Gary Numan ‎ The Pleasure Principle 1979 Atco Records Orig. Vinyl LP w/Insert

$

60

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The Pleasure Principle Studio album by  Gary Numan Released 7 September 1979 Recorded Mid–1979 Studio Marcus Music AB (London, England) Genre

• Synth-pop 
• new wave 
• electronica

1. "Cars"
   Released: 21 August 1979
2. "Complex"
   Released: 16 November 1979

The Pleasure Principle is the debut solo studio album by English new wave musician Gary Numan, released on 7 September 1979 by Beggars Banquet Records. The album came about six months after Replicas (1979), his second and final studio album with the band Tubeway Army. The Pleasure Principle peaked at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart.

Recording

Following Replicas, Numan recruited a permanent drummer and a keyboard player and demoed an album's worth of new material in April 1979. This was before the single "Are "Friends" Electric?" from the previous album had been released. A second session that yielded four further songs followed some weeks later. The day after "Are "Friends" Electric?" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, Numan and his band recorded four of the new songs in a session for John Peel, credited to Gary Numan and dropping the group name Tubeway Army. By the time Replicas reached number one on the albums chart The Pleasure Principle was being recorded at Marcus Music Studio, London.

Composition and release

The Pleasure Principle has been described as featuring synth-pop, new wave, and electronica throughout. Numan completely abandoned electric guitar on the album. This change, coupled with frequent use of synthetic percussion, produced the most purely electronic and robotic sound of his career. In addition to the Minimoog synthesizer employed on his previous album, Numan made liberal use of the Polymoog keyboard, particularly its distinctive "Vox Humana" preset. Other production tricks included copious amounts of flanging, phasing and reverb, plus the unusual move of including solo viola and violin parts in the arrangements.

Lyrically, the album continued the science fiction-themes of the previous album. While not a theme album the way Replicas was, Numan has described the songs as "more of a collection of thoughts I'd had about the way technology was evolving and where it would take us."

Notable tracks included "Airlane", the lead-off instrumental; "Metal", sung from the perspective of an android longing to be human; "Films", later acknowledged as an important influence on the U.S. hip hop scene; "M.E.", standing for "Mechanical Engineering" and told from the perspective of the last machine on Earth, the electronic ballad "Complex", a UK No. 6 single; and "Cars", a worldwide synth-pop hit. "Cars" reached No. 9 in the U.S. and No. 1 in Canada, helping make The Pleasure Principle Numan's strongest North American showing, but lack of a strong commercial follow-up resulted in him being tagged as a one-hit wonder there.

Title and cover image

The title of the album was taken from the surrealist painting The Pleasure Principle by René Magritte. Subtitled (A portrait of Edward James), it depicts a seated figure whose arms rest on a wooden table upon which lies a small stone, and a ball of light obliterating the figure's head. The cover image of Numan's album is an adaptation of the painting with Numan seated in the same position dressed in a similar suit, but replacing the natural materials (wood and stone) with shiny and glowing artificial objects and futuristic shapes. According to Numan it was "a clear nod towards technology. Where Magritte had a rock on a desk, for example, I had a glowing purple Perspex pyramid."

Critical reception

Robert Christgau of The Village Voice described The Pleasure Principle as "Metal Machine Music goes easy-listening," continuing: "This time he's singing about robots, engineers, and isolation. In such a slight artist, these things make all the difference."

In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Greg Prato opined that The Pleasure Principle was distinguished by the consistent quality of its songs and the presence of drummer Cedric Sharpley, who "adds a whole new dimension with his powerful percussion work." Prato concluded, "If you had to own just one Gary Numan album, The Pleasure Principle would be it."

Track listing

All tracks written by Gary Numan, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Airlane" – 3:18
2. "Metal" – 3:32
3. "Complex" – 3:12
4. "Films" – 4:09
5. "M.E." – 5:37

Side two

6. "Tracks" – 2:51
7. "Observer" – 2:53
8. "Conversation" – 7:36
9. "Cars" – 3:58
10. "Engineers" – 4:01