Gary Numan: Dance vs. I, Assassin, Part 2 (continued) – the songs (I, Assassin)

One of the singles off of I, Assassin, this songs is “White Boys and Heroes”. A funky, fretless bassline, courtesy of Pino Palladino, and frantic drumwork by Chris Slade of Uriah Heep drive this song while analog synths (mostly at the beginning, the chorus, and throughout the song as electronic percussion) and electric guitar pop up throughout (with the guitar sequestered to the chorus and the end). Some nice saxophone work by Dick Morrissey at the end, with the lyrics propping up the figure of a macho 1930s gangster, such as the type that Numan himself is depicted as on the cover of the album, dressed in a trenchcoat and trilby/fedora. Some of the lyrics include lines like “We’re in the movies, we heroes, we sparkle at night” and “Heroes are tough, and have no time, for women and boys”. The music video depicts Numan as a movie star (most likely) dressed as a military man (or possibly just a gangster, as there is a shot of his guns on a table), and then shows him relaxing at the pool in a villa, where he pushes a couple of topless women into said pool. Fun music video overall, I feel it serves well in reinforcing the general concept of the album, as well as displaying a bit more of a fun side of Numan. The bleach blond hair likely indicates that this was the last video (and likely single) for I, Assassin, seeing as Numan displays the same color hair on the cover of his next album, Warriors, as well as the video for the title song of said album.

Another single from the album, this song’s called “Music for Chameleons”. Another great fretless bassline drives this song with the drumwork this time being obscured by the electronic percussion (for the most part, though they are more audible during the chorus), while atmospheric synthesizers are used throughout to provide the melody. Love the slow musical introduction, with the synth leading into the bassline. Lyrics like “A dream of Siam, we could leave in the morning, old friends and shy, we need to win, like you need to breathe, I’ve an interest in games” definitely fit in with the gangsterous lifestyle shown in the music video as well as supporting the album’s concept all on its own. Also, I have a feeling that the title could be somewhat autobiographical for Numan in a way, since he is very chamelonesque with him constantly changing personas/image during the 80s. The music video is another enjoyable one, imo, with Numan dressed in a blue and white suit with him and his gang frequenting a strip club or night club (called Chameleons none the less), and the gang kills the people inside the place before they exit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6nmepWa3fE

This is the third single of the album, “We Take Mystery (To Bed)”. Great drum intro opens the song, while the keyboards are probably the most at the forefront in this song, though they definitely lend the song a great melody. Yet another funky fretless bassline drives this song while the drumwork is again drowned out by the electronic percussion (though is much more audible than in the above mentioned songs), and there’s some jangly guitarwork present during the chorus. The lyrics are different than the other two singles, with a much more personal tone, here dealing with a break-up and betrayal as his ex-lover sold her story about Numan to the press. Lines like “Confiscate letters like D.E.B., no natural course of things for her to expect, withdraw the feelings ‘You can, you can’t', I called your number as you told the world” and “There is no longer any normal to me, you’re my assassin but you can’t see the crime, pointless possessions of me & you & greed, I looked at you mistaking needles for eyes” display the scathing tone of Numan, though his voice isn’t very aggressive or angry sounding. The music video shows Numan in a suit with his fedora/trilby at various points, and it consists of him either dancing, driving, smashing glass with poles and his body (via jumping through a glass door), spinning in a chair, and dancing in front of the logo for the self-titled Tubeway Army album. The music video seems to have the intent of establishing the 1930s setting again.

Final verdict: Both albums have much to offer – the atmospheric and a thinking man’s lyrical quality on Dance, and a more funky, dance-style sound with less focus on personal lyrics (in general) on I, Assassin. Personally, I like the tone of I, Assassin slightly over that of Dance, though this is only by a smidge, since I enjoy both albums a great deal.

Hope this was all informative enough to anyone that’s interested in Gary Numan.

