
The strong opener, "Slowcar to China" clocks in as one of the longest Numan pieces. It is atmospheric and jazzy, one of his best pieces. "Night Talk" has wonderful rhythms, awesome bass, and soaring synthesizer. The lyrics "Boys like me aren't supposed to cry, but it's so easy to do." Another gem of musical perfection. "A Subway Called 'You'," as the reader may surmise from other customer reviews, is well-liked, and rightly so. It continues in the same vein as the first two: atmospheric, complex rhythms, music that floats in space, beautifully engineered recording. "Cry the Clock Said" is quite simply Numan's most introspective song ever, not to mention beautiful. After a leisurely introduction that features reverberant electric piano, Numan sings cryptic, despondent lyrics, fragmentary, and sufficient to evoke a sense of disappointment and longing.
"She's Got Claws" features some of Numan's vicious, somewhat misogynistic humour, accompanied by sly sax and quirky rhythms that go right back to "Cars." "Crash" is even more evocative of "Cars," but Numan's tenor was never so unleashed as here. "Boys Like Me" revisits a theme introduced in "Night Talk," and ends with a woman's ad-lib in spoken Italian. The content is mainly incomprehensible, but obviously sexual, and at the end she asks, innocently, "Is that okay?" "Stories" sounds like a carnival song in slow motion. The woman who sits alone asks, "Isn't it odd? You remind me of songs that I'd rather forget." "My Brother's Time" is much slower and moody, a contrast to the manic "You Are, You Are." The original album ends with a slow march, very much in keeping with the subdued tone overall of this excellent work. Some of the bonus tracks are superb. "Stormtrooper in Drag" is great, with a catchy beat. "Take that smile off your face," Numan sings out. I quite agree with other reviewers that "I Sing Rain" is a real loser, an irritating improvisation that is mercifully short, but so what? I always let it play, and the next song, "Exhibition" more than makes up for it, another gem that has more the sound of Telekon than Dance. "Loves Needs No Disguise" is another excellent bonus track, a rhythmic and melodic song that fits in well with the feel of Dance.
If you do not own Dance, you are in for a treat! This is Numan's most interesting and mature-sounding albums. Those who only know Numan for "Cars" and his electronic masterpieces, may need to listen to this CD a few times. I had to. I didn't really like it at first, but something about it made me keep listening to it. Everytime I hearh it I discovered something different. Each song has been my favorite at one time or another (right now, it's "Subway"). It took me a while to realize what masterpieces the long, slow tracks are ("Slowcar" and "Cry the Clock Said"). It's very mellow with a few jumpier tracks ("Crash", "Claws" and "You Are, You Are"). Dance is a style of music I can't even classify! If anything, this CD is wonderful background music that becomes very addicting!