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.

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.