Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

Gary Numan & Tubeway Army
Gary Numan & Tubeway Army tabs Gary Numan & Tubeway Army discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

Gary Numan & Tubeway Army guitar tabs

CD reviews

Premier Hits

Gary Numan & Tubeway Army - Premier Hits Audio CD

A fair review of the Gary Numan & Tubeway Army "Premier Hits" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Gary Numan & Tubeway Army reviews here, or go back to the Gary Numan & Tubeway Army tabs.

Band: Gary Numan & Tubeway Army
Title: Premier Hits
Rating:

Release Date: 1997-03-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Cars [Premier Mix] 2: I Die: You Die 3: Are 'Friends' Electric? 4: Down in the Park 5: We Are Glass 6: Bombers 7: We Take Mystery (To Bed) 8: She's Got Claws 9: Complex 10: Music for Chameleons 11: That's Too Bad 12: This Wreckage 13: Warriors 14: Love Needs No Disguise 15: White Boys and Heros 16: Sister Surprise 17: Stormtrooper in Drag 18: Cars [Original Version]

Gary Numan starter kit, avoid imitators!
It covers Numan's music from his lengthy period with Beggars Banquet, which most Numan fans will say is his absolute best. As with any 'one hit wonder' group from 10-20 years ago, Numan's catalogue has a few of these, but this one is by far the best. This collection alone shows that Numan does not belong on the one hit wonder list like many of his associate musicians of the era, and any beginning Numan fan could really use this even if he/she does wish to get all these albums anyway.

This compilation does have its faults, however, with absent/unnecessary tracks, like the Premier Remix of Cars and the two songs that Numan only appears on, Stormtrooper In Drag and Love Needs No Disguise; that latter track is harder to come across but not altogether vital for a Numan fan to have. Another problem is how the Tubeway Army/Blue Album is completely unheard! The very first Numan album is one of my favorites and while it never actually spawned any singles it seems rather ridiculous that it still manages to evade notice on a compilation specificially ranging between his '78-83 catalogue; any 'Replicas' fan would probably love Numan's first released ablum and it just seems unfair to let it go.

There are also a number of singles that did not make it, however smaller they were as releases: Remember I Was Vapor; Remind Me To Smile; This Is My Life, though I don't know if any of these singles were actually Beggars Banquet releases but even still I think they're more important than a remix and collaborations. Also absent is the rare collaboration with Nicky Robson, Stars, but that can be missed.

It is nice to hear Numan's very first two singles, Bombers and That's Too Bad. While That's Too Bad was really just a gimmicky punk song for the hope of getting a contract, Bombers is really an awesome track signature of his early sound.

Altogether this is a great introduction to arguable the best phase of Numan's career, and any other compilation just doesn't seem so strong as this one.

Some great electro-pop from the 80's...3.5/5
The song that I remembered liking was "Cars", which is on this compilation.
Got around to buying Gary Numan's compilation as I remember liking a couple of his songs when Countdown was still on air in Australia. . . two versions actually. The song that I could never remember liking was "We are glass".

Anyway, this compilation seems really good but I haven't got any of his regular albums to be definitive on that. Numan seems to have pioneered his own brand of synthesiser based pop/rock. Last week I reviewed Australian band's Icehouse debut album [when they were called The Flowers and their album was called "Icehouse"]. Both acts rely heavily on synthesiser and utilise rock guitar at times. They each have their own unique sound, despite both using synthesiser.

Overall, the album is quite strong. . . no dud tracks per se. It's uniformly listenable. Stand out tracks are "We are glass" which has a cool "chugga chugga" rhythm guitar riff working for it, a nice piano sound, and a great synthesiser melody, along with synthetic hand-claps at times. Having forgotten this song, it's now my favourite Numan song, having rediscovered it. It's Numan at his synthetic, catchy pop best.

Next favourite is the original version of "Cars". There is a new mix of this song to open the compilation, but it doesn't replace the original in my estimation, which closes proceedings. The original has a spacey introduction and follows up with an infectious synth groove, a cool beat and a nice bass guitar sound. There is also a great change of sensibility during the song. There are looooong, open notes by Numan on keyboard.

