Pure (Gary Numan album)

Infobox Album | Name = Pure
Type = Album
Artist = Gary Numan


Released = November 7, 2000
Recorded = Alien Studios, London 2000
Genre = Industrial rock
Industrial metal
Gothic rock
Length = 55:15
Label = Eagle
Producer = Gary Numan, Sulpher
Reviews =
*Allmusic rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kifwxqr0ldae~T1 link]
*Canoe.ca (unfavourable) [http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/N/Numan_Gary/AlbumReviews/2001/03/16/771548.html link]
*"The Guardian" rating|3|5 [http://www.guardian.co.uk/friday_review/story/0,,377785,00.html 2000]
*"NME" (2/10) [http://www.nme.com/reviews/gary-numan/3668 2000]
*PopMatters (favourable) [http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/n/numangary-pure.shtml link]
Last album = "Exile"
(1997)
This album = "Pure"
(2000)
Next album = "Jagged"
(2006) |

"Pure" is a 2000 album by Gary Numan, the follow-up to 1997's "Exile".

Music and lyrics

Lyrically, "Pure" was seen as continuing the composer’s attacks on Christian dogma but in a somewhat more personal fashion than on "Exile". [ [http://www.atheistfoundation.org.au/atheismandmusic.htm "Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc": "Atheism and Music"] ] Many criticswho|date=August 2008 considered it Numan’s most aggressive album musically, with its prominent guitar work, as well as one of his strongest vocally. The recording featured an expanded group of collaborators after the largely one-man efforts of "Sacrifice" (1994) and "Exile". The Sulpher team of Rob Holliday and Monti contributed guitar and drums, respectively, as well as keyboards and additional production.

The opening/title song was typical of most tracks on the album, beginning with ethereal strings and piano effects that gave way to an industrial metal guitar riff before breaking into a thunderous chorus. It was described by Numan as an attempt to explore the mind of a rapist and murderer. [ [http://www.kaos2000.net/interviews/garynuman/ "KAOS2000 Magazine" interview] ] "Walking With Shadows" started with a scenario similar to the early Tubeway Army song "The Life Machine", that of a man in a coma, but one who, rather than wishing to return to his loved ones, wanted his loved ones to join him. "My Jesus", "Listen to My Voice" and "Rip" expanded upon the atheistic/heretical themes that were introduced on "Sacrifice" and which dominated "Exile". "I Can’t Breathe" inhabited a world similar to "Sacrifice"’s "Deadliner", that of a waking nightmare. "Fallen" was the composer's first instrumental in a number of years, full of distorted effects. "A Prayer for the Unborn" and "Little Invitro" were relatively gentler numbers inspired by personal tragedy, ["KAOS2000 Magazine" interview] specifically the recent miscarriages suffered by Numan's wife Gemma and the couple's many unsuccessful IVF attempts up until that time. [ [http://breaking.tcm.ie/2003/09/24/story114669.html "Irish Examiner" article] ]

"Pure"'s style was compared to that of other industrial/gothic acts, such as Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, who had themselves acknowledged Numan's earlier influence on their own music. In fact, the title song "Pure" is very similar both musically (in the intro) and lyrically as Nine Inch Nails' song "Sanctified" from the album Pretty Hate MachineFact|date=February 2008. Whilst some critics and fans professed themselves weary of a third record apparently obsessed with (anti) religious themes, others such as "The Sunday Times" described "Pure" as Numan’s best album since his classic 1979/80 period.

Promotion and release

Numan toured extensively in support of the new album, captured in the "Scarred" live recording issued in 2003. A number of the tracks were also remixed for the "Hybrid" collection, released the same year. Unlike the three previous albums, no 'Extended' version of "Pure" was ever officially made available, though a bootleg of dubious authenticity exists. The only single, "Rip", was released 18 months after the album; it reached number 29 in the UK charts, making it Numan’s first new single to hit the Top 40 since "No More Lies" with Shakatak’s Bill Sharpe in 1988.

Reception

"Pure" has received mixed reviews. Writing in "NME" in October 2000, music journalist Noel Gardner described the album as "Pure" [...] ends up a mere testament to Numan's bloated vanity; impeccably produced, yet wincingly self-important and wholly charmless". [cite journal|last=Gardner|first=Noel|date=2000-10-25|title=Gary Numan : Pure|journal=NME|issn=0028-6362|url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/gary-numan/3668|accessdate=2008-08-07] Darryl Sterdan, when reviewing the album for Canoe.ca, wrote that Numan's style copied Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor and described Numan's singing as "whispering like Marilyn Manson and yelping like Reznor about pain, isolation and sacrifice". [cite web|url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/N/Numan_Gary/AlbumReviews/2001/03/16/771548.html|title=Album Review: Gary Numan: Pure|last=Sterdan|first=Darryl|date=2001-03-16|publisher=Canoe.ca|accessdate=2008-08-07] Sterdan went on to say, "Numan admits these brooding electro-goth pouts and tantrums were inspired and influenced by U.S. electro-metal. He gets one point for honesty, but none for originality or even timeliness -- Rip, Torn and Fallen sound like the cliche dreck Trentoids were churning out en masse in '96. It didn't work then, and it doesn't work now. Especially for a guy like Numan who can do so much better."

Writing in "The Guardian", Maddy Costa also described Numan as sounding like Manson and Reznor, but said "nobody quite emulates him". [cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/friday_review/story/0,,377785,00.html|title=Pop CD releases|last=Costa|first=Maddy|date=2000-10-06|work=The Guardian|accessdate=2008-08-07] Liana Jonas, reviewing the album for Allmusic, says, "Pure is good, dark mood music, seasoned with menacing basslines, electronic crashes and spikes, and slow-grinding guitars. It's an effective pairing -- ghostly voice coupled with industrialized music; oftentimes this genre features scream-singing." [cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kifwxqr0ldae~T1|title=Pure > Review|last=Jonas|first=Liana|publisher=Allmusic|accessdate=2008-08-07] PopMatters review of the album writtn by Wilson Neate said, "Pure" is Gary Numan's richest, most powerful and most aggressive work in years." [cite web|url=http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/n/numangary-pure.shtml|title=Gary Numan: Pure|last=Neate|first=Wilson|publisher=PopMatters|accessdate=2008-08-07]

As with other Numan albums released since his successes of 1979 and 1980, "Pure" failed to make an impression on the UK Albums Chart where it only reached number 58 and only stayed on the charts for one week.

Track listing

All songs written by Gary Numan, except where noted.
#"Pure" – 5:08
#"Walking With Shadows" – 5:52
#"Rip" – 5:06
#"One Perfect Lie" – 4:35
#"My Jesus" – 5:45
#"Fallen" – 2:31
#"Listen to My Voice" – 5:12
#"A Prayer for the Unborn" – 5:43
#"Torn" – 5:10
#"Little Invitro" – 4:28
#"I Can't Breathe" (Numan, Rob Holliday, Monti) – 5:45

Musicians

* Gary Numan – Guitar, Keyboards, Programming, vocals
* Richard Beasley – drums
* Steve Harris – Guitar
* Rob Holliday – Guitar, Keyboards
* Monti – Drums, Keyboards, Programming

Notes

References

* Paul Goodwin (2004). "Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide to Gary Numan".