Gary Numan 1988 - 1989: Signing with IRS Records, ‘Metal Rhythm’, ‘The Skin Mechanic’ and The Fuckery Begins

I originally wrote this piece of work in my notes app in late 2017.

Back then, my reasons for even bothering largely came down to the fact that there's little to no coverage of Gary Numan's 'middle-period' work online whether in reviews or general coverage, specifically the 1984-2000 live albums.

I thought I could rectify that issue, since I had copies of not only Gary's 1998 autobiography 'Praying To The Aliens' but 'Electric Pioneer Redux' and 'Gary Numan Tracks' as well as a strong liking for him as an artist. 

Initially, I just wanted to write reviews of the live albums that pointed to how strong and versatile a live performer Numan was, even in the most difficult years of his career.

I soon realised that I would have to provide a fair bit of context for each album before giving my thoughts on each live album.

The reviews developed into providing a broad outline of some of Gary's more overlooked works and their historical context, later accompanied by my own thoughts on the music and situations.

This was the third piece I wrote after the 'White Noise' and 'Ghost' articles. The former was a fairly straight review while the latter paved the way for all subsequent pieces.

I also started adding my own bits of commentary, mainly to make me feel a bit more comfortable and like less of a stuffy music critic but also to provide a little more entertainment value to some otherwise very dry pieces.

This is where I think the series really hit its stride. 

Aside from adding images and captions, the following post is 99.9% unchanged aside from a few grammatical tweaks.

Disclaimer: I am definitely not a proper critic. I'm just a fan trying to spread knowledge and laughs. Any facts I've provided can be readily found online or in any of the books I've mentioned.

Anyway, here we go:

So, after the tragic but not entirely unexpected demise of Numa Records in 1987/8, Gary decided to sign up to IRS records, who immediately believed they could salvage his flagging career within a matter of months.

They could not.

Metal Rhythm

Seeing as by this point, Gary Numan was entering one of the lowest periods of his career, it may be surprising for some that ‘Metal Rhythm’ was probably his most cohesive set of songs since ‘I, Assassin’ in 1982.

At an even 10 tracks and lasting 42 minutes, it was a more succinct affair than more recent attempts where tracks might meander for over seven minutes apiece. Coupled with a largely more pointed lyrical bent, ‘Metal Rhythm’ was a relative return to form, with the song quality being far more consistent than the lopsided ‘Strange Charm’. Where ‘Strange Charm’ was half good-to-great tracks and half filler-at-best, ‘Metal Rhythm’ was 80% decent material and a couple of weak numbers (the go-nowhere attempt at an anthem ‘America’ and the whining ‘Cold Metal Rhythm’).

Although cohesion doesn’t strictly translate to quality here, ‘Metal Rhythm’s commercial production and reliance on brassy synth hooks and tinny percussion takes the punch out of the lyrics at times.

Admittedly, Gary continuing to pursue a more radio-friendly sound and writing increasingly antagonistic lyrics does result in an oddly compelling listen. Tracks like ‘This Is Emotion’ and ‘Young Heart’ showcase Gary’s ability to marry poisoned lyrical outlooks with foot-tapping rhythms and riffs.

Lyrically, ‘Metal Rhythm’ was a much more aggressive prospect than previous releases, although the success rate was more miss than hit.

Where tracks such as ‘This Is Emotion’ and ‘Voix’ were ripe with aggression and sarcastic wit, others such as ‘New Anger’ and ‘Devious’ fell completely flat, the latter two relying on the non-threatening refrain ‘do you want it?’ 

Want what? 

A common theme is betrayal and anger, being the topic of over half the album. Whether it’s Gary’s falling out with former support act Hohokam (the Prince-lite ‘Respect’), returning to the ‘Dance’ well of embittered ex-lovers (‘Devious’), or lashing out at the BBC (‘Cold Metal Rhythm’) the album does seethe at times, despite the tinny production and spotty lyrical quality.

After Numan’s reinvention in the mid 1990s, only ‘Voix’ survived into future live sets and even then with a completely new arrangement.

‘Metal Rhythm’ notably received a lukewarm-to-positive reception from the press, a stark contrast to the critical lashings Gary often received early in his career.

I'm pretty sure a leather jacket was a prerequisite for any pop star by 1988.

(Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14652415)

The Fuckery Begins

Few of ‘Metal Rhythm’s problems can be attributed to IRS, who had not yet begun the truly astronomical levels of interference yet to come. In fact, Gary had recorded ‘Metal Rhythm’ in practically its entirety before signing up with the label.

Beyond shortening the title from ‘Cold Metal Rhythm’ (it was too depressing, apparently), the UK release was relatively unmolested.