Gary Numan: Dance vs. I, Assassin, Part 2 – the songs (Dance)

Really cool song here (that is, if you’re into that 80’s sound) – it’s “She’s Got Claws”. Great saxophone “riff” throughout the song, and the funky, fretless bass weaves its way throughout the song to great effect – both of these sorta give it a jazzy tone to me. The drums sound like they could be drum machines, and if so, I’ve heard far worse sounding drum machines. The piano that follows the sax lines adds a nice touch, and the synths are used sparingly but do spruce up the sound of the song. The lyrics are sung in the typical Gary Numan style, though I feel he does give his all on this one vocally, and lyrically the song is about a girl that ripped him off (by selling the story about dating him to the tabloids, but I only know of that through liner notes); tends to sound a bit anxious here, but that’s nothing unusual. The video demonstrates this betrayal on Numan through a woman that metamorphoses into a black panther (thus the girl with claws), love the background in the video reflecting the look of the 1930s. Love the line of “I don’t like guys”, heh – is it that bad that he has to defend his sexuality so openly like that? Is it just me or does it seem like the video for The Stranglers’ “European Female” is a bit of a rip off of this video (this one probably came out first – Dance was released in 1981, The Stranglers Feline, which “European Female” is off of, was released in 1982).

Too bad there wasn’t a video made for this song, “A Subway Called ‘You’ “.  Nice fretless bass opening with atmospheric synths open this song up, gives this song a dark sound that I like; *snicker* at the fake cowbell sound just before the lyrics kick in. The song continues this way musically with some real drums kicking in once the lyrics do, and it’s generally a bass driven number, with some good saxophone being used later on. Lyrically, the song seems to be about a male gigolo with lines like “Here the ladies always ring twice, Thought you’d slip away tonight with me” and “Hello you, no more this talk of ‘My boys will be yours’ ” – that last line sorta confuses me. Overall, this is one of the best songs on this album.

Non-album single around the Dance era (that appears on the remastered Beggars Banquet CD edition) – this one’s called “Stormtrooper in Drag”. Meaty beat provided by drums and the bassline (with the bass being played by Gary Numan) with echoey-sounding guitar (played by Paul Gardiner, bass player in The Tubeway Army and on Numan’s solo effort The Pleasure Principle, Telekon, and Night Talk on Dance). Lyrically, the song appears to be about sex, with lyrics like “I could call and make you crawl into bed” and “I’ll just speak in slow motion, About obsessions with boys on the floor”, but the lyric “It’s so disgusting I’m so tired of rhythm, And needles in arms, I don’t want your point of view” sounds like a stab at Paul Gardiner’s drug habits (which would eventually take his life three years later in 1984).

Soon, I’ll be posting up select songs and videos from I, Assassin and analyzing the lyrics and musical elements of them.

Halo video – Z57 Productions

The first in a line of Halo videos that a friend of mine is doing, this is the first episode. Mostly story set-up and some great editing, be sure to check out the other videos of this series when they’re made, they’re going to get much better as time goes on. If this interests you, then take a look at Z57 Productions’ Defective: Trailer at:

http://z10.invisionfree.com/Z57_Productions/index.php?http://s10.invisionfree.com/Z57_Productions/

Also, going to finish up the Gary Numan – Dance vs. I, Assassin post with the second part when I get a chance to finish it up. Part 2 will include videos of some of the songs from each and an analyzation of them.

Gary Numan time: Dance vs. I, Assassin

Dance is one of Gary Numan’s more interesting albums, coming hot off the heels of his successful trio of Replicas, The Pleasure Principle, and Telekon, which contained the hits and fan favorites “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?”, “Down in the Park”, “Me! I Disconnect From You”, “Cars”, “Complex”, “Metal”, “Films”, “Sleep By Windows”, “Remind Me to Smile”, “We Are Glass”, and “I Die: You Die”. Unlike those albums, which are full of heavy, machine-like synths, heavy percussion, and, in the case of Replicas, punkish guitars, Dance has a much more atmospheric quality, though the prominent basslines present in his previous efforts are retained here. A much more atmospheric quality, almost ambient even, is present, and seems to be an evolution of the more atmospheric sounding synthesizers on Telekon and the basslines are more fluid and funky due to the fretless bass contributions of Japan’s Mick Karn. The electric guitar is present, but not even used on most of the songs. The ones that do use it are able to incorporate it as a support to the synthesizers, but in the process is transforms the songs into synth rockers that sound great with that extra snarl of the guitar. The viola that was used on his albums since The Pleasure Principle is still used to bring lovely melodies to the songs and bring a warmer sounds to the songs, while saxophone is incorporated into some songs as well, giving them a jazzy quality when present. Though this new sound of his wasn’t commercially successful, it certainly separated him from the other electronic acts at the time.

