Gary Numan

[theimage13]

What the hell does that even mean? Numan had nothing to do with the production or distribution of this film, FYI

I'm well aware of that. I'm not saying fuck him or fuck the team who made the documentary. I'm saying "well, fuck the people in the States who want to see this".

It feels like fans in the US are so far shit out of luck if they want to see the documentary. I know there have been a very limited number of screenings in some of the major markets here, but that's been it as far as I know. No mention of any availability for purchase in this country as far as I've seen; at least nothing concrete. Did I miss some big announcement about that?

[simonn]

Watched the film now - brief glimpses of Robin Finck and the Sheridan footage from the NIN London O2 gig in 2009. Film was very interesting, didn't realise that Gemma was such a rock - particularly the clip when Ade Fenton flies over from the UK to finish the Splinter sessions....don't want to give too much away though...very watchable anyway.

[imail724]

What are Gary's best albums to come out since Telekon? I just heard the song Noise, Noise today and thought I'd give I, Assassin a spin, but none of his 80s albums seem to have nearly as high reviews as his late 70s albums. I'm not really interested in the more recent industrial stuff, hoping for some good new wave-era recommendations.

[perceptionnexus]

What are Gary's best albums to come out since Telekon? I just heard the song Noise, Noise today and thought I'd give I, Assassin a spin, but none of his 80s albums seem to have nearly as high reviews as his late 70s albums. I'm not really interested in the more recent industrial stuff, hoping for some good new wave-era recommendations.

Dance and I, Assassin are awesome. I'm not sure of the title of album it's on, but the one with "my breathing" is pretty good too imo.

[botley]

What are Gary's best albums to come out since Telekon? I just heard the song Noise, Noise today and thought I'd give I, Assassin a spin, but none of his 80s albums seem to have nearly as high reviews as his late 70s albums. I'm not really interested in the more recent industrial stuff, hoping for some good new wave-era recommendations.

I'm actually a big fan of The Fury. Not many Numanoids seem to like it because of all the prominent background singers and saxophone. But the PPG Wave synth sounds amazing on it and the lyrics are suuuuper dark — "Call Out the Dogs" is one of his best songs and there are two Blade Runner samples in it, to boot!

[Piko]

I don't really like his 80's stuff after Telekon. It got better in the 90s onward though.

[botley]

I'm pretty much all aboard until the late 80s; then it's just some inane stuff with Bill Sharpe and the whole debacle with his days signed to IRS before the nadir of Machine + Soul, utterly awful. Dark Light is the renaissance album, for me. Good as the songs were, I really don't like the way Sacrifice was mixed (in fact, I think Ade Fenton mentioned he wanted to remix it). To be fair, he didn't have the assistance of any outside help with it (apart from Kipper and TJ Davis on "Scar") — his now-wife Gemma even had to help with the engineering because it was recorded entirely at his home studio. Even down to the mastering (which Gary admits he royally fucked up).

[Ryan]

Jesus. That Arabian section of My Name Is Ruin sounds fantastic! I'm referring to the most recent update video where Gary plays that and 3 other new demos, "Where Will You Be When The World Comes Apart," "Cold," and "Ghost Nation" - the latter is the title he has given the one called "my lost iPhone".

[botley]

appears on the new Music Inspired by the Motion Picture Ghost in the Shell album, along with tracks by Tricky and DJ Shadow.

I'm only seeing it on digital retailers — are soundtrack CDs even a thing anymore?

[Ryan]

I wonder why he's allowing a demo version to be put on there rather than the final version?

In any case, it sounds finished to me!

[Ryan]

Hmmm.

[Ryan]

Welp, Gary sure went with that "sand/Arabian" image to match the album's sound that he mentioned in the last Pledge update video, judging by this new promo picture:

[Ryan]

lol, someone here comments "not sure about the Islamic font though Gary, it might attract some unwanted attention" -

https://www.facebook.com/GaryNumanOf...414028/?type=3



People are such annoying idiot fucks.

[Ryan]

[COLOR=#FB2C33 !important]ACCESSPASS UPDATE[/COLOR] 21 APRIL, 2017Friday. April 21, 2017. New Image concerns.

