Originally released in 1988, Metal Rhythm is the original (and best) version of New Anger (re-named and repackaged for the U.S. market in 1989). The tracks here are consistently good, combining the usual Numan keyboard style with lively lead guitar, crisp woodwind and percussion, sultry brass sections, and smooth, velvety female backing vocals. In fact the entire production is of such high quality than one is pushed to pick and choose highlights! If you like to move your feet, try Devious and Respect. But if you just want to sit back and relax, then the beautiful ballad, Don't call my name, is just the track to chill-out to. Suspend judgement and just enjoy!

The period 1984 - 1992 wasn't exactly a high point musically for Gary Numan. Most of his albums from this period range from enh-OK to embarassing. This one remains my favorite from that less-than-stellar period. He obviously had gotten the funk bug somewhere (he claims to have been a fan of the Jimmy Jam-Terry Lewis production team), and he manages to mash this pseudo-funk into his style and still sound engaging most of the time ("Devious" has synth horns that I found too squeaky for my liking). The lyrics are pretty angry and/or threatening (except in the hopeful "America" and the languid "Don't Call My Name") with the vagueness one either likes or doesn't like about most of Gary's lyrics. Plenty of highlights here - "Respect" remains one of my favorite GN songs, with "This Is Emotion" and "Voix" just a half step down. "I Don't Believe" is a killer track (which sounds even better in its live DREAM CORROSION version) which should have been sandwiched into the orginal release somewhere. An angry moody album which I get a lot of apartment cleaning done during.