Track Listing

1. Airlane
2. Metal
3. Complex
4. Films
5. ME
6. Tracks
7. Observer
8. Conversation
9. Cars
10. Engineers
11. Random
12. Oceans
13. Asylum
14. Me I Disconnect From You
15. Bombers

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3750 in Music
• Released on: 1999-12-23
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

CD Description
Gary Numan's most commercially successful album is, perhapsunsurprisingly, his least representative disc. Powered by the hit single "Cars", arguably the first British synth-pop song to dent the US charts (M's "Pop Muzik" came out around the same time), THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE is a striking turnaround from the guitar-powered, Joy Division-like post-punk of his old band Tubeway Army. Aside from Paul Gardiner's bass and some percussion, every instrument is electronic.
To denote their futuristic simplicity the album's 10 songs are given one-word titles; they're all built on the same layers of analogue synthesizers and futuristic, dystopian lyrics. The album's resulting numbing quality is also pretty much its point. This Cleopatra reissue has seven bonus tracks, including demo outtakes, live tracks, B-sides, and, oddly, a song from a seven-inch single given away with the first pressing ofNuman's next album, TELEKON.

Customer Reviews

After old-style Numan? Then start here....
If you look back on Gary Numan's big 3 albums as being 'Replicas', 'The Pleasure Principle' and 'Telekon' then this is undoubtedly my personal favourite of those albums. 'TPP' has a bigger, yet sparser sound than 'Replicas' and Numan does not crawl up his own rear-end with self-sympathising as he did on 'Telekon'. It is the album which created the sound which most people associate with Gary Numan, as he did away with guitars and immersed himself and his new, bigger band in the (then) latest technology, resulting in an album of full-on synthesizer songs. He really did capture the essence of what successful electronic music should be; commercial but not quite pure pop as the robotic bass synths and the mighty Vox Humana preset prevented this.

As most will know, this is the album that spawned 'Cars', his most enduring single, but most of the tracks here are of equal quality and better in some cases. The follow-up single is also included here, the soaring, emotional 'Complex' which was a brave move for Numan at the time and is my favourite track on 'TPP'. 'Tracks', 'Engineers', 'Observer' and 'Metal' could all have been singles while the phenomenal 'Films' and 'M.E.' are amongst the Numan legends. He does get a little self-indulgent on the lengthy 'Conversation' but it is still a good track nonetheless.

Highlights among the extras include Numan's 1979 live versions of the old Drifters tune 'On Broadway' and his own 'Bombers'. For me, the glory days of Gary Numan started with 'The Pleasure Principle'.

Powerful, aggressive, organic, simple: unique
For me, no-one before or since has unleashed the force of analogue synthesizers quite so effectively as Numan. On "The Pleasure Principle" Numan deploys them very aggressively, but at the same time combines this force exquisitely with "real" drums, bass, piano and melancholic melodies to produce what is actually a very organic soundscape. The simplicity of the arrangements and Numan's unique vocals just serve to underline the almost military power of the music. Despite what you may think this is not electronic pop: if you like rock, and believe that synthesizers should go "grrr" instead of "beep", then you should like this.

A Pleasure in Principle
Having ditched the "Tubeway Army" disguise, Numan returned with the sequel to "Replicas", recorded as the latter and its massive hit "Are 'Friends' Electric?" were taking the charts by storm.
Expanding his backing band to four (and dropping his uncle in the process), Numan leaves the guitars behind, opting for a more keyboards-based sound, but adding viola on "Complex".
"Airlane" is still a tremendous opening instrumental track, while "Metal" for me remains the great "lost" Numan single (surely his 3rd No.1 if only he'd released it), and the best on the album. "Complex" slows things down before the power drumming of Sharpley and rumbling bass of Gardiner introduces the awesome "Films".
Basement Jaxx fans will easily recognise "M.E.", and so it goes, through "Tracks" (how to rock out without guitars!) and the classic "Cars" (how many reissues is it now?) and the production-line hammer of "Engineers".
Once again, the reissue is enhanced by the bonus tracks - "Random" is an early oscillatory version of the riff from "Metal", whilst the melody from "Oceans" was later to re-surface as "I'm An Agent" on the "Telekon" album - waste not, want not, eh? There's also the live "Me! I Disconnect From You" from the "Complex" 12" single, plus "Remember I Was Vapour" and "On Broadway" from the free live single issued with initial vinyl copies of "Telekon", but included here as they were recorded on the "Touring Principle" tour.
All in all, an essential purchase for the Numanoid at large; my only question is: does anyone else think he looks a bit like Alan B'Stard on the front cover?