The Pleasure Principle (album)

Infobox Album | Name = The Pleasure Principle
Type = Album
Artist = Gary Numan


Released = September 1979
Recorded = Mid-1979 at Marcus Music AB, London
Genre = New Wave, electronic music, synthpop
Length = 41:07
Label = Beggars Banquet (UK), Atco (USA)
Producer = Gary Numan
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:9lx8b594tsqe link]
*Pitchfork Media (8.2/10) [http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/20452/Gary_Numan_The_Pleasure_Principal link]
*Review-Christgau|B|album=1344
Last album = "Replicas"
(1979)
This album = "The Pleasure Principle"
(1979)
Next album = "Telekon"
(1980)

"The Pleasure Principle" is the third studio album, and debut album under his own name, by electronic music pioneer Gary Numan, released in 1979. Released the same year as "Replicas" (under the name Tubeway Army), "The Pleasure Principle" also went to number 1 in the United Kingdom and paved the way to chart success for a string of synthpop acts such as Ultravox, The Human League, Depeche Mode and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. It is widely considered by most critics and fans alike as Numan's best work and a milestone in New Wave and commercial electronic music history.

tructure and release

For the first and only time on an album, Numan completely abandoned guitars and this change, coupled with frequent use of synthetic percussion, produced the most purely electronic and robotic sound of his career. In addition to the Minimoog synthesizer employed on his previous album, Numan now made liberal use of the Polymoog keyboard, particularly its distinctive "Vox Humana" preset. Other striking production tricks included copious amounts of flanging, phasing and reverb, plus the unusual move of including solo viola and violin parts in the arrangements.

Notable tracks included "Airlane", the lead-off instrumental; "Metal", sung from the perspective of an android longing to be human and covered by Nine Inch Nails on "Things Falling Apart", Afrika Bambaataa on "Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light" and used as backing for Planet Funk's "Who Said"; "Films", acknowledged by Bambaataa as an important influence on the U.S. hip hop scene; "M.E.", told by the last machine on Earth and later used as backing for Basement Jaxx’s "Where’s Your Head At?"; the electronic ballad "Complex", a UK number 6 single; and "Cars", a worldwide synthpop hit recently covered by Fear Factory and sampled for Armand Van Helden’s "Koochy". "Cars" reached number 9 in the U.S., helping make "The Pleasure Principle" Numan's strongest Stateside showing, but lack of a strong commercial follow-up meant he was tagged a one-hit wonder there.

"The Pleasure Principle"'s title and cover art were inspired by the René Magritte painting "Le Principe Du Plaisir". Numan toured throughout the world in support of the album with a huge stage set including banks of neon lights and twin pyramids which danced across the stage via radio control. The live show was captured on record as "Living Ornaments ’79" and on video as "The Touring Principle". The support act on the UK leg of the tour was Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. An expanded version of "Living Ornaments '79" was issued on CD in 2005, and the final show of "The Touring Principle" was captured on the CD "Engineers" (released exclusively through Numan's official website) in 2008.

Of the bonus tracks currently available on CD, "Random" and "Oceans" were instrumental outtakes from "The Pleasure Principle" sessions, originally issued on vinyl with other previously-unreleased tracks in 1985; "Asylum" was the instrumental flip of the "Cars" vinyl single; the live versions of "Me! I Disconnect From You" and "Bombers" made up the B-side of "Complex", having been recorded on tour and lately made available in their original context on the expanded "Living Ornaments '79" CD, along with "Remember I Was Vapour" and "On Broadway". The latter two tracks first saw the light of day as a promotional single shipped with early pressings of the album "Telekon" in 1980; Numan's unlikely version of the classic "On Broadway" was dominated by a characteristic synthesizer solo by then-former (and soon-to-be-again) Ultravox band member Billy Currie.

Track listing

All songs are written by Gary Numan, except where noted.

# "Airlane" - 3:18
# "Metal" - 3:32
# "Complex" - 3:12
# "Films" - 4:09
# "M.E." - 5:37
# "Tracks" - 2:51
# "Observer" - 2:53
# "Conversation" - 7:36
# "Cars" - 3:58
# "Engineers" - 4:01
# "Random" (Demo)* - 3:49
# "Oceans" (Demo)* - 3:03
# "Asylum" (B-Side of Cars)* - 2:31
# "Me! I Disconnect From You" (Live)* - 3:06
# "Bombers" (Live)* - 5:46
# "Remember I Was Vapour" (Live)* - 4:46
# "On Broadway" (Live)* (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) - 4:48

* CD bonus tracks are marked with an asterisk (*).

Personnel

* Gary Numan – Vocals, Keyboards (Minimoog, Polymoog, ARP Odyssey), Synthetic percussion
* Paul Gardiner – Bass
* Chris Payne – Keyboards (Minimoog, Polymoog, Piano), Viola
* Cedric Sharpley – Drums, Percussion
* Billy Currie – Fadeout violin on "Tracks" and "Conversation"
* Garry Robson – Backing vocals on "Conversation"

References