Hello Everyone,
As you may have seen the new UK tour has just been announced. Shows in Europe will be announced very soon and a North American tour hopefully will be confirmed in the next few weeks. I’m also looking at many other places around the world so, if things come together as I hope, I will be able to add a constant string of shows around the world in the coming months. I am very excited and optimistic about the next twelve months and what could happen with this album.
The reason for this update though is as an explanation. A few people seem concerned about the imagery of the new photos, the tour flyer mostly I guess, the type face used, the title itself combined with those things and so on. It seems that some misunderstanding is occurring and that some of you feel that it could be taken as, amongst other things, showing support for ISIS, an insult to Middle Eastern culture and decency, and so on. So, I would obviously like to clear that up before it goes any further because none of that is intended.
The majority of the songs on the new album are taken from ideas I’ve been working on for a novel. Yes the same one I’ve been talking about for years. My Science Fantasy epic that will probably never see the light of day but, much as the short stories I was writing around Replicas time did for that album, so this permanently unfinished book is giving me a huge amount of material to write new songs about. The ideas for the book gave me songs for Dead Son Rising, a few for Splinter and now quite a few for Savage.
Savage then is a theme album by and large. Set in a post apocalyptic future where the earth has been devastated by global warming and what remains is mostly harsh, barren and desert like. The various cultures of the few that survived have, over generations, essentially merged into one. That merging driven mostly by the necessities of surviving in the environment that remains. The book (and therefore the album) is based upon concerns about the catastrophic effects of ignoring global warming, and how the survivors must adapt, and nothing at all to do with comparing existing cultures, terrorism, religion or nuclear war. The title Savage does not refer to a person, or to a culture, but to the environment the people exist in in this fictional future. The new photo is meant to depict a scene from that blighted future, it is certainly not meant to imply that people that live in a desert region are ‘Savage’. The clothes I’m wearing are not desert clothes, they are pseudo military looking (and meant to look worn out in the harshness of that world) and represent the way we may all need to look if policies designed to stop the effects of global warning are abandoned or ignored in certain vitally important key regions of the world over the next few years.
The world the album describes is savage and the people in it need to be to survive, but that’s all there is to it. It’s fantasy, but based on my fears about what’s going to happen to future generations if we don’t do what needs to be done to protect the planet. It is not particularly political, not anti religious (for once), not anti anything other than the almost unbelievably ignorant decisions in one part of the world to walk away from agreements and commitments concerned with combating climate change and protecting our environment.
Not every song is about this, I have other things that have found their way in to the album, but the image and style of ‘Savage’ is very much guided by the concerns mentioned above. Concerns that are forming the heart of the book that in turn supplied the bulk of the ideas for the album. It is absolutely not a dig against the Middle East or the people that live there, on the contrary, it’s a dig against certain Western powers who are ignoring overwhelming proof that they need to change their thinking and stop dismantling all the good that was about to be done to fight climate change.
And with that I will step down from my little soap box and get back to finishing the song called ‘Savage’. A song more aptly described as fitting a sweeping landscape scene in a film rather than forming part of a rock album, but it seems to work and it’s very grand and epic. Rather beautiful in fact, even if I say so myself
The album is very close to being finished now. The main album is done apart from one vocal/lyric, I’m finishing off the extra track for the Deluxe CD this weekend and the final song for the vinyl version will completed by the end of next week. I’ll do another audio or video update around then and play you some more things. But, by the skin of our teeth, it really does look as though it’s going to be ready on time.
A word of thanks to Joseph Cultice for taking such extraordinary photos in a genuinely harsh environment. I’m very grateful to his skill and enthusiasm in getting the visual side together.
I’d also like to thank Ade Fenton who, as always, is doing a remarkable job on the production and turning my rough ideas into music to be proud of.
I will update the campaign again before it’s all over but I still wanted to say, yet again, how much I appreciate your support, and your patience, with this campaign and the making of the album. I know only too well how badly I messed up with my initial release date and your understanding of that was very heartwarming (mostly). I am, as ever, so grateful for your interest.
Bye,
Gary Numan.

[astfgyl]

Bed of Thorns is the best I've heard from Gary in years. I had sort of lost interest as I felt nothing from the last couple of albums, so never even knew he had something coming out until now. On my 3rd listen in a row now. The chorus is really reminding me of something Type O Negative might have written circa October Rust.

[niggo]

I'm a big fan of Gary's last two albums and I'm looking forward to the next one. If he's playing any shows in my area I will definitely be there.

Also I think his way of communicating with his fans is incredibly cool!

[Ryan]

Sunday, April 30th, 2017. Songs Written

Just a very quick text update to let you know that the song writing for the new album is finished. The song titles are (unless I change a few over the next week or so, which I might):

Bed Of Thorns
Mercy
If I Said
I Heard A Voice
Ghost Nation
My Name Is Ruin
Cold
And It All Began With You
Save Me
I Belong Here
Where Will You Be (When The World Comes Apart)
If You Had Seen


A few too many I, Me and My’s in that lot to be honest so I will need to rethink one or two at least. I will do another video or audio update this week to let you hear some clips of the more recent songs, and clips of some finished versions of earlier songs. Not mixed finished, but production finished. I think we are due a bit of an update on the overall campaign in fact, a bringing up to date of all that’s gone on.