Numan’s follow-up to Dance is I, Assassin, which is in a way an evolution of the sound present on Dance from atmospheric to more dance oriented. The atmospheric synthesizers are retained on I, Assassin but are used more sparingly, with greater emphasis now placed on the percussion and even more prominent bass work, which is played by Pino Paladino here. The guitar is now used even less here, only showing up on 3 or 4 songs (I’m unable to really tell if there’s guitar on the title track), but the way it’s used is similar to that on Dance.

Basically, here’s a simple breakdown of the qualities of each:

Dance

• Atmospheric synthesizers
• Funky quality, due to fretless bass
• Some synth rockers, when guitar used
• More experimental, less cohesive
• Saxophone and viola, gives jazzy and orchestral quality
• Couple songs too long & tend to drag
• Prominent percussion and basslines

I, Assassin

• Dance oriented
• Still funky
• Less guitar incorporation, still good when present
• No viola, little saxophone
• More prominent fretless bass
• Less use of atmospheric synthesizers

Bands listened to – 7/23/08

Here’s a post of bands that I listened to on July 23rd. Meant to do this post a while ago, but never got around to it:

Probably my favorite song from The Stranglers’ 1979 album, “The Raven”, this one’s called Shah Shah A Go Go. The song’s lyrical content concerns the usurping of the king (or shah) in Iran in the 1979 Iran Revolution, and while simple, do get the point across. The throbbing bassline and simple, but driving, drum beat drive the song along while the spacey keyboard part runs up and down throughout the song; the guitar sounds fairly simplistic, but has a nice ring to it. The beginning portion of the Muslim call to prayer is a nice addition – what can I say, I’m a sucker for well-placed samples.

One of my favorite songs by The Cure, this one’s “Fascination Street” from their 1989 masterpiece “Disintegration”. The bassline in this does it for me, it’s got a nice rhythm to it, and I just plain love the tone of it too. The drums are loud and keep the song moving well, the guitar sounds kind of psychedelic and complements the songs well, and the lyrics aren’t very thoughtful, but work well in the song with the way Robert Smith delivers them.

Great song from Big Star’s second album, “Radio City” (1974), this one’s called “Back of A Car”. Storytelling lyrics with some pretty sounding guitar make this a perfect pop song, and the drums are fairly driving too. It’s too bad this band broke up so early on – they really did have a perfect pop sound without sounding drab and repetitive.

Bitterness and a bad habit

Some new poems that I wrote last week, they work as an outlet for some feelings I’ve been having recently.

Struggle through the teeth of incompetence

I try to make it through
The fence of deadly barbed wire
But, as always, I get stuck
I thrash about
It’s all I know how to do
But no good that does
More pain for me
More pain for you
More pain for those I love and that love me
You think by cursing my name
And staring out the other window
The one with the better view
That I’ll get free
Without damage
And won’t go back again
But this just makes me thrash more
If you want to help
You should untangle me
From the deadly mental barbs
Hold the anxious teeth apart
So I can climb through
And support me while I limp away
And try to find the way away from the mistakes
That have gone no far too many days

I don’t know if I really like this poem or not, but I do like the image of struggling through something like a fence, but only making it worse for oneself. Some personal drama stuff here, stuff I wouldn’t like to explain for various reasons – this is just an outlet for these feelings of anger and betrayal. I might even be petty in these feelings, whatever, I don’t care very much at this point. The inspiration for this song comes from “The Other Window” by the post-punk group, Wire, which consists of such lyrics as “When he looked through the window, for the thousandth time, he saw a black horse fighting for its life, fatally tangled, the more it struggled, the more it was strangled, time sped up, he turned away, there was nothing he could do, the other window, had a nicer view”. I feel the general feeling of that song works well for what I’ve been experiencing, even if it’s somewhat melodramatic.

