Machine and Soul

Infobox Album
Name = Machine and Soul
Type = Album
Artist = Gary Numan


Released = September 1992
Recorded = Late 1991 - Mid 1992
Genre = Funk, pop rock, dance-pop, industrial rock, Dark Wave
Length = 47:09
Label = Numa
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|1.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:g9fpxqwjldje link]
Last album = "Outland"
(1991)
This album = "Machine and Soul"
(1992)
Next album = "Sacrifice"
(1994)
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternate cover
Type = album


Lower caption = 1999 UK reissue cover Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternate cover
Type = album


Lower caption = 1998 U.S. reissue cover

"Machine and Soul" is the 13th studio album, and 11th under his own name, by electronic music pioneer Gary Numan, released in 1992. It is known for being a career low-point for Numan, released primarily in an attempt to pay off the artist's debts during the commercial nadir of his career. "Machine and Soul" was the culmination of Numan's bid to make his music more "radio-friendly," and Numan's final album before his musical style would turn in a much darker and more industrial direction.

Numan's two previous studio albums, 1988's "Metal Rhythm" and 1991's "Outland", had been released through IRS Records. However, Numan's relationship with the record label had become strained, leading to Numan quitting IRS and reactivating his own label, Numa Records, through which he had released his studio albums from 1984 until 1986. He continued to release albums under the label until closing it down permanently after "Sacrifice".

Overview

Musically, "Machine and Soul" carried on with the synth-rock/funk style of "Metal Rhythm" and "Outland"; in fact, the two Prince covers, "U Got the Look" and "1999" (the latter of which was relegated to B-side status), were recorded during the "Metal Rhythm" sessions and at one point were set for inclusion on "Outland". Like "Outland", "Machine and Soul" features movie vocal samples (for example, a line from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" can be heard at the beginning of the album). However, Numan strove for a much more commercial sound with "Machine and Soul", influenced by the work of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as well as by Prince. In many of the album's songs, Numan's voice is almost lost under overproduction, excessive instrumentation, bouncy rhythms, and overpowering female backing vocals; the album's first single, "Emotion", is rather obviously influenced by two David Bowie songs, "Fame" and "Fashion". However, the overt opportunism of the music is arguably offset by Numan's typically dystopian, poisonous and emotionally-desolate lyrics. A decade after "Machine and Soul"'s release, Numan had little difficulty describing his feelings for the album:

Numan later said that in 1993, "Nothing was right...That music, those clothes, that haircut. Imagine falling off a ship in the ocean, knowing if you stop swimming you're finished. That's what I was doing then. I was trying not to die." [interview in "Uncut" #130 (March 2008), p.21]

"Machine and Soul" reached #42 on the UK album charts. Three singles were released from the album: "Emotion", which did not chart; "The Skin Game", which reached #68; and the title track, which reached #72.

Over a year after the album's release, Numan embarked on the 14-date "Dream Corrosion Tour" of October-November 1993, from which the live album "Dream Corrosion" was released. Recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo, London on 6 November 1993, and released in August 1994, "Dream Corrosion" reached only #86 on the UK Album charts, however, it has been cited as the template with which Numan relaunched his career, preparing him for his return-to-form album "Sacrifice" in 1994. With "Sacrifice", Numan dispensed with the dance rhythms and female backing vocals, in favour of a back-to-basics approach, more introspective lyrics, and a darker musical sound.

Three songs from "Machine and Soul" (the title track, "Emotion" and "U Got the Look") were included on the 1996 remix album, "Techno Army featuring Gary Numan".

"Machine and Soul" was reissued in 1998 in the US and 1999 in the UK. The album's original sleeve was discarded for both releases. Both editions featured entirely new covers, utilizing photographs from Numan's "Metal Rhythm" era.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gary Numan except where noted.

Original release

# "Machine and Soul" – 5:56
# "Generator" (Numan, Kipper) – 6:14
# "The Skin Game" – 6:18
# "Poison" – 5:05
# "I Wonder" – 4:35
# "Emotion" – 5:37
# "Cry" – 4:42
# "U Got the Look" (Prince) – 4:01
# "Love Isolation" – 4:41

Bonus tracks on 1998 US reissue

# "Hanoi" ("Emotion" b-side) – 2:07
# "In a Glasshouse" ("Emotion" b-side) – 4:13
# "Wonder Eye" (demo version of "I Wonder") – 4:04
# "Cry Baby" (demo version of "Cry") – 4:21
# "The Hauntings" ("Machine and Soul" b-side) – 4:09
# "1999" ("Machine and Soul" b-side) (Prince)– 4:39
# "Dark Mountain" ("The Skin Game" b-side) – 3:13

Bonus tracks on 1999 UK reissue

# "Hanoi" – 2:07
# "Dark Mountain" – 3:13
# "The Hauntings" – 4:09
# "1999" (Prince) – 4:39
# "Cry Baby" – 4:21
# "Wonder Eye" – 4:04

Machine and Soul extended (1993)

# "Machine and Soul" (same as Mix 3 on "Machine and Soul" CD single) — 7:33
# "Generator" (Numan, Kipper) — 9:51
# "The Skin Game" (same as Lycra Mix on "The Skin Game" 12" single) — 7:41
# "Poison" — 6:39
# "I Wonder" — 6:33
# "Emotion" — 8:00
# "Cry" — 7:31
# "U Got The Look" (Prince) — 3:57
# "Love Isolation" — 6:30
# "Dark Mountain" — 3:09
# "The Hauntings" — 4:06
# "In a Glasshouse" — 4:12
# "Hanoi" — 2:03

References

* [http://wm05.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:g9fpxqwjldje All Music Guide]