Gary Numan Digest Sun, 6 Dec 92 Volume 1 : Issue 12 Today's Topics: Ghost vs. Skin Mechanic It's True : compilation "Rock of the 80s" Other Side - sound quality comments Review : Gary Numan - Ghost ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 5 Dec 92 20:47:22 PST From: dlangs%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: Ghost vs. Skin Mechanic To: numanews@cs.uwp.edu >From kstuart@waffle.sns.com Thu Dec 3 19:52:47 1992 Subject: Ghost vs. Skin Mechanic From: Ken Stuart Date: Thu, 03 Dec 92 19:36:37 PST Hello, Actually my impression of Ghost vs Skin Mechanic was similar to that expressed here recently (ie SM had a little more live-ness). Is there any live recordings from the early 80's tour with Chris Slade? Certainly the most rocking Numan... Ken ---- kstuart@waffle.sns.com (Ken Stuart) Systems'n'Software Free Public Access BBS --- (510)623-8652 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 5 Dec 92 20:52:56 PST From: dlangs%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: It's True : compilation "Rock of the 80s" To: numanews@cs.uwp.edu >From bhammond@zephyr.cair.du.edu Mon Nov 30 21:11:00 1992 Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1992 22:09:37 -0700 From: "BRIAN D. HAMMOND" Subject: Its True! That compilation "Rock Of The 80s" mentioned last week really does exist and can be easily obtained at most record stores (even those lousy ones in shopping malls). The track listing is: Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science Soft Cell - Tainted Love Naked Eyes - Always Something There To Remind Me ABC - The Look Of Love Berlin - The Metro Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now Gary Numan - Cars The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star Romeo Void - Never Say Never While the packaging is only mediocre, the selection of tracks IMHO is pretty good. Me! I Disconnect From You ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 5 Dec 92 21:05:01 PST From: dlangs%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: Other Side - sound quality comments To: numanews@cs.uwp.edu A few of you have noted that you thought the sound quality was better on "The Other Side of...Gary Numan than on the CDs of "Berserker", "The Fury" and "Strange Charm". Personally I am not convinced. After a brief comparison and not on audiophile equipment either, I thought that the tracks were louder on TOSoGN than the respective albums which may lead one to believe it sounded better. I hesitate to say it sounds better. The problems with the original SC CD are still evident. At 1.10 on "I Can't Stop" the volume drops noticeably but seems to recouperate later. I detected no real difference between the original SC and TOSoGN. And the company pressing TOSoGN is the same as for "The Fury" (MPO, France). I'd be interested in others comments on this. I was hoping to get a full review together for the digest and rec.music.reviews but will have to let it go till next week. Derek ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Derek H. Langsford Dept. of Biology dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu San Diego State University ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 5 Dec 92 20:55:25 PST From: dlangs%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: Review : Gary Numan - Ghost To: numanews@cs.uwp.edu From: awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Al Crawford) Subject: Review: Gary Numan - Ghost Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1992 11:06:41 GMT Gary Numan Ghost Numa NUMACD 1007 [UK] Disc One - Total Running Time: 44 min 16 sec 1. Ghost 2:13 2. Call Out The Dogs 3:54 3. I Die, You Die 3:45 4. Creatures 5:12 5. I Can't Stop 3:44 6. Me, I Disconnect From You 3:13 7. Tricks 5:42 8. The Sleeproom 5:30 9. My Breathing 6:04 10. Cars 4:50 Disc Two - Total Running Time: 45 min 49 sec 1. Metal 3:16 2. Sister Surprise 6:10 3. This Disease 4:08 4. We Take Mystery 6:19 5. We Are Glass 4:38 6. Are `Friends' Electric? 6:42 7. Down In The Park 4:50 8. My Shadow In Vain 2:51 9. Berserker 6:49 For some reason Gary Numan has always been reasonably well served by live albums - there seems to be one for pretty much every period of his career. _Ghost_ is a record of the 1987 "Exhibition" tour which promoted the Beggars Banquet compilation of the same name and covered the gap in his output between the demise of Numa Records and his period on IRS. It was originally released as a double LP on the original Numa label back in 1987 but it's only with the relaunch of Numa last year that it has found its way onto CD (initially intended only as a fan club release but eventually being put on general release instead). The material on the original double LP was *just* too much to be fitted on a single CD and rather than sacrifice two or three tracks to make it fit Numa have been sensible and gone the 2 CD route. The small increase in price (assuming you buy from a reasonably sane retailer - I've seen it going for everything from a decent #13.99 to a ridiculous #17.99) is worth it to keep the concert in its entirety. The songs included cover Numan's entire career, from 1977's "My Shadow In Vain" through his glory days of 1979/80 (represented by hits like "Are `Friends' Electric?", "Cars" and "We Are Glass") into his Numa era with material from _Berserker_ (the title track), _The Fury_ ("Tricks", "Call Out The Dogs") and _Strange Charm_ ("I Can't Stop", "The Sleeproom"). Most of the early material can't miss (at least for a fan) and even the choice of later material is quite good, without *too* many of those wailing female backing vocals that have afflicted Numan's work since the mid-80s like a recurrent dose of an unpleasant sexually transmitted disease. The other main elements of a good live album are the execution of the material and the atmosphere. Where _Ghost_ will hit and miss is largely on the former - if you want your live concert to feature new, exciting and different versions of favourite songs, don't bother as this album rarely diverges from the studio arrangements - get one of the other live albums instead. If you like hearing your favourite songs performed live but otherwise unchanged though, _Ghost_ makes a good live greatest hits collection. The album also scores well on atmosphere with the Numanoids seeming unusually friendly and boisterous and Gary himself in cheerful and talkative mood. It's not exactly loaded with emotion but it's fun to listen to. When compared with the later _The Skin Mechanic_ live album it sounds much less claustrophobic and benefits greatly from not having a female fan screaming in your left ear for almost the entire duration of the concert (something that spoils the recording of _The Skin Mechanic_ entirely for me). I'd hesitate to compare it with the earlier _Living Ornaments_ live double set though - while it might be comparable to _Living Ornaments 80_ it just doesn't come close to _Living Ornaments 79_ which remains, to me at least, the definitive Numan live album. It's difficult to review this album without commenting on the packing and presentation. While they've put it in a rather nice slimline double jewel box it retains the original ghastly cover photo, a live shot of Numan looking shocked and pained rather as if he's suffering severe constipation or (as has been suggested) has just had a bottle inserted in a particular orifice. Don't let the cover photo put you off - the contents aren't quite as painful as it might suggest. Erland Rating: +2 -- Al Crawford - awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk Department Of Computer Science, The University of Edinburgh Rm 1410, JCMB, Kings Buildings, Mayfield Rd, EDINBURGH, EH9 3JZ, Scotland Tel: +44 (0) 31 650 5165 Fax: +44 (0) 31 667 7209 ------------------------------ End of Gary Numan Digest ******************************