Search - Gary Numan & Tubeway Army :: Tubeway Army (Reis)

Essential to any post punk fan's collection

Kevin Parrish Claussen | Seattle, WA United States | 11/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Numan wrote these songs he said, because punk was fashionable. Normally when an artist is motivated by the trend of the day the work is limp. Not so with this debut from Gary Numan's band Tubeway Army. "Friends" and "somethings in the house" continue to blast me in the pants twelve years since I picked up a copy of this on vinyl. "Steel and you" is a bonified rocker, hard to believe coming from the man who put out "Dance" years later. "Every day I die" and "jo the Waiter" were probably big faves of Kurt Cobain, or would have been if he ever heard this undervalued classic. As time goes on I find that more and more people have this album. One day Rolling Stone and Spin may catch on to its importance. Thank god this and the other two Tubeway Army records were finally released on their own, on CD. Before they were released as two album cd packages, and the pairings of the albums were horrible. ***The other one to get is "The Plan" which is a collection of demos for this album, plus some other amazing punk rock songs."

Music for Philip K Dick fans

badnewswade | Englandershireton | 01/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had this album way back in the mid-nineties, not exactly the first time round, but still way before Numan was cool.



I've had a chance to hear it again recently and the music is still as brilliant as it was when I was twenty. This isn't like a lot of other '80s synth albums. Unlike others who were just along for the ride (and they were quite good too), Numan doesn't date, because he meant it, he's as much sci-fi writer as musician in that way.



Yep, this is real music for Philip K Dick fans, in fact the album opens up with a lyrical tribute ("flow my tears, the new police song" is a reference to a novel titled "Flow my tears, the policeman said") and continues with the sci-fi references as well as high-fives to gay sexuality (Zero Bars, Jo The Waiter), angst (My Shadow In Vain), life support (The Life Machine), human cloning, or test tube babies, or something (My Love Is A Liquid), betrayal (Are Friends Electric?), junkies (The Dream Police) and, er, wacking one off (Every Day I Die).



Basically, this album was the soundtrack to my life for a few years back there, and it still has a very special place close to this old cybergoth's heart. I've heard the new ones and they're pretty good too.



If your life ever seems like something out of a William Burroughs or Philip K Dick novel, then buy this album, you won't regret it. But don't forget: They can't die, they can just turn off.



:-)

"

Classic Pre-Synth Numan

Russ Tychonick | Winnipeg, Canada | 02/09/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm listening to this remastered CD as I write this, for what is probably the first time since I bought the LP back in about 1980. It sounds even more awesome now than it did back then. This was Numan before he became preoccupied with synths. In fact, the guitars are so much in the forefront that most of the songs don't even need keyboards. If you're only going to ever purchase one Gary Numan album, you certainly can't go wrong with this one - solid from start to finish."