Customer Reviews

The BBC Sessions

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A great piece to own for Numan collectors. This features his early radio recording sessions with London DJ John Peel. The first 3 tracks were recorded during the release time of Numan's first synthesizer-based album, "Replicas". The next three are recorded just prior to the Numan's purely electronic album, "The Pleasure Principle". Both sessions show the beginnings of Numan's now classic songs. The most notable track, of course is "Cars" which eliminates one synthesizer and Gary's tambourine. With it's strong drum beat, which is more apparent in this particular recording, it is with no question that this is Numan's best song to date. The final three tracks, which are live, are a scam. They claim to be from London Wembley show in 1979, but in fact are from Numan's famous Hammersmith Odeon show early that year. In fact, these tracks sound awful. If you want better mixed tracks, get Numan's live album "Living Ornaments 79-80. Above all, a worthy buy for die-hard fans and collectors of the greatest synthesizer-rock pioneer.

Total of ten cuts.Turns out to be two appearances at the BBC in 1979,in January and May,plus three tracks are from an actual gig at the tail end of that year.Sound quality is fine.Only problem is that I,personally thought that unless you're a completist(I certainly am NOT),this compilation pretty much gives the consumer what they probably ALREADY have.Oh,the great Numan tunes are here,like "Cars","I Nearly Married A Human"(have always liked this song),"Airplane" and the last three that nearly puts you right in the crowd with "Me,I Disconnect From You","Metal" and the stunning "Down In The Park".A should-have,for some.

This recent addition to the 'BBC In Concert' series features a selection of pieces by Gary Numan taken from about the time of his first solo album, 'The Pleasure Principle'. At the time, he was virtually at the height of his powers: number 1 records, sell-out tours, and the recent release of the classic 'Cars' (a slightly extended version of which is featured here). At this stage in his career, he had only recently begun to use synthesisers in a big way, and they sound brilliant. Raw, electronic - basic, even - sound structures still sound strangely futuristic today, even though the tracks are twenty years old. In his robotic alien drone, so mocked by the media at the time, he sings of apocalypse, a world where humans are entirely dependent on machines, and even computer enhanced relationships. Although Numan has never really lost his ability to write excellent lyrics, they are rarely better honed than here. 'Me, I Disconnect from You' (a live favourite), 'Films' and the classics, 'Down in the Park' and of course 'Cars' are occasionally interspersed with instrumental pieces ('Airlane' and 'I Nearly Married a Human'). Futuristic, yes, but refreshingly unsophisticated, you can almost feel each electronic note. Better - and worse - times were to come for Gary Numan, and this collection reminds you of the former in an endearing, if inhuman, way.