The main CD will have 10 songs, the Deluxe CD will have 11 and the Vinyl will have 12. I have yet to decide which songs will go on which versions but I will do that tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will also start on the sleeve artwork for the three versions (CD, Deluxe CD and Vinyl) and the Pledge t-shirt and poster. I leave LA for the UK on May 13th so I hope to have everything done by then and present the finished music and artwork to BMG while I’m there. Mastering is on the 19th in London and that is the last thing to be done as far as creating the album itself is concerned. There is a lot more to do after that of course.


I should feel excited and happy but I just feel shattered to be honest. I’m actually leaning towards grumpy this evening which is a bit odd. Still, it’s a huge thing to have got done, lots of stress and a vast array of emotions, for a long and very concentrated period of time, so perhaps it’s not that surprising that I don’t feel quite like throwing a party just yet. Maybe because I still have some concerns.

I still want to have another look at the main verse melody on Where Will You Be for one thing. I think that could be better. So, maybe I’ll tweak it a bit more before starting on the artwork. Give or take a tweak though, it’s done.

Gary N.

[WorzelG]

^^^I love how honest he is in these updates. A bit of a grump

[simonn]

^^^I love how honest he is in these updates. A bit of a grump

It was worth signing up to his Pledge campaign just for the videos, and not even the musical content, just him chatting away, and regularly over-sharing personal info! Guy is a legend. Have a ticket for Brixton in October. It'll be the third new album tour in a row I'll have seen him on, having not seen him since 1986, so he must be doing something right....!

[Ryan]

I'm interested to see how the final product turns out considering how much he's been through since Splinter came out. His mother's passing, the passing of a lot of his animals, court cases, stress from idiot fans... Lyrically I wouldn't be surprised if a fuck or two appears. Hell, maybe even a fist fuck.

[Shadaloo]

Man, here I thought he was just riffing off Dune imagery. I'm excited for this.

Also, I've had My Breathing and Call Out The Dogs on repeat all day, coincidentally.

[botley]

New live DVD, Legacy, filmed last year during the "classic era" tour in Liverpool.

[Ryan]

Interesting to note that "When the world comes apart" is a line from "Magic" and "Mercy" was a demo song title from the Jagged sessions that eventually became a song on Dead Son Rising:

14th May, 2017. Savage Running Order for All Formats

I have retitled a few of the songs and have worked out what I think is the best running order for the three versions, CD, Deluxe CD and Vinyl. Final song titles and running order is as follows:

Ghost Nation
Bed Of Thorns
My Name Is Ruin
The End Of Things
If I Said
When The World Comes Apart
Mercy
And It All Began With You
Pray For The Pain You Serve
Broken

The extra song for the Deluxe CD is ‘Cold’.

The extra songs for the Vinyl version are ‘Cold’ and ‘What God Intended’.

My apologies for not getting the video/audio clips out as I said I would, I will very soon, but I’ve been too busy on other things, artwork mostly, which is looking great. I’m really happy with it.

I have a big and important meeting with BMG tomorrow (I flew into London this afternoon) and then I drive to Bath to work with Ade on the mixes.

Mastering Friday so everyone has to be ready for that.

UK tour dates for the album are announced and on-sale, Europe as well, North America coming very soon and then we’ll start pitting tours together in other regions. Very exciting times (but I really will get those music clips out to you as soon as possible.

Thanks everyone,

Gary N.

[Ryan]

@botley just shot you a PM.

[Ryan]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_(Gary_Numan_album)

Just made the page if you'd like to contribute.

[REPLICA]

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to go on Pledge and put in a pre-order for another copy of the vinyl. I got in on the autographed edition before they sold out. I'm kind of glad the album has taken a while to come out; as much as I love Gary, I wouldn't want him to rush his productions now. Definitely getting tickets if he ventures in the south east US.

[REPLICA]

Gary's interview from Music-News.com - May 18, 2017 - via Steel and You (Youtube).

[botley]

I love Numan's enthusiasm for making field recordings and sticking them into his music. It has been a recurring technique of his going back (I believe) to The Fury, if not earlier.

[Ryan]

I found this online two nights ago - never heard of it before. Anyone want it?

[botley]

Aren't those just retitled tracks from The Radial Pair soundtrack?