A look beneath

It scares you, doesn’t it?
What’s hiding underneath
Underneath my seemingly harmless face
Why don’t you rip it off?
And reveal me for who I really am?
I’ll snap at you
Toss my acidic breath
Right in your worthless, rotten face
My composure
You tossed it off
And what for?
It made you feel better, doesn’t it?
To exposure my withered face
I hope you burn
And know you look like me
Except like the very definition of decay
At least I try to change it
Whereas you
Yes you, old friend
Don’t even know
Nor care
I’ll see you when the time comes
And you sure know where

Betrayal is the name. Again, not sure what to think of this one either – I feel it has a bit of a better flow, but it still feels kind of choppy, and also like I ran out of descriptive words to use. I think I could use a thesaurus when writing poems, really, although that somewhat ruins the spontaneity that dictates my writing style (though I’m not sure if that’s a good thing).

Torturous habit

Head hits the desk
Head slams on down
Jars me awake
Feel like a clown
Habitual torture
Habitual madness
Can’t make it stop
Can’t make it out
Too much fun
To stay up so late
But if I’m falling apart
Will I ever get a date?

This one’s about my bad sleeping habit, and how it’s kind of not easy to quit. I like the flow of this one better than the others, and the face that it’s not so bitter either.

Bands I listened to today

This video is goofy, but the song is what I’m interested in, progish metal band UFO’s “Too Hot to Handle”. Great, loud, and dirty hard rock riff pushes this song along with some pulsating bass work and steady drumbeat, while the singer shows off his chops with a classic metal voice. Holy crap, the guitar solo on this song is to die for – not only is it super fast, but it doesn’t sacrifice emotional intensity, which is something that can happen with metal bands and their solos when more emphasis is put on their technicality rather than the emotional effect of the notes in the solos. Oh yeah, there’s a closing guitar solo too, what more can you ask for? Ok, so the lyrics aren’t anything to die for, but sometimes depth in lyrics isn’t needed to make a good song or a good band.

One of my favorite songs from The Human League’s smash album “Dare!”; this song’s called “Seconds”. An underlying ominous keyboard beat gives the song a dark tone, while the drum machine keeps a good beat, and a synthesizer provides an epic sounding melody. The music is great and the song is good even if it were just an instrumental, but the lyrics are what really make this song excellent. The lines “It took seconds of your time to take his life”, “the shot that was heard around the world”, and “poor thing, hiding from the sun, waiting for the golden one, waiting for your fame, after the parade has gone” make it clear that the song is written about John F. Kennedy’s assassination, with the “poor thing” line in particular berating Lee Harvey Oswald. To add to the tone of the song, there’s even some synthesized noises meant to sound like a gunshot. Really interesting song, from a band that’s mostly known for it’s two hits “Don’t You Want Me” and “(Keep Feeling) Fascination” – political lyrics like this aren’t something that most would expect from a band that’s associated with 80’s synthpop.

Hailing from New Zealand, Split Enz’s “I See Red”, 1979’s “Frenzy”, is a song that should be synonymous with New Wave. The rhythm of this song is kept frantic with the crazy carnival sound of the keyboards and the distorted guitar riff (which gives it a nice, punky edge), with the bass and drums not really making much of an impact. Tim Finn sings the song with the anxiousness of a bonafide madman, and is supported with the vocals of his younger brother, Neil Finn, giving the vocals a primo harmonized sound. The lyrics aren’t anything special, though the line “squeezed me out of your life, down the drain like molten toothpaste” is a nice use of metaphor, but besides that, they’re about the anger at a failed relationship (getting dumped, basically). Love the piano break about 2/3 through the song, followed by a frenzied guitar solo by Neil Finn. The general bounciness of the band members adds to the song’s tone – no complaining from me here.

