By the release of their second album,
Replicas,
Gary Numan was the undisputed focal point and leader of icy electro-punkers Tubeway Army. And the move proved to be massively successful back home in the U.K., where both the album and the single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" topped the charts. The band had made a conscious effort to streamline the sound heard on its 1978 self-titled debut -- the distorted guitar riffs were played on Moog synthesizers instead, and
Numan had perfected his faux-space-age persona. And the paranoia that is very evident in the lyrics and vocals on
Numan's next release, The Pleasure Principle, can be detected on
Replicas. Another near-perfect album by the band, highlights are many -- "Me! I Disconnect from You," "The Machman," "You Are in My Vision," and one of the most underrated new wave/synth-driven compositions of the whole era, the chilling ballad "Down in the Park." And out of all the
Gary Numan/Beggars Banquet reissues,
Replicas contains the strongest bonus tracks, such as never heard outtakes from the recording sessions, including "The Crazies," "Only a Downstat," and the B-side to the original "Are 'Friends' Electric?" single, "We Are So Fragile." [Note: In addition to bonus tracks, all of the
Gary Numan/Begggars Banquet re-releases contain classic photographs and informative liner notes by
Numan biographer Steve Malins.] ~ Greg Prato