Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Darkest well written musical soundscape you'll hear today., January 29, 2002
I thought the man was a joke. That was after only knowing him for "Cars" and before I tripped over this one at CDNOW. And I call myself a music freak? I should be slapped. I was just browsing and sampling there one day, noticed Gary Numan. Then I noticed the man has a catalogue comparable to that of Tangerine Dream or Frank Zappa. Insane. The page is huge. Guess he did more than "Cars". What clued me in on this record was the instant connection I made to "Dark" with the movie preview for "Dark City." They used the backbeat of the song in the preview for the movie. Holy god, after sampling all the tracks, I knew this was a winner. I have searched for the perfect sound ever since my first music purchase, and this is as close to my ear as it will ever come. Buy this album, just buy it. I have no words for the mastery this record possesses of dark tranquility. Musically, it's dark in a different way. It's not darkness that I'm used to hearing. Don't expect Slayer or Sepultura. This is darkness that has such a deeper definition. It just sounds dark. Even Numan's voice is such a part of the tone, it's like another instrument. Yeah, there's singers, but then there's this guy who makes his voice sound like a synthetic horrifying presence that just zeroes in on your soul. The man's voice will take out your speakers and he is not screaming at all. He carries such a haunting melody just with his voice. (You must have a decent stereo to enjoy this record fully) I have spun this disk countless times and it never gets old. It's so far beyond anything that's out right now, it's like he's not even from our galaxy. Maybe that's the point. Check out his website for the story behind this masterpiece. Judging from the lyrics, something seriously horrible had to happen to Mr. Numan recently. His latest effort, "Pure" is a bit different, but it's like a continuation of this one. You will have to wait for Exile, no doubt, I had to wait 6 weeks for this title and I ordered it from a respected record store. The US print has an extra (live) track on it that does not fit the rest of the album at all but it's kinda nice to get something extra when you buy something isn't it? I love this album so much, I may write about again later. Just get it. You're friends won't know what it is but I guarantee you, they'll damn sure want you to tell them. I am probably the only person in all of New Mexico that even owns a copy of this, and that is a crime.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite Possibly The Biggest Sleeper Album Ever, May 1, 2002
Gary Numan. Cars. That's what a majority of consumers and record execs generally know of Numan. That's all I knew about Numan. Last year, someone let me borrow Exile. I didn't want to give it back. This is quite possibly, one of the greatest albums ever made. Sure, many people would love to disagree with me, and that's great. Exile is a continuous journey thru all nine tracks (I don't count the live track, which doesn't belong). Numan sets a tone starting with "Dominion Day" that doesn't let up, all the way thru to the last track, "Exile". The lyrics are amazing. The best he's ever written. The melodies are hook driven. Numan's voice is top notch and blends "frightengly" well with the music. "Sacrafice" and "Pure" are bookends to this masterpiece. Three great albums with the center piece being the meat and shinning light. It's a shame that Numan hasn't gotten more recognition for his work. But then again, this fast food/MTV generation isn't looking for substance or musical genius. If fast food is your thing, stick with TRL. I'll stick with the five star restuarants.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the better albums I own, April 15, 1999
By A Customer
This is perhaps the best album I got last year, though it does have some pretty stiff competition. It was heartening to see Numan's career return from the grave of a decade of tired rehashing and watering down of his original sound. Now, with Exile (and the previous album Sacrifice) Numan has taken a totally new direction, adding a gothic/coldwave element to his music and (hold your breath) actually singing. He ahs a pretty good voice for it, too-- why he spent decades in that monotone schtick I don't know. This album is a concept album, and a fine one at that-- the premise being that God and the Devil, Heaven and Hell are really just the same. Thus, if you're easily offended by strong contrarian religious themes, stay away. This isn't christian rock crap like DC Talk or ooh-I'm-such-a-scary-satanist drivel like Marilyn Manson. This is the real thing, with Numan's lyrics and music better than they've been in years. On a sad note, though, Cleopatra Records botched up the U.S. release (par for the course for them) by hastily slapping a live version of Down In the Park at the end. I know DITP is Numan's most famous (and probably the only remembered) song in America, after having been covered by such crowd-pleasers as Foo Fighters and the aforementioned Marilyn Manson, but the live version isn't anything spectacular, and it totally ruins the flow of the album. But that's nothing too horrific, and the album is so good it makes up for it. I reccomend the extended version of Exile (soon to be released in America) over the regualr version, but that may be because I loved the album and the extended mixes make it 1.5 times as long.
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by Gary Numan 