Ah, this song brings me back to the days of high school, watching MTV in the morning before school (back when MTV still showed music videos). Chevelle’s “The Red”, from 2002’s “Wonder What’s Next”, is a good metal song. Some brooding bass and simplistic, but powerful, guitar work drive this song along, with a distinct 2000’s metal sound to it. The lyrics really hit me here – “they say freak, when you’re singled out, the red, well it filters through” and “this change, he won’t contain, slip away, to clear your mind” describe what a person with anger issues goes through – “the red” being synonymous for the all-encompassing anger that can occur with such individuals, that can cloud their minds. Having anger issues myself, I definitely take the song personally. The video supports the song well (in that it does actually relate to it), with the singer taking the podium at an anger management meeting, and the crowd slowly going crazy with anger, hitting each other with the chairs in the room. The guitar solo isn’t anything to die for, but fits well with the general rhythm and feel of the song, and the slight screaming from the lead singer up the intensity (whose vocal style strangely enough reminds me of Maynard James Keenan from Tool and A Perfect Circle). The bass player has some nice background vocals that flesh out the vocal portions of the song.

Not a song I listened to at work today, but one I randomly decided to listen to when I got home. Despite my obvious preference for listening to bands with male lead singers, I do like Sinead O’Connor (oh, and she’s Irish too – yay Irish!). Orchestral strings that sound like they’re being made by a mellotron give the song a melancholy quality, and Sinead sings with great feeling and pitch, though does sound somewhat nasally when she sings “to you” during the chorus. This makes me want to check out some more of her stuff – I have a feeling I won’t be disappointed (having previously heard Sinead sing a duet with Matt Johnson of The The).

Collective Soul

Great song by Collective Soul, it’s both rocky and melodic at the same time, and it’s called “Shine” from their 1993 debut album, “Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid”. The lyrics aren’t really introspective or anything, but the singer sings them well. I really love the guitar solo midway through the song. Unfortunately, this song kind of rises above the other songs and is definitely the stand out song – not to say that the other songs on the album are bad, they just don’t have the same punch to them.

Another favorite, this one’s “World I Know” from their 1995 self-titled sophomore album. I’m sure many people that listened to 90’s rock would know this song, “Shine”, and the “December”. Now this is a thinking man’s/woman’s song, that’s for sure. “So I walk up on high, and I step to the edge, to see my world below. And I laugh at myself, as the tears roll down, cause it’s the world I know, yes it’s the world I know”. That lyric there says it all – the song is talking about a person’s revelation that he loves this world and does not want to commit suicide, like he was thinking of. The video makes it even clearer, showing a man that’s depressed that then climbs up on a building and stands on the edge, where he decides not to jump because he realizes he loves this world (love the people walking on the sidewalk mimicking the ants scattering about). It’s a powerful song for someone who’s ever considering suicide. The music does the song justice too, with plenty of strummed acoustic guitar, melodic electric guitar that gives the song a nice edge without being bombastic, and strings. The lyrics are sung with emotion, and the video is also artful in its use of color (blue to reflect the general gloomy atmosphere, and normal colors to reflect a happier atmosphere). All and all, classic ballad of the 90’s in my book.

Speaking of “December”, here it is, and this one’s also full of plenty of acoustic guitar and some more melodic electric guitar, as well as some violin thrown in. The lyrics aren’t too happy, such as: “Why follow me to higher ground? Contagious as you think I am”. They seem to be about someone who’s been betrayed or has a lack of trust (slight cynical sound too), and the anger that comes from that. Overall, another good 90’s ballad.

Surprisingly, though Collective Soul is known mostly for their ballads, their self-titled album actually rocks pretty hard. Here’s an example of that – “Where the River Flows”:

I plan to be posting more often now, as long as I can get in the habit of doing so. Here’s some post I plan on making:

• Offspring videos (Dirty Magic, Self Esteem, Gone Away)
• Cracker (Low), Lynyrd Skynyrd (Saturday Night Special or On the Hunt), Porcupine Tree (Up the Downstair or Radioactive Toy), Chevelle (The Red)
• System of a Down (Toxicity, B.Y.O.B., Hypnotize)
• New poem (written last week) and older ones (middle period)

Some favorite R.E.M. videos/songs and one I wish they would have played

I recently went to see Modest Mouse and R.E.M. in concert on Wednesday of last week, and they were great! Here’s a couple of videos of my favorite songs of theirs they played, and one they didn’t:

One of my favorite songs, called “Fall On Me”, from my favorite album of theirs, 1986’s “Lifes Rich Pageant”. This is probably one of R.E.M.’s first political songs, along with “Cuyahoga” and “The Flowers of Guatemala” from the same album, with this one being about acid rain. They would continue this trend with “Exhuming McCarthy” and “Welcome to the Occupation” from 1987’s Document, “Orange Crush” and “World Leader Pretend” from 1988’s “Green”, and “Ignoreland” from 1992’s “Automatic for the People”. The lyrics are interesting with their message, and Michael Stipe really sings his heart out on this song (along with some nice melodic singing too), with Mike Mills providing great backing vocals, while the music is fitting with the jangly Rickenbacker of Peter Buck. This song was played during the encore, I believe, with The Smiths’ and Modest Mouse’s guitarist Johnny Marr guesting.

