Berserker (Gary Numan album)
Encyclopedia
Berserker is the eighth studio album, and sixth under his own name, by electronic music
pioneer Gary Numan
, released in 1984. It was his first album to be released under Numan's own record label, Numa Records.
had ended with the release of Warriors
, and disillusioned with record companies, Numan decided to create his own record label, Numa Records, in order to give himself full control over his recordings, production work and marketing.
Freed from demands of an outside record company, Numan could take the music on his new album into a new and harder direction. The album was named after a series of science-fiction novels
by Fred Saberhagen
, which Numan had read at school. For the album itself, Numan was concerned with creating a distinct atmosphere:
Berserker was far removed from the electro-funk stylings of Warriors (and, indeed, the fluid, fretless bass stylings of Numan's previous three albums), instead presenting a more hard rock
-like sound, combined with an abundant use of sampling
. Heavy-metal-like riffs and guitar sounds were a lot more aggressive than on the preceding albums, and the electric bass contrasted with the heavy guitar sound. Numan also decided to use sound as a percussion, in lieu of conventional percussive instruments. The distinctive sound of the PPG Wave
synthesiser was introduced on this album, developing memorable synth riffs; the dream-like female backing vocals were still fully embraced from Warriors. Saxophones were infrequently used on the album, along with the viola that had last been featured on Telekon
. Lyrically, the album has a haunting, oppressive theme with several references to God throughout. The poignant track "A Child with the Ghost" was Numan's tribute to his friend and former bassist Paul Gardiner
, who died in February 1984 from a deliberate heroin overdose. The Industrial undertones of the album would be more fully explored on Numan's follow-up album, The Fury
(1985).
For the visual look of the new album, Numan wanted something completely different from the black jumpsuits, grey coats, and black leather that had formed his visual look up until that that point. Instead he appeared on the cover of the new album (and during the subsequent tour) as a white-skinned, white-clad "Iceman" with blue makeup and hair, resulting in one the most striking looks of his career.
The title track was released as a single in October 1984, a month ahead of the album, but it only made it to #32 on the UK charts, making it his worst-charting single yet alongside "Sister Surprise" from the preceding album Warriors. The album itself was released in November 1984, but only managed a lowly #45 in the UK charts, making it both Numan's lowest-charting album by that point and his first album to miss the UK top 30. In chart terms, Berserker was outperformed by The Plan
, an album of early Numan material released by his former record label Beggars Banquet in September 1984 that reached #29. "My Dying Machine" was released as the second and final single off Berserker in December of the same year and peaked at #66. The album is now out of print and a basic second hand 9 track release will generally cost no less than 15 pounds.
The album was not released in the United States
until 1998 when Cleopatra Records
issued all Numa Records-era Numan albums with altered artworks and additional bonus tracks. The Berserker reissue featured four bonus tracks, including extended mixes of the title track and "My Dying Machine". The artwork used a different typeface from the original and the colours were slightly more purple-tinted than on the original. The rear artwork uses a unique composite from the original Numa CD (first issue). The booklet contains the lyrics together with live photos (also on the inner tray) taken in the Edinburgh Playhouse in 1984.
In 1999 the album was reissued in the UK by Eagle Records
. This version maintained the original artwork but added five B-sides and outtakes as bonus tracks, and unlike the U.S. reissue, it included liner notes.
's production work with Frankie Goes to Hollywood
, and claims that distribution problems and a lack of media airplay contributed to its disappointing sales.
All timings are approximate and will vary slightly with different equipment.
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
pioneer Gary Numan
Gary Numan
Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music...
, released in 1984. It was his first album to be released under Numan's own record label, Numa Records.
Overview
Numan's contract with his previous record label Beggars BanquetBeggars Banquet Records
Beggars Banquet is an English independent record label that began as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin, and is part of the Beggars Group of labels...
had ended with the release of Warriors
Warriors (Gary Numan album)
Warriors is the seventh studio album by the British musician Gary Numan, released in 1983. It was his last studio album released on Beggars Banquet Records.-Preproduction:...
, and disillusioned with record companies, Numan decided to create his own record label, Numa Records, in order to give himself full control over his recordings, production work and marketing.
