Review of Gary Numan : Metal Rhythm
Digitally remastered reissue of Numan's 1988 album for the Illegal Records label. 15 tracks, including five bonus tracks, 'I Don't Believe', 'Children', 'My Dying Machine' (William Orbit Mix), 'Devious' (Andy Piercy Mix) and 'America' (Remix). 1999 release.

Users's Reviews - Gary Numan :
No reviews available. Be the first to review this album by adding your review

Your latest reviews - Gary Numan : "I'll give you dark wonders you are all invited to the show"
When Sacrifice came out in 1994, most Numan fans breathed a collective sigh of relief. Sacrifice was the first Numan album in years that did not have the Janet Jacksonesque dance music with the domineering female background vocalists. It followed Machine & Soul which many fans consider the lowest point in his career. I can find many excellent tracks off all of Numan's albums from his dance era (even his collaboration with Bill Sharpe), but I was still glad to hear his new sound when I first heard Sacrifice. This album is all Numan. He sings all the vocals and plays all the instruments so it is filled with synthesizers and drum machines with no saxophones or annoying female vocalists. The music is very dark and heavy. Most of the lyrics are about questioning God's existence or benevolence, which caused some controversy but, for me, makes for very powerful stuff.

On first listen, the tracks seem to run together with the omnipresent drum machine but, after several plays, songs begin to stand out. Sacrifice was the first Numan release in years on which I find no weak tracks. There are no instrumental fillers either. A lot of thought and care was put into each track as Numan took his music into a new direction. My favorite track is "A Question of Faith" of which there is a cool remix on the compilation The Mix followed by the hardest rocker on the disc "Love & Napalm." "You Walk in My Soul" is a dark, romantic ballad that a friend of mine actually wants played at his wedding. I don't know if it's that romantic, but it is nice. Sacrifice is also the album in Numan's new dark period that does not adopt a complete industrial sound. Most of his material after this album (especially Pure and the new tracks on Hybrid) takes this new style to a darker and heavier level with iniquitous screaming that may be a little much to listen to on a regular basis. Sacrifice stayed on the fine line towards industrial Nine Inch Nails style music brilliantly. I recommend purchasing this edition with the excellent "Metal Beat" demo. "Pray Like God" is not a filler B-side, but it is not as good as the rest of the album. It's rather bland and repetitive. For those who gave up on Numan when he started going techno dance, your missing out on some incredible stuff. Check out Sacrifice and then Exile and his latest material.