Search - Gary Numan :: Dance

Friends for Charm

N. A. Parry | 09/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Surprisingly, Gary Numan has stated in his biography that 'Dance' was the wrong type of album to release just after the success of 'Telekon', and this maybe the reason why only one single,'She's Got Claws' was released from it. To me, this has always been Gary Numan's crowning moment, the moment where he left his imitators behind and revealed possibly the most 'Numan' album of them all. Side 1 consists of four eerie electronic moodscapes that deal with sleaze and betrayal, yet in a highly sophisticated and stylish way. Apparently, many of the songs here were written around the time of the end of a disastrous relationship, and it shows. Side 2, however, is more upbeat, apart from the sublimely melancholic 'My Brother's Time'. It is strange that Numan's critics should call him detached and emotionless, because this was released back in 1981, and provides a plethora of very human and emotional subjects, dealt with in a polished, but sinister way.Helped out on the album by Roger Taylor, Mick Karn and Nash the Slash to name but three, there is a 'fuller' sound on 'Dance' than on previous albums. Numan wouldn't be quite this good again for quite some time."

Classic

N. A. Parry | 02/16/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In my opinion Gary Numan's best album. The only thing Gary's fans seem to have in common is that they like his music. They all seem to like different albums an even different songs on the albums. "Dance" probably disappointed a lot of his fans a bit when it was released since he changed his style so much. The fretless bass is hated by some, but it's what made me start to listen to Gary Numan about 20 years ago. Mick Karn is listed as bass player on only five songs but his playing blew me away. The bass on "A Subway Called You" is worth the money by itself.It isn't Mick Karns album however, it's a great piece of work by Gary Numan with some of his most original songs. "Crash" still sounds tough and the two slow 9 minute songs "Slowcar to China" and "Cry the Clock Said" still makes me feel like there's no world outside my own head. "Dance" lacked any real hit songs allthough "She's got Claws" sold pretty well. It is one of the two songs on the original album that could have been released as a single in my opinion. The other one is "You Are, You Are" which reminds me a bit of Ultravox at the time. The real hit single on this CD however is one of the extras: "Stormtrooper in Drag". A great song with the most interesting song title ever. The other extras are good too and the song "Dance" had never been released before this CD came out. "I Sing Rain" however should never have been released. If you are new to Numan buy this CD. It does not sound like "Pure" or "Exile". It does not sound like "The Pleasure Principle" or "Telekon" either. It is kind of in a style of it's own. Don't get to disapointed if you don't like it that much the first time you hear it though. It's the type of music that gets better after hearing it some times. And don't expect to dance to it. The title of the album must be one of the most misleading ones in history."

Numan at his Very Best

Shaw N. Gynan | Bellingham, WA USA | 01/19/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have all of Gary Numan's releases or re-releases on CD. There have been numerous re-releases of Dance since the vinyl original. One thing that stood out about Gary Numan's vinyl recordings: he was always way more generous than other artists, filling each side with over 25 minutes of music. His re-releases have generally been in keeping with that policy. Another feature of Numan works is the technical precision of the engineering. His records have always featured great sound. The dynamic contrasts on Dance are considerable, with lots of extremely quiet passages that are vulnerable to popping and clicking on a scratched vinyl record, so CD was essential, but an original re-release had omitted "Cry the Clock Said," much to my dismay. Fortunately, later releases include that song along with bonus tracks. Yet another release included for the first time a short track with the same title, but that left no space on the CD for the last song, and it was dumped. That song is 'Love Needs No Disguise,' and it is an absolute classic. So, from the two extended re-releases of Dance, I used my iTunes to compile a playlist that includes the 11 original tracks and a total of six bonus tracks. I'll refer to those here.



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 are provocative: "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. Numan sings of a woman who sits alone and asks, "Isn't it odd? You remind me of songs that I'd rather forget." "My Brother's Time" is much slower and moody, with spare accompaniment by piano, fretless bass and sax. It is a contrast to the manic "You Are, You Are." The original album ends with "Moral", a slow march, very much in keeping with the subdued tone overall of this excellent work. All but one of the bonus tracks are superb. The original complete re-release of Dance on CD included only four. "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. "Love Needs No Disguise" is another excellent bonus track, a rhythmic and melodic song that fits in well with the feel of Dance.



On the latest re-release, two tracks, "Dance" and "Face to Face" were added, and "Love Needs No Disguise" was dropped. It certainly was the wrong move. "Love Needs No Disguise" was a single that Numan recorded with Dramatis, a synthpop group that used to be Gary's backup band. Its sound is indistinguishable from Numan's work as a result. Well, the B-side of the single was the excellent Face to Face, but had that been included instead of "I Sing Rain," the 74 minute limit of the CD would have been exceeded.



Whatever! With the short exception noted, Dance and the excellent bonus tracks are a high point in a career that is filled with them."