Can't really say that I have ever heard anything else by Gary Numan, but the song "Bombers" sounds familiar-perhaps MTV utilised the guitar riff in this song for its own network promotions. Not a bad song, catchy guitar riff, repeated throughout.

Numan's singing style, which is sort of New Wave and a bit Punk at times, is often hard to understand. That can be because of how he sings or because sometimes his voice seems to be synthesised as well.

The sound quality of the cd is excellent. When he does one of his extended keyboard notes, you don't hear any snap, crackle or pop.

Not all of these songs utilise synthesiser. For instance "That's too bad". You can also hear instruments like rock guitar, piano, violin, brass and bass guitar, amongst others, on various songs.

Lyrics can be intriguing, on songs like "This wreckage" and "Sister surprise".

Some songs reminded me of other bands or songs, like "I die you die" [has a The Who like keyboard bit in it, and Pete Shelley's "Homosapien" is brought to mind for the outro. Perhaps Shelley was inspired by this song. . . I'm not sure who recorded what first in any case]; "Sister surprise" had a Talking Heads/David Byrne feel to it.

A good collection for people who want to check out a musician who did things his way, or for people who have forgotten that he had more than one good song. In Australia, you will occasionally hear "Cars" on FM radio, but I really think "We are glass" is Numan's finest achievement.

Check out The Flowers' debut album "Icehouse" for an excellent pop/rock album utilising synthesiser. I reviewed that at this site the other day.

Where the image lets down
" But as an unlikely pop-star who took the icy-cool of Roxy Music and Bowie and ratcheted the man-machine ethos of Kraftwerk to a level of popularity heretofore unseen, Numan can claim responsibility for everything from Nine Inch Nails to Human League. The underestimated influence of Gary Numan is lost on those who remember him from his sole US hit, "Cars.

The early punk single, "Bomber," was made as Numan's entry into a record deal. . . and the liner notes claim he did it just so he could get his foot in the door. The second album, Replicas, was a total shift away, matching the Bowie fixation to Phillip K Dick (Blade Runner) and the proliferation of inexpensive synthesizers. "Are Friends Electric" and "Down In The Park" are creepy tunes that evoke cheap Horror/Sci-fi movie music, and announced that Numan had something new to say. Given the breakthrough, Numan rapidly released his followups.

Both The Pleasure Principle and Telekon are brilliant albums, matching the robotic personality with memorable songs (including the international smash, "Cars"). It was the ultimate in automaton-music, and while "Cars" may have been his only US hit, "I Die You Die" and "We Are Glass" from "Telekon" were massive overseas. He also became well known for his live shows, where a made-up and costumed Numan indulged in bits of Grand Theater and High Camp.

However, that was a momentum he couldn't sustain. By I, Assassin and Dance, he was running short of new ideas. While the singles were still very cool, the albums were diverging into dance-rhythms and moved away from the unique personalty that made him interesting. The hits "She's Got Claws" and "White Boys and Heroes" are standouts from that period. But there's just no escaping the fact that it's those three classic albums that make the bulk of the best material on this collection, down to "Cars" hitting the charts again in 1987.

Time has caught up with Gary Numan. His legacy touches everyone from The Foo Fighters to Marilyn Manson (both having covered Numan) and has sustained his career. While songs on this CD end with 1983's Warriors (love that Mad max look), he continues to make records. Pure is the best of his latter day work. His albums after leaving Beggars Banquet are left off, which is too bad. He released a couple of strong CD's on IRS that could have easily been mined for bonus material.

It would be even better ...
Very cool stuff I think and there are a number of other less well known but very good tracks on the CD also. Basically this is a great compilation particularly if like me you remember Cars and Are friends electric ? first being released back in the late 70's and were impressed by the innovative electronic weirdness. My only dissapointment was that the last track Cars (original release) dosnt play properly. I sent back the first CD and got a replacement but it had the same flaw so I decided to keep it anyway as it has the remix which is very similar.
.

Good, But Lacking
Where is "Me, I Disconnect From You"? The best song from Numan's best album, "Replicas" should have made the cut!.

You can see a complete list of all Gary Numan & Tubeway Army discography, or go back to the Gary Numan & Tubeway Army tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.