The US release instead saw ‘Metal Rhythm’ released as ‘New Anger’ in 1989. Besides changing title (it’s so edgy), the tracks ‘Hunger’ and ‘Young Heart’ were excised and replaced with ‘A Child With The Ghost’ and a William Orbit remix of ‘My Dying Machine’, both being originally from 1984’s ‘Berserker’. 

Producer Andy Piercy was also commissioned to do some remixing, and a superior edit of ‘Devious’ replaces the original version.

I don't know why they made the album blue, but this would be Gary's last US release until Cleopatra Records released 'Exile' in 1998. These two things are probably unrelated.

(Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14652946)

There is some logic to this move, in theory. Since Gary had had no US representation since about 1982, it would only make sense to have his first US release come with a little bit of variety. 

On the other hand, the new track order was not good and the added material doesn’t fit thematically with the rest of the album. The remix of ‘My Dying Machine’ is a notable improvement over the limp original, adding some guitar licks and stripped-down beats that aren’t too far removed from the rest of the album.

Andy Piercy also worked on a remix of ‘New Anger’, which was ultimately not used on either album release and has not yet seen an official release, being absent from the 1999 CD reissue of ‘Metal Rhythm’.

That said, the 1999 CD reissue does collect most of the tracks of the period as bonus tracks. The ’New Anger’ B-side ‘I Don’t Believe’ and eerie instrumental outtake ‘Children’ are highlights. The only missing tracks are the live tracks used as B-sides, which can be found ‘uncut’ on the live albums ‘Ghost’ and ‘The Skin Mechanic’.

New Anger, Same Old Problems

When it came to single releases, IRS didn’t have a clue.

Wonder Woman (2017)

Rather than picking one of the poppier numbers (‘Young Heart’ or ‘Devious’ would have fit right in on the late 1980s UK charts) IRS went ahead and picked ‘New Anger’ as the lead single. Gary later called IRS out as ultimately clueless as to his situation:

“I think IRS expected to have success with me straight away… Steve [IRS UK Head] was full of it, the song was going to be a big hit, it would do this, that and the other. He forgot about that in October when it reached 46 in the UK charts. We were up in his office a few weeks after the release and he said, 'Of course, you chose the wrong single there, we never wanted that one at all.' 'Hello, 'I thought, 'Earth calling Tannet.' He flatly denied that he'd chosen the single and danced around his office. It was record company bullshit supreme.”

Already an oddity on the album, being the only track resembling a conventional rock song, ‘New Anger’ bombed on the charts and reached no higher than any of Gary’s singles from his own label. 

‘New Anger’ got as high as #46 on the charts before the old problems of zero airplay saw it drop right back down again.

Perhaps realising that they had vastly underestimated Gary’s problems with getting airplay, IRS quickly commissioned a poppy remix of ‘America’ by Andy Piercy as the second single in some vain hope of rescuing the album.

Unfortunately it was too little, too late. As well as being probably the weakest track on the album (Gary later recalled “I don’t really think it makes much sense at all, it was just thinking out loud. It was really disjointed and very difficult to understand and as such it isn’t a particularly good lyric”), the track was released in December 1988 and didn’t stand a chance in the Christmas market.

Besides that, the remix added little besides a set of grating backing vocals over the chorus and some irritating radio chatter during the bridge.

‘America’ reached #49 on the charts.

The Metal Rhythm Tour and ‘The Skin Mechanic’

So, with ‘Metal Rhythm’ making it to #48 on the charts, eleven places higher than ‘Strange Charm’, Gary Numan launched a supporting UK tour.

Despite the album arguably being his best of what would later be dubbed as the “wasteland period” (1984 - 1992), only four tracks were taken from the new album.

‘Respect’, ‘Hunger’, ’New Anger’ and ‘Young Heart’ all fit comfortably alongside the rest of the material, and the full setlist was a bit more adventurous than the previous year’s ‘Exhibition Tour’, the most notable example being ’My Breathing’ as the closing number.

The Metal Rhythm Tour yielded one highlights-only live CD, marketed as ‘The Skin Mechanic’, the title coming from a lyric in ‘Hunger’, there was also a video release with an identical track listing.

To put it simply, I think this is Gary Numan’s worst official live album.

Not only was the setlist light on new material despite it being relatively well-suited to the live arena (as of 2017 only one track, the closing ballad ‘Don’t Call My Name’ has never been played live), the track selection was heavily biased towards featuring the old hits.

The resulting CD features passable renditions of ‘Metal Rhythm’ tracks and the most passionless renditions of old material possible.

‘Cars’ and ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ in particular lumber along, the band constantly sounding like they’re attempting to catch up with themselves.

Gary also messes up the lyrics on ‘Respect’, derailing the rather personal and aggressive lyrical content.

Elsewhere, tracks that require reliance on backing singers such as ‘Call Out The Dogs’ and ‘I Can’t Stop’, chug along at a dreary rate thanks to said singers sounding like they’re on the verge of sleep.

