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Gary Numan - The Complete John Peel Sessions Audio CD

A fair review of the Gary Numan "The Complete John Peel Sessions" 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 reviews here, or go back to the Gary Numan tabs.

Gary Numan Band: Gary Numan
Title: The Complete John Peel Sessions
Rating:
Release Date: 2007-06-26
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Me I Disconnect from You 2: Down in the Park 3: I Nearly Married a Human 4: Cars 5: Airplane 6: Films 7: Conversation 8: Rip 9: Metal 10: Pure 11: My Jesus 12: Cars 13: Listen to My Voice 14: I Can't Breathe 15: Down in the Park 16: Prayer for the Unborn

Some great material, some stuff that didn't deserve a CD release
This new release features all 3 periods of his John Peel sessions, two from 1979 and the other more lengthy one in 2001. John Peel has allowed three of my all-time favorite musicians (David Bowie, Gary Numan, and Wire) to unleash their holy goodness better than any other radio host, and what's even greater is getting these recordings on CD.

The first two sessions, both used mostly to promote the young musician's music; the performances are slightly rawer than the studio recordings (in the first track you can hear Numan pounding heavily on they keyboard), and other little pieces that make the first 7 tracks very valuable for the Numan fan. The performances of I Nearly Married A Human, Down In The Park, and especially Films are my personal favorites.

and then there's the final session, 22 years later. This performance is in front of a live audience, so naturally there's a lot of background noise, which for me is a huge turn-off, and the reason why I don't any other live albums. And while back in '79 the band comprised of just a few members playing all the instruments, this session has a lot of pre-recorded material, with the band, even Numan's vocals, attempting to sound EXACTLY like you hear on the studio recordings. Even the performances of Metal and Down In The Park use the same instrumentation from the '97 versions. It literally sounds like someone's blaring Numan during a party of big Numan fans. The only track really worth hearing from this session is the interpretation of Cars, a heavy industrial take. Still, it doesn't totally redeem the entire 9 song set.

Normally I'd have given this only three stars for the last half of the compilation but the liner notes are really great and focus on individual tracks and the history of the John Peel sessions, which really saves this release for me.

I wouldn't consider this a necessity unless you're also into live recordings, and if you already have the early Cd release of the '79 recordings you'd probably save yourself some money by leaving this one alone. I personally bought this on an impulse when I first learned of its existence, but the price has dropped substantially since then so it might be a better bargain now.


4.5 stars... outstanding addition to the Gary Numan catalog


"The Complete John Peele Sessions" (16 tracks, 77 min. Let me state upfront that I have been a Gary Numan fan since the early days (saw him live in London in September, 1979 on his "Pleasure Principle" tour) and when I saw this album the other day at my indie-record store, I immediately grabbed it. ) is in reality 2 mini albums thrown together. Tracks 1-7 are from 2 Peele sessions in 1979, highlighting tracks from the "Replicas" and "Pleasure Principles" albums. The sound is a little thin at times, and this apparently was taped strictly in-studio (of the BBC). The main attraction of those tracks is "Cars", which shows up in an early form (before it was released), and a bit funkier than the ultimate smash hit it would become. The last 9 tracks are from an early 2001 taping, this time with a small audience in the studio (oh, how to have been there!), where Gary Numan showcases 6 tracks from the then-recently released outstanding "Pure" album, plus 3 older classic tracks, and those are a treat to behold: slightly remade, goth-ified if you will, versions of "Metal" (just outstanding), "Cars" and "Down In the Park". But the "Pure" tracks shine just as much.

In all, this is an outstanding addition to the Gary Numan catalogue. After the 2000 album "Pure". , which was Numan's brilliant come-back album, he has faltered a bit on subsequent releases. I had the good fortune of catching Numan on his most recent US tour in 2006 here in Cincinnati, and he put on a brilliant show. Wish he would tour the US again sometime soon. Meanwhile, "The Complete John Peele Sessions" is a must for any serious Numan fan, highly recommended!.


Nothing more than...another great Peel disc


As usual, excellent sound, and complete live takes in studio quality. Yet another excellent John Peel disc, this one collects the previously released tracks from 1979, and adds Numan's BBC appearances from 20+ years later as he performs material from the Jagged album. Highly recommended for Numan fans, the older tracks sound better than the previous BBC disc, so crisp and clean you hear the keys of the synths being pressed during Conversation.


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

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