Gary Numan Strange Charm

For the first time in nearly half a decade, Numan, to a large if not total extent, recaptured the sense of compelling darkness at the heart of his music on Strange Charm. Though Numan himself had a difficult time with the recording of the album, speaking in later years about his struggles with then-new technology and how best to make it work for his music, the end results often justify the expense of effort. For the first time in a long while, Numan actively uses silence and less-crowded arrangements to create a more dramatic impact - it lets the songs breathe a bit more, while further foregrounding his vocals. Flat-out successes such as "The Sleeproom," with its haunting, quite beautiful chorus, and the concluding ballad "This Is Love," with heavily echoed piano and singing leading the way, show how his decision worked wonders…

Strange Charm is the eighth solo studio album by the English musician Gary Numan, originally released in November 1986, it was Numan's third release on his self-owned Numa Records label. The album was not released in the United States until 1999 when it was issued in a digitally remastered form with five bonus tracks by Cleopatra Records.

I feel this album to be one of Numan's best; sure, it's not Replicas or Pleasure Principle, but fans of an ever-evolving artist have to keep up with him in taste and style, which this album clearly has great value in. 1983's Warriors was a mislead and equally misleading album that paired Numan's signature style with dancier beats and instrumentation; for me, it misses the mark. Berserker was a great album, though found Numan in the same strange place that Warriors was trying to get out of.

Replicas was his first number 1 album. This Replicas Live DVD was filmed on the night of his 50th birthday at the Manchester Academy and so was THE show of the tour to have a ticket for. It was an amazing night. The DVD contains every song played that night including the three encore, non Replicas, songs: Cars, Everyday I Die and A Prayer For The Unborn. The 2008 Replicas tour was put together so that Gary Numan could celebrate two important anniversaries, 30 years as a professional musician and his 50th birthday, with the fans, the people that have made his long career possible and given him the life he's been able to enjoy. It was felt that the songs played on the tour should be taken from the 1979 Replicas album, and those associated with it, as that was the album that launched the Gary Numan career.

Razormaid Records was formed in the mid-80s by Joseph Watt and Art Maharg in San Francisco, California as a music service for club DJs. Their goal was to offer something other than just the regular versions of the pieces of music that everyone had. They created their own special versions of songs, editing and occasionally remixing the hottest club tunes being played (or about to be played) around the world.

Razormaid Records was formed in the mid-80s by Joseph Watt and Art Maharg in San Francisco, California as a music service for club DJs. Their goal was to offer something other than just the regular versions of the pieces of music that everyone had. They created their own special versions of songs, editing and occasionally remixing the hottest club tunes being played (or about to be played) around the world.

Razormaid Records was established in the mid-80s and Joseph Watt Art Maharg in San Francisco, California as a music service club DJs. Their goal was to offer something more than just the regular version of the musical compositions, all of which were at home. They created their own special version of the song, editing and sometimes making a remix of the hottest club tunes played (or was going to play) throughout the world.