Gary Numan – Strange Charm – 1986
I had no idea, in 1986, that Gary Numan was still recording and releasing full length records. I am willing to bet that most people in the US felt the same way that I did. And yet, here he is, pumping out another one, his TENTH studio album since 1978. 10 albums in 8 years. Not even thirty. It’s quite a catalog. At this point I wonder if Gary might have been better suited to putting out instrumental records like Jean-Michel Jarre. They certainly were working in the same idiom. He didn’t, obviously. More interested Gary is in pushing Tessa Niles’ and Linda Taylor’s backing vocals further up in the mix and bringing in that violin which hadn’t really been prevalent since Telekon. (The damned Sax is back as well, though.
The opening track “My Breathing” is as haunting as any of Gary’s mid-80s output. The sax is, in this song, relegated to ethereal backing sounds and flows nicely in the mix of this decidedly mid-east influenced track.
I almost fell for it on “Unknown and Hostile”. I almost believed that the first track was a lie and we were about to hear Gary Numan re-indulge his I, Assassin self when the guitars (!!!) crank in and the crowded Peter Gabriel sound fight each other through the tapestry and, I can hardly believe I’m saying this, make me want to hear the live version of this.
Then there is “The Sleeproom”. A song so haunting and alternately sparse and gigantic that it could be placed next to “Child with a Ghost” or at least reign as a valid B side to that gem. And “New Thing From London Town” is one of the more energetic and positively danceable trance track ever to come out Mr. Numan’s machines.
As Strange Charm plods along, with it’s non-existent variations on the electro-funk theme one thing is very certain: Gary Numan has run out of ideas and if he doesn’t do something to veer off this track I might have to abandon this Listening Post. From the repetitive droning of “I Can’t Stop” to the blatant attempt at pop relevancy of “Need”, I am finding my patience with Mr. Numan wearing oh so very thin. The album which started off so promising just devolves into run of the mill Numan.
Thing is, a lot of my reaction to this could be that I just plodded through The Fury and ANYTHING halfway decent could be read as inspiring. Dunno. Maybe.
Grade: C-
ASide:My Breathing, The Sleeproom
BlindSide: Unknown and Hostile
DownSide: I Can’t Stop
