive gratitude? If so, thank you for Nine Inch Nails and Marylin Manson. Gary can you decipher sarcasm? C-
At first I thought, this is way ahead of its time, but DEVO’s seminal album came out the year before, so no. This was another album where I thought to myself, this is why I listen to 1001, to discover things I’ve never heard like this. But then I realized I’d definitely heard at least three of the hits on here, Films, Mr. E and In Cars, but because of the generic nature of his name, I didn’t put 2 and 2 together and I’ve written them off as one hit wonders. The songs on this are generally short and sweet. I like the sound created by the synth, guitar fix and analog drums. Good stuff, saved to library, 5.
I looked at this album the same way Gary Numan looked at the pyramid on the album artwork. Intrigued, suspicious, unsettled, aroused. "Cars" is the only track I think most anyone has ever listened to, and it's a fun ride for sure. Overall though, the album is pretty flat. Sure, it was early synth pop and maybe paved the way for some more exciting stuff. But on its own, meh.
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.
Favoriete nummer: - Me, I Disconnect from You - Bombers
It was alright…
Kind of cool but got a bit ‘one trick’ pretty quickly. Fun to hear the ‘Where’s your head at’ sample.
My previous familiarity with Gary Numan is limited to his hit from this album, Cars, which while it was grotesquely overplayed at the time, I actually like. It's a snappy, lowest common denominator distillation of Krautrock jammed into a four minute pop song. Interestingly, that description pretty much applies to the whole album. The robotic beats and chilly synths from Krautrock are wedded to disaffected vocals and succinct pop structures, surely a formula for mainstream success. Frankly, I'm surprised that more of the tunes on this album didn't make it onto the radio. And while everything here is fairly basic, it's not dumb, incompetent or tasteless, which is what I expected. The layers of synths are artfully constructed and anchored by a strong rhythm section, with occasional dollops of strings or piano to add dimension. Maybe the reason why I find The Pleasure Principle remarkably painless is because Numan has obviously taken so much inspiration for his sound from Low-era Bowie, which I love. Unfortunately, it's equally obvious that The Pleasure Principle has been massively influential up to the present, but the signifiers, like thin metallic synths, have been imitated but almost always without any of the taste or art that informs this release. Since The Pleasure Principle is rather shallow by design, it's hard to imagine that I will ever listen to it again all the way through, but I wouldn't mind if any of these tunes came on the radio. How to rate? Well, it's a perfectly realized album, but it's ambitions are depressingly modest.
3/5
An album of songs that sounds like Cars, but are mostly not as good. Each song I can take in isolation, but I just can't take a whole album of this.
This album is expansive and groundbreaking. Numan’s reliance on the synth does not take away from the humanity of this album and elevates synthesized music to a form on par with traditional rock instrumentation
Not my vibe… but interesting.
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!
First impression: this slaps. Second impression: it is a bit repetitive in places, and particularly the song 'Conversation' goes on a bit (a lot) too long. Overall impression: enjoyed it, though. Will I listen to it again in its entirety? Maybe.
Typical Numan. It was alright, just not my thing. 3*
Was fine while I was working but not sure I could distinguish one song from another.
Nope. Unrelentingly repetitive sine-saw-synth with atonal vocals shouting disconnected lyrics. This didn't need to exist. Hard no.
Wow! Que excelente disco. Parece una película del futuro. De los mejores que he escuchado
I kinda liked it. Had a Talking Heads vibe
Some songs were kind of cool, but overall not for me. And "Cars," despite being the most popular hit, is one of my least favorites.
4/5. Heard this one quite a few times. Gets better each time.
Everything sounded very similar - can understand the appeal/influence this had, but not for me
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.
really great and innovative
Eh not a huge fan
2,5 unterhaltend
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.
Despite having Cars in my head for the last 30 years, I couldn’t get into this record.
Iconic prototype of early to mid 80s new wave sound. Listenable, just not my style. Rating reflects personal opinion, not overall quality. (I guess that’s true all the time, but especially here.)
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.
Weird and boring
This is the album with Cars on it. Everything else is also really good though.
Let’s make music that sounds like it’s… From the FUTURE! I wonder what Gary Numan thinks of the future of music being nothing like what he seemed to envision in the late 70s and early 80s. Thank goodness new wave didn’t make more of a long-term impact. I didn’t like this. At all. My least favorite lead singer voice of the 1001 so far.
Never heard of him, but amazing album for 79. Grandfather of the 80s sounds.
This M.E. riff must have been sampled a thousand times. Clearly a groundbreaking record in its day. It feels a little like a museum piece now. It's intentionally non-organic but there are some melodies and chord progressions here that reach toward the human listening. The title of the album makes it interesting to think about how pleasurable the sounds on the album actually are. There's an antagonism there that's intriguing.
Largely seen in the U.S. as a one-hit wonder for "Cars", Numan was actually at the leading edge of the synth-pop/new wave movement worldwide. This synth/Moog heavy collection is not an easy listen today, as the sounds are definitely of their time and outside of the 80s mainstream. Likewise, the subject matter isn't particularly relatable, dealing with machines, robots and other things sci-fi. Perhaps that's why "Cars" hit the biggest - it reflects on something most of us can relate to. I dig the bass lines and drum tracks in many places (esp. the instrumental opener), can take or leave his voice (which works best on "Cars"), and admire the strings mixed in on certain tracks ("Complex", ) What can't be ignored, though, is the albums influence on other bands. New wave took off big and much of the sound can be traced to Numan, to the point that some of those sounds & rhythms are common in general pop and even hip-hop these days. And if you want a direct connection, look to NIN's cover of "Metal" (which clearly rocks a lot more than the version here). Still, I wouldn't listen to this album in it's entirety again. But "Cars" has a solid place in my 80s playlist, for nostalgia's sake, if nothing else.
Not my jive..
This album may technically be 70s but the synth heavy sound came to define the 80s pop music. Just not my thing.
If John Thompson or Hal Leonard wrote a book on playing keyboard. I don't think this album will stand the test of time. One hit wonder and most of the songs are simple and contrived. It wasn't unenjoyable to listen to, but it also didn't inspire me to hear it again.
I asked for one thing, Mrs./Mr. 1001 Album Generator! A 5 star album for Father’s Day. If what I asked for were a gourmet shaved prime ribeye steak and cheese sub, what I got was a pre-made ham and cheese vending machine version that expired 3 months ago. Observer was a bit enjoyable as was Cars, which I recognized. I can understand that the musical sound broke ground for the time. Nonetheless, I pressed my luck with my Father’s Day request and was delivered a whammy instead.
Synth Cars
Some bangers on there and interesting to note the number of samples that other artists have used
Very important album for electronic music, but also very outdated and a drag to listen to
David Bowie vibes
The only song that really differentiates itself to me is the hit “Cars”. Has the hooks and pop sensibilities that the rest of the album is missing Everything else just kind of blends in to one another.
11/10. Classic. Can’t wait to see him live later this year!
Better than I had anticipated. I'm not a huge fan of "Cars", and a lot of the tracks sound a lot like it, but it grew on me. "Metal" is a banger!
Love the synth and beats, would listen again 8/10
didn't listen all the way, ok ig
Synth work was groundbreaking.
At last! Something I like.
Very samey
reminds me of soviet space films pretty funky, but a bit too robotic fow me sawry
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
Now THIS is an album.
Could barely make it beyond the first track. Terrible.
Not for me