Freed from demands of an outside record company, Numan could take the music on his new album into a new and harder direction. The album was named after a series of science-fiction novels
Berserker (Saberhagen)
The Berserker series is a series of space opera science fiction short stories and novels by Fred Saberhagen, in which robotic self-replicating machines intend to destroy all life. These Berserkers, named after the human berserker warriors of Norse legend, are doomsday weapons left over from an...
by Fred Saberhagen
Fred Saberhagen
Fred Thomas Saberhagen was an American science fiction and fantasy author most famous for his Berserker series of science fiction short stories and S.F...
, which Numan had read at school. For the album itself, Numan was concerned with creating a distinct atmosphere:
Berserker was far removed from the electro-funk stylings of Warriors (and, indeed, the fluid, fretless bass stylings of Numan's previous three albums), instead presenting a more hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
-like sound, combined with an abundant use of sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
. Heavy-metal-like riffs and guitar sounds were a lot more aggressive than on the preceding albums, and the electric bass contrasted with the heavy guitar sound. Numan also decided to use sound as a percussion, in lieu of conventional percussive instruments. The distinctive sound of the PPG Wave
PPG Wave
The PPG Wave was an analog / digital synthesizer built by the German company Palm Products GmbH. The PPG Wave used digital waveforms and analog filters and VCAs. The Wave was a combination of a synthesizer and a sequencer, with sequencer relatively advanced with the ability to influence real sounds...
synthesiser was introduced on this album, developing memorable synth riffs; the dream-like female backing vocals were still fully embraced from Warriors. Saxophones were infrequently used on the album, along with the viola that had last been featured on Telekon
Telekon
Released in 1980, Telekon is the fourth studio album, and second album under his own name, by the British musician Gary Numan. It debuted at the top of the UK charts in September 1980, making it his third and consecutive no.1 album....
. Lyrically, the album has a haunting, oppressive theme with several references to God throughout. The poignant track "A Child with the Ghost" was Numan's tribute to his friend and former bassist Paul Gardiner
Paul Gardiner
Paul Gardiner was a British musician who played bass guitar with Gary Numan and Tubeway Army as well as material under his own name.-Biography:...
, who died in February 1984 from a deliberate heroin overdose. The Industrial undertones of the album would be more fully explored on Numan's follow-up album, The Fury
The Fury (album)
The Fury is the ninth studio album, and seventh under his own name, by electronic pioneer Gary Numan, released in 1985. It saw him continuing to explore the sampling-heavy industrial sound he had developed for the previous album Berserker in 1984...
(1985).
For the visual look of the new album, Numan wanted something completely different from the black jumpsuits, grey coats, and black leather that had formed his visual look up until that that point. Instead he appeared on the cover of the new album (and during the subsequent tour) as a white-skinned, white-clad "Iceman" with blue makeup and hair, resulting in one the most striking looks of his career.
The title track was released as a single in October 1984, a month ahead of the album, but it only made it to #32 on the UK charts, making it his worst-charting single yet alongside "Sister Surprise" from the preceding album Warriors. The album itself was released in November 1984, but only managed a lowly #45 in the UK charts, making it both Numan's lowest-charting album by that point and his first album to miss the UK top 30. In chart terms, Berserker was outperformed by The Plan
The Plan (Tubeway Army album)
The Plan is a retrospective album of early demo recordings by Tubeway Army released in 1984.The demos were originally recorded in 1978...
, an album of early Numan material released by his former record label Beggars Banquet in September 1984 that reached #29. "My Dying Machine" was released as the second and final single off Berserker in December of the same year and peaked at #66. The album is now out of print and a basic second hand 9 track release will generally cost no less than 15 pounds.
Different releases
The album was originally released in two different-length versions in the UK. The CD and MC releases featured longer versions of all tracks, while the LP features shorter mixes.The album was not released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
until 1998 when Cleopatra Records
Cleopatra Records
Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label.- History :Founded in 1992 by Brian Perera, it specializes in gothic rock, hard rock, heavy metal and reissues of out-of-print music...
issued all Numa Records-era Numan albums with altered artworks and additional bonus tracks. The Berserker reissue featured four bonus tracks, including extended mixes of the title track and "My Dying Machine". The artwork used a different typeface from the original and the colours were slightly more purple-tinted than on the original. The rear artwork uses a unique composite from the original Numa CD (first issue). The booklet contains the lyrics together with live photos (also on the inner tray) taken in the Edinburgh Playhouse in 1984.
In 1999 the album was reissued in the UK by Eagle Records
Eagle Records
Eagle Records is a leading independent record label, a division of Edel Records. Also exists as Eagle Rock Entertainