Customer Reviews

I, Assassin

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Any fan of Gary Numan already knows how excellent I, Assassin is. However, for those fans who do not have the ultra rare "This House is Cold" and wonder if it is worth purchasing this remastered copy, let me assure you IT IS! This track is excellent. It is not an instrumental or filler track but a synth-driven rocker that stands well on its owns and also complements the sound of I, Assassin (it also would have fit well on Dance soundwise). The CD booklet also includes comments from Numan, himself, on this track and "Bridge? What Bridge?" along with a six-page article, photos of all the 12" single covers, and lyrics to all the tracks (even the B-sides). I recommend all the Beggars Banquet remasters, especially the last three (Dance-Warriors) as they each offer an excellent "lost" track, like "This House is Cold."

I Assassin, long out of print and one of Gary Numan?s best records, has finally been re-released by Beggars Banquet. Numan was one of the original pioneers of both New Wave and Electronic music. He is an extremely talented artist who has unfortunately been relegated to little more than footnote status as a One-Hit wonder with 1979?s Cars (he had several more hits in England). He has actually been a very prolific recording artist over the years starting with his first record, Tubeway Army in 1978, all the way through his most recent effort, Pure from 2000. Numan?s musical styles have ranged from quasi-Punk to New Wave to Electronic to Dance to Alternative Rock to quasi-Industrial. He has often drawn on science fiction themes for his songs which tend to convey feelings of isolation, loneliness, and alienation from society. His 1979 recording, Replicas, was a collection of short stories centered around a theme similar to the Terminator movies. He has also drawn on Blade Runner as inspiration for several of his songs, even using samples from the movie on two songs from 1985?s The Fury.

I Assassin represented a move away from the trademark synthesizer-heavy sound that characterized such songs as ?Car? to a more bass-heavy, Electro-Dance sound. The synthesizer is still a prominent instrument on this record but it shares the stage with Pino Palladino?s fretless bass playing. This lends a warmer more human sound to the songs (despite the subject matter) in contrast to the colder, more machine-like feel of his prior records. The bass line is immediately evident in the opening track, ?White Boys and Heroes?. A similar sound and feel continues through most of the songs through the closing tune ?We Take Mystery to Bed?. The lyrics from this record rely very little on Numan?s characteristic science fiction elements, but the trademark feel of isolation and alienation permeates the music. An example from ?I, Assassin?: ?I?ve never felt good/I?ve never felt bad/I?ve never felt much at all?. All eight of the original tracks are strong and rank among the best of Numan?s output. This record marked the beginning Numan?s move toward the Electro-Dance sound that would characterize the rest of his recordings from the 80?s (oddly enough, the album released prior to this, titled Dance, was surprisingly sedate). Just as Numan had been a pioneer with New Wave and Electronic music, he was also one of the pioneers in this area, though he rarely receives credit for it. Aspects of the ?80?s Sound? from the mid to later 80?s that was characterized by such groups as Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, and Tears for Fears can be traced back to the work Numan was doing in the early 80?s.

The re-release also includes seven bonus tracks. There is nothing spectacular to be found from the additional tunes, but they do not detract from the overall record. The early (and much different) version of ?We Take Mystery to Bed? is interesting and ?Glitter and Ash? is a nice instrumental piece.

Next to Dance, I, Assassin is perhaps Gary Numan's most interesting album. It also seems to be one of the least remembered. It did not receive the praise of his earlier and more recent releases and did not suffer the criticism of most of his mid-80s and early 90s albums. I, Assassin was the follow-up to the very subdued "Dance" album and, unlike the ironically titled predecessor, finally brought the Numan fans a real dance flavor. It is an experimental and often dark dance music rather than the Janet Jacksoneque sound that characterized Numan's The Fury through Machine and Soul era. Like Dance, it takes several listens to get into, but these harder-to-grasp albums are the ones to which I keep going back. Lyrically, the album has a Depression-era movie theme to it. Almost every track talks about picture heroes. "Music For Chameleons" and "We Take Mystery to Bed" are the most well-known tracks on this album, but my favorites are "White Boys and Heroes," "War Songs" (the most dance-oriented number next to "We Take Mystery"), and the title track. As for the B-sides, two of Numan's best are on this CD. "Noise, Noise" is awesome and definitely his best B-side (and one of his best songs). It was recently included in his live sets and I wouldn't be surprised if he continues to play it live because it is such a fan favorite. "The Image Is" is also excellent. It starts off very quiet and subdued and then kicks in with the saxophone. "Bridge? What Bridge?" is the only track I have to skip as it is just a lot of goofing around. To me, it is an unwelcome "bonus", but it was a B-side to "Music For Chameleons" (along with "Noise, Noise") and needs to be on here to be complete, I guess. Many fans find it a lot of fun. I recommend I, Assassin to any fan of Numan's recent industrial music. I think they will be drawn to the darkness of this album and intrigued by electronic and experimental nature of it.

Numan's sixth 'annual' album (1982) is a rewarding album though probably not purchased nearly as much as his earlier two or three albums. It's a shame, it's an extremely prescient album, it's the first real dance-y Numan (despite his previous album 'Dance'), and it's got some excellent playing.

The album is very funky, due to Pino Palladino's fretless bass. It's a fluid, funky sound absent from his previous albums, and way better than the Janet Jackson-obsessed era of The Fury and beyond. It's a way more organic dance album, with We Take Mystery To Bed and Music For Chameleons two of the strongest he's done. The whole business is good. War Songs has the same guitar effect as U2's Numb, and a whole lot earlier. Plenty of synth, before it was buried by synths and sax on later albums. Plenty of Numan's signature voice. And another new image, which he talks about in the liner notes. Yes, there is some sax, but not the obsession that later developed.

The bonus tracks are excellent and make this is an extremely valuable disc. Noise Noise, now a live staple in modern form appears along with The Image Is, a very Bowie-esque track that starts slowly, builds with sax (it works here), and goes into an interesting, oddly timed chorus. This House Is Cold is a real gem, a driving rock number with improvised lyrics and big, fat arena-style sythn. Yes, there is white man funk, but it has songs.

Highly recommended to Numan fans straightaway, absolutely takes some getting used to, but not a bad song on the album proper. Way better than the following Warriors and a few other 80s albums. Barely heard in the US, yet way ahead of its time for 1982. As usual, nobody paying attention...

In this phase of Numan's career his popularity was a little shaky after Dance and having given up on touring for a while, but this album does not display the usual attempt to retain popularity.

The artwork alone will show that Numan didn't plan on doing what he's best known for and instead did something he should be know for: what he wants as an artist. Keeping with the vintage noir atmosphere that had appeared on Pleasure Principle and Dance this time Numan goes so far with his admiration of the style as even leaving behind his electronics to create the jazz piece '1940's Rust'. But overall the things that made Numan's music so respectable in earlier years come in full force on this, my absolute favorite Numan album, and no matter how many times I listen to it I never get old of it.

It utterly shocks me how little recognition Numan gets for this album. The electronic flavor is very well produced, heavy but not clouded, and despite the powerful industrial tone (this is, in my opinion Numan's first industrialesque album) it remains pretty dancey. Numan states in his book that the songwriting is more light-hearted and humorous, which after a few listens does come in to mind, but not in a quirky or indulgent sense. It's humor that'll make you think.

While most songs harbor robust synths and an overall oppressive sound, some, the spacey Dream Of Siam feels like an evolution of the ambient business on Dance, and the funky We Take Mystery seems an odd choice to end the album, but after a few listens you really get into what Numan was doing. Most of the tracks are pretty long, from 4 to 6 minutes, but none drag on unnecessarily.

But aside from the original 8 tracks are an additional array of b-sides and outtakes which do not compromise the quality of the album, but really enhance the experience as they carry on the themes and style. The one 'Assassin' era instrumental, Glitter And Ash, is about the coolest song I've ever heard. Noise Noise was originally intended to be its own single apparently, but when I, Assassin came along Numan released it as the b-side to Music For Chameleons instead; definitely one track not to be missed. The early version of We Take Mystery is very different from the album version, and if you can't get into the funkiness of the song this other version will satisfy. Bridge? What Bridge? and This House Is Cold are both unfinished studio recordings, less refined than the other tracks but still worth hearing (though one could live through one spin of Bridge? and leave it at that).

Basically this album is an evolution of Numan's Tubeway Army stage and his more refined pieces like Dance and Telekon. It's a strong CD release and should in my opinion be reconsidered one of Numan's master works.

I've read throught the reviews, many of them excellent. I will try to add my own two cents' worth. As the title of this review, I believe this to be Gary Numan at his prime. The usual superlatives apply: extraordinary musicians, sky-high production values and an overall great concept. Early 20th century is evoked. Quaint notions of heroism are juxtaposed with the image of a mob-controlled society. "White Boys and Heroes" is a soaring anthem and "War Songs" marginalizes the glory of the heroes alluded to in the opener. This rocking introduction is followed by a spacey, atmospheric, jazzy number, with reverberant fretless bass and piano. It ends with a nostalgic whistling.

This masterpiece is followed by the instant hit, 'Music for Chameleons'. A surrealist, Dali-like melting of sound brings the listener to a rocker. It is a grand, anthemic piece. 'This is my House" is another grand entry, with a spooky sonic backdrop and soaring synthesizers. The title track is, of course, epic. "I, Assassin" is a reprise of "Cars", but much grander and less tongue-in-cheek, but cracking that 'It's nothing personal" certainly sets a cynical tone!

The 1930's Rust is a jazzy interlude with bluesy harmonica and fretless bass, in a reveberant atmospheric. The original rousing closer to this string of hits is "We Take Mystery (to Bed)". There are several bonus tracks. "Noise, Noise" is top notch, with instrumentation heard on Telekon. "Bridge? What Bridge?" is a bit of an improvisational throw-away but still has a great beat. "War Games" is far more fully realized. "Glitter and Ash" is entirely instrumental, with the usual soaring synthesizers. "The Image Is" is excellent and easily could have been included on the original collection. It's amazing it wasn't chosen. The second version of "We Take Mystery (To Bed)" sounds little like the first. It is hardly recognizable, but very enjoyable in its own right. "This House Is Cold" is a grand exit for this very generously filled disc.

Mick Karn plays in "We take Mystery to Bed" early version.
A great collaboration between Numan and Karn.
The fretless bass playing was introduced by Mick and played very well in this song. Later followed by Pino Paladino.
Ranked one of Numan's best dance songs.
A must for Numan and... absolutely Japan fans.

He was so good and innovative. This was one of the last albums of his music that I truly loved, especially "music for
chameleons" a truly great song. He started a shift away from the music that I really loved with this album and only 1 or 2 that followed, I felt were incredibly good, "warriors" and "Berserker" still great! I felt he alienated himself from his true fans after that... Got overly funky, with more singing from backup singers etc...

IMHO this is his best.

The other reviewer's reference to Mick Karn, who is so-so in this bassist's opinion, does not warrant mention for this album.

That mention should have gone to the amazing Pino Pallidino, without whom, this would be just another Numan album.

If you have 1 Numan album (purists will disagree) this is the one.

4 1/2 to 5 stars, this one.