Ya'll miss the point
John Schlagetter | 11/12/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Bersker, The Fury & Strange Charm were necessary bridges between the Numan/Machine music phase and what came later.The only "Fury" tracks I don't cotton to are "This Disease," "Creatures" and "Tricks." The b-sides are superb, esp. "No Shelter." Put this album in the Numan continuum- it cannot be evaluated net of that coming before or after."Call Out the Dogs," "Miracles," "The Pleasure Skin," "God Only Knows" and "I Still Remember" are tours' de force.I still have my red bow tie purchased for the occasion."
Desert Island Numan Disc
J. Donato | 03/30/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In a word, "WOW!" This is a great, lively mid-period Numan album; my favorite from the Numa 80s. It starts out with one of his best tracks, "Call Out The Dogs," replete with Bladerunner samples and a great arrangement. Numan has shifted to PPG Wave synth here and the punchy sound he favors is a million miles away from the Polymoog sound that made his name or the dissolute, slurred funk he then moved on to. "This Disease" features a killer Dick Morrissey sax break over a relentless rhythm bed.
"Your Fascination" features -gasp- an outside producer - Colin Thurston of Bowie/Duran/Magazine fame but you'd be hard pressed to notice much sonic difference. I'd always wanted to hear Numan with an outside producer (he's produced virtually all of his recordings himself and the insularity gets a little much sometimes) and on this rare foray it really didn't seem to matter.
The thunderous percussive sampled sounds of "The Pleasure Skin" are a delight to hear. Like on the previous album, this is Numan with femme backing vox - you have been warned. But I had no problem with the format as of this outing. Your mileage may vary. "God Only Knows" is NOT the Brian Wilson classic, in case you were wondering. Instead it's a great ballad to end the album proper with. This album is a well-balanced outing for Numan which plays to emerging strengths - composition and arrangement, primarily. The petty lyrics of the Beggars Banquet years seem to have been truly been left behind at this point. And I -liked- the female vocals by Tessa Niles. There came a time when it was time to move on but this wasn't it."
An under-appreciated album, and all the reissues show it
Said Head | MN, USA | 02/06/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is an awesome album, and when I was first getting into Gary Numan's music, I was hesitant to begin listening to this era because of the bad rep it had for so many years be casual and dedicated fans alike. But when I first heard 'Call Out The Dogs' I just had to have it. That heavy synth sound, the classy but pissed off vocals and the infamous new wave production values was something I couldn't live without if I wanted to really get into Numan's music.
And no, this is not Pleasure Principle, Replicas, or Exile; this is something quite different but unmistakeable Numan.
Unlike Berserker, the first album on Numan's own label after his huge BB period, this successor has a more robust and less dancey style, which at times drags it down a bit, but each individual track is powerful stuff nonetheless. The only track I'd say really stands out, in a negative fashion, would be the uber-pretentious ballad 'Miracles'; I've tried and tried to no avail to get into this song, but I can only feel that Numan wrote and released as a single just to get in on the New Romantic period of music that he was steering clear from many years before, and it sort of sets the prerequisite for following Numan albums to have at least one ballad on them, a move that to me really brings down the albums.
Aside from that track, though, this album features some of that creative percussion he would begin incorporating into his music later on, and while many people will argue that it is an aspect of his music to be forgotten, Numan's influences on many of today's musicians can't be ignored. The music is really very synthetic, in that very little guitars are used in songs, if any, and the somewhat organic sounds and instruments are missing, replaced by drum machines and keyboards, with some sax thrown gracefully into the mix on occasion.
The one thing I do not like about this CD release, along with all other reissues of this album, is the utter diregard for bonus material. Sure, it is nice to have the remastered music on CD, but when there are so many outtakes, alt. mixes, and b-sides from this year it's a shame not to get to hear them all on a single release. I actually decided to buy some of the 12" and 7" vinyl singles to get all the songs I want from this era, but still the album in its glorious 9 piece self is great, and DON'T let Replicas junkies dissuade you from owning this important cornerstone in Numan's ever-evolving sound."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1