The overall sound quality is passable, but the ‘Skin Mechanic’ again suffers from the same issues that plagued ‘White Noise’ and ‘Ghost’. If you thought that those albums suffered from trying to make new wave tracks sound like proto-industrial funk, then wait until you hear how those tracks sound like when played like they’re in a Prince-themed karaoke bar. The sound mixing is pretty dire in places, cutting the audience out of most of the recording except for applause to transition between the highlights, leaving the live performances sounding oddly sterile.

This particular rendition of ‘We Are Glass’ sounds like it was played on the fucking spoons. 

One question remains:

Why on God’s green earth would you carve up a 90-minute concert to a single disc?

I mean, you came this far. What's another CD at this point?

At this point, Gary Numan was well out of the public eye, being more notable for his aerobatics than his musical output. Indeed, his previous live release was fan club-exclusive. Maybe IRS was convinced that the live material was good enough to make an impact on the charts, but didn’t have the confidence to release the entire concert even though ‘White Noise’ had actually outperformed its parent album on the UK charts and that was a complete concert recording.

Maybe, seeing as CD was still yet to fully overtake vinyl as the de facto audio format, IRS wanted to hedge their bets. Considering their woeful mishandling of Gary’s studio output, this would be a cruel joke.

Or maybe they wanted to emulate the “collector’s item” appeal of the original ‘Living Ornaments’ vinyl releases, although that would go against IRS’s initial plan to get Gary back into the UK charts. Whatever the reasoning, the presentation does nothing but harm any potential market appeal the album had in the first place.

The material is not sequenced chronologically, giving no accurate impression of the concerts to outsiders, likely limiting the release’s appeal to concert attendees who would want a memento of the experience.

‘The Skin Mechanic’ got to #55 in the charts. 

Going back to comparisons with ‘Living Ornaments’ for a moment, both ‘Living Ornaments ’79’ and ‘The Skin Mechanic’ were reissued in 1998 and 1999 respectively, in order to capitalise on Gary’s recovering career and renewed media interest. However, where ‘Living Ornaments ’79’ restored the full 21-song concert from the original master tapes, ‘The Skin Mechanic’ remained in its one-disc incarnation, with the track order slightly shuffled for no discernible reason.
The reissue does come with an informative set of liner notes from longtime biographer Steve Malins, which makes this the definitive version of the release.

The Skin Mechanic Tour - Touring for a live album

Nevertheless, the release of ‘The Skin Mechanic’ in October of 1989 was motive enough for Gary to embark on another tour, in support of the live album culled from his previous tour.

Other possible motives for his reluctance to record more material under IRS could be their cack-handed attempts at ‘improving’ his musical output, and this level of interference would only worsen with the belated release of ‘Outland’ in 1991.

Another notable factor was the release of ’Automatic’, the collaborative album with Bill Sharpe. Released a full four years after its first single, ‘Change Your Mind’, the album predictably sank when released.

‘Automatic’ was promoted by two further singles, ‘No More Lies’ and ‘I’m On Automatic’, which charted at #34 and #44 respectively. Since the album was released on Polydor Records and not IRS, this moderate success didn’t do Numan’s relations with the label much favours.

The 1989 Skin Mechanic Tour didn’t receive any full official release, despite the setlist now featuring six cuts from ‘Metal Rhythm’ (‘America’, ‘This Is Emotion’ and ‘Devious’ replaced ‘Young Heart’) and the live debut of the ‘Strange Charm’ ballad ‘This Is Love’. These differences aside, the setlist was largely unchanged. 

The 1989 Tour received a VHS release in 1990, although this was also a “highlights-only” affair, and also confusingly titled ‘The Skin Mechanic’.

‘The Skin Mechanic’ (the 1989 album) would remain Gary’s sole live album with IRS, with subsequent delays in recording follow-up album ‘Outland’ putting to rest any chances of a US tour. It wouldn’t be until the US Leg of the Exile tour in 1998 that Gary Numan would perform in America.

The 1988 - early 1991 period remains one of the lesser-documented live periods in Gary’s career, with most live recordings of this period all being third party releases of dubious quality and legal status. Most subsequent live releases are just ‘semi-official’ repackaging of either version of ’The Skin Mechanic’.

Most full concert recordings from this period are extremely hard to find bootlegs and online footage uploads are unfortunately of poor to middling quality.

2017 saw two releases dating from the 1989 Skin Mechanic Tour. Unfortunately, like the official release, they were highlights-only affairs that did not give listeners an accurate representation of Gary’s setlist at the time, both being direct reissues of the 1990 release, with no added features.

The Fuckery Continues

Although this was not yet the lowest point of Gary Numan’s career, the ‘Metal Rhythm’ period remains a period of interest for Numan’s relationship with IRS records, which would sadly only deteriorate further with the release of his next album: ‘Outland’.