The Pleasure Principle + 7 Bonus Tracks [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

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.

Its hard to imagine Gary Numan's impact in 1979 (along with the Police, he was the biggest star to emerge from the punk and new wave explosion). Unfairly derided in some quarters as a mere Bowie clone, the critics missed the point completely, that a new type of pop star with an eye to future musical trends had emerged. Perhaps even more galling for the critics was that he sold millions of records, sold out concert tours instantly [ when you actually had to queue outside venues for tickets, not click a mouse!]. Here was a genuine pop phenomenon with a visionary bleakness, who was , albeit unintentionally, pushing forward thinking pop music into a new decade. Without Numan, there would have been very few musical openings,for OMD, The Human League, and their ilk..

The Pleasure Principal brilliantly capitalised on the success of Replicas, opting for a more synthetic approach than its predecessor, taking the themes of urban isolation, fame,and technology to new extremes. If Kraftwerk positively revelled in their vision of the future, here was an artist who held an entirely different point of view.The Pleasure Principal is full of great music [ Complex, M.E. and of course Cars], and without a single weak track stands as perhaps Gary Numans finest recorded output.

As with the excellent Replicas reissue there is a feast of demos,b' sides and oddities to make revisting The Pleasure Principal worthwhile. The demos have a welcome rough edge [Airlane for instance really rocks on the demo version],and give the overall impression that Numan's vision fo the album was fully formed prior to entering the studio to cut the album. To my ears the demos have a life of their own, and whilst lacking some studio gloss and trickery, are equal to their shinier counterparts. Perhaps the one disappointment on this disc is a lacklustre run through of Cars, but ,of course, this was soon to be improved in the final recording.

Overall another fantastic reissue from an artist who is yet to fully receive the recognition he deserves.

Thirty years ago Gary Numan released his first album under his own name, previously having played with The Tubeway Army whos own second album with Numan, Replicas was also released in 1979. The Pleasure Principle went to number one in the U.K and many other countries and was the album that went on to influence a host of other synth acts, none of then however were as dark as Gary Numan.

With this two disc deluxe edition (not to be confused with the previous remastered reissue that is one disc with bonus tracks) you get the original ten song album remastered of course, you also get a second disc of 17 songs that include demo versions and out takes. Numan fans will be well familiar with these songs but to people who only have a passing interest and only know the song Cars, they will get a suprise at how much they have heard already whether it be the brilliant Metal which was covered by Nine Inch Nails (on their remix ep things falling apart)or how familiar the music to M.E sounds as it was used by Basement Jaxx on their big hit where's Yor Head At? This just goes to show the influence Numan has on a wide range of musicans.

Stand out tracks are Metal, Cars, M.E and Observer from the main album but truthfully there is no really weak tracks and the album has aged really well considering the technology that was around then and what's around now. On the bonus cd as well as the demos you get Random and Oceans which were out takes from the original album and here you get them all dusted down and remastered. the demos are all high quality so it will be interesting to hear how the finished songs sound originally. You get all the original artwork with the booklet as well as well written piece by writer Steve Malins.

The Pleasure Principle might be 30 years old but one thing for sure is that it will still be influencing people in another 30 years time!