One of my favorites from 1985’s “Fables of the Reconstruction”, this song is called “Driver 8″. The lyrics describe the scenery from a train ride, and are fairly enjoyable; Michael Stipe again stretches his voice during the portion with the harmonica (the climax portion). Peter Buck plays an interesting guitar riff on this song – the beginning one that shows up several times throughout the song, and this is interplayed with some melodic strumming. Overall, I think this song, and all of “Fables”, make very good summer listening material. This song was played during the main portion of the concert, and I sure wasn’t expecting it.

Speaking of political songs, this is one of my favorite political songs of R.E.M.’s. The arpeggio guitar playing of Peter Buck, interspersed with acoustic guitar playing (I think) and the hushed vocals of Michael Stipe make this song a great ballad like one. The lyrics apparently deal with the Reagan administration’s counter communism operations, as well as the deaths of those killed by the U.S. backed military government in Guatemala (originally established in 1954 through a coup). The unusual thing about this song is that Peter Buck includes a guitar solo in it – something he rarely did with most of R.E.M.’s 80s songs.

I was really hoping that R.E.M. would play “The Flowers of Guatemala” at the concert (apparently it was played fairly often in the past during tours, though not so much recently – didn’t find this out until after the tour, though), but they sadly didn’t.

The Replacements, Blur, and “Throw it away”

Blarg, I totally wanted to put up a video of The Replacements “Within Your Reach” from their 1983 album Hootenanny, but instead this song of theirs is “Unsatisfied” from their 1984 album Let It Be. YouTube only has a cover version and an overdubbed version of “Within Your Reach”. Nevertheless, I still very much like this song, not so much for the lyrics (which are repetitive) but the emotion Paul Westerberg delivers them with, and the pretty acoustic guitar in it. The whole Let It Be album is a great one, and one that’s probably one of the best punk albums I’ve listened to – there’s some anger present (with “Unsatisfied” and “Answering Machine”), yes, but it’s also got some nice lyrical wit, such as that of “Androgynous” and “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out”. In addition, not all the songs are hard either, such as the catchy riff of the mid-tempo “I Will Dare” and the aforementioned acoustic guitars of “Unsatisfied”.

Very spacey song from Blur’s 1997 self-titled album, this song’s called “Death of a Party”. The dirty guitar riff that quickly turns into feedback, backed by either a guitar riff or bass riff and a spacey sounding organ, is held together by either synthesizer treated drums or a drum machine. The lyrics are kind of repetitive, but sung in a way that adds to the general weird mood of the song. The whole album is great, really, as it’s got a wide array of diversity – it jumps around from country-tinged rock, 2 min pop, drawn-out progressive rock, and even an acoustic ballad. The strange images from Trainspotting add to the general feeling of the song, and the poster’s idea to set the song to images from that movie did very well.

Throw it away

I’ve tried so many times
Attempted myself to death
And what for?
This life of loneliness, unhappiness
Has not changed
My soul feels as black as the night sky
Its emptiness unending
No choice is left for me
Time to throw this life away
I recede into the dark hole
The only place as black as my soul
Never to leave
Never again
Time to live the rest of my life
Secluded in this land of solitude and emptiness
This is the fate this bleak world has given me
Maybe one day I shall change this fate
Emerge from this dark abyss
And turn the world into the monstrosity of my life
Then will all be equal to me
And know what it’s like to feel my pain

I’m not really a fan of this poem, more angst and repetitive imagery, blah. Luckily, this is the last poem of mine from what I call my middle period, or my depressive period. My life got a lot more interesting and I had more people to talk to in my current period, so it’s not quite as repetitive or drab.