Gary Numan – Metal Rhythm – 1988
Once again I joined the Columbia House Record Club. Or maybe it was another one. Back in the summer of ’88. The promise of 8 or 12 free cds was too enticing. Never mind the high cost of subsequent CDs. or that if I didn’t send the mailer back in by the allotted time I was stuck with some horrible featured title. This was how I was purchasing music in the late 80s.
One of the freebies I grabbed was “New Anger” by Gary Numan. I don’t know if I was trying to recapture my youth (I hadn’t bought a New Numan record since I, Assassin in 1982) or if I was just amazed that there was a NEW Numan record (In the states he was almost unheard from) or both, but I got it.
And it was good.
Great? No. But good enough. And now, listening to it 22 years later within the context of Gary’s catalog I realize just how good it was.
By 1988 Numan had by far abandoned the sound that made him famous. The synth laden, electronic, post-apocalyptic, science fiction sounds of Replicas, The Pleasure Principle & Telekon were now 8 years gone. Even the bridging record, Dance, sort of harkened back to the Gary of old while embracing the jazzier sounds that Numan was so interested in and would throw himself into. Those records, I, Assassin, Warriors, Berserker (to a lesser extent), The Fury & Strange Charm, while keeping one toe in the dystopian wasteland, were now more funk and jazz focused and fans would have to accept that this was what Gary Numan was about, what he wanted to do and what he wanted his sound to be.
And they rejected him.
For good reason. If you go back and you read the reviews of those records they aren’t good. None of them, actually. Not in total at least.
So, what did Numan do? He dumped his own label, Numa, signed with IRS and put out “Metal Rhythm” which in the states would be tinged with blue hue and called “New Anger”.
Riddled with scratchy, metallic guitars and sounding very very much like it was influenced by Robert Palmer’s “Heavy Nova”, the new CD actually fills me with hope that Gary has found his footing.
The metal funk of “This is Emotion” coupled with the sprawling soundscape of “Hunger” open the record with promise. Even that damned sax doesn’t bug me.
But it’s the Palmer-ripping “New Anger” that sets the record off for me. It’s the most metal and rocking Gary has sounded since Tubeway Army. It’s hooky and catchy and it just works. Probably should have opened the record with it’s cold Eurythmics sound and it’s “Welcome to New Anger” screed. “Devious” is the closest thing Gary has come to a truly grooving song (It’s still very Dave Stewart/Robert Palmer sounding but it avails itself of that fairly well).
It’s also the most uptempo record gary’s put out in years. If ever. It so closely resembles the “Machine Trilogy” that it almost sounds like a true return to form. “Respect” actually deserves a live rendition and the album closer “Don’t Call My Name” is as haunting a piece of work as he’s ever committed to vinyl.
I really like this album more than I did 22 years ago and even more writing about now than I did when I first relistened last night.
Grade: B+
ASide: New Anger, America
BlindSide: This is Emotion, Devious, Voix, Respect, Young Heart,
DownSide: Nothing really, this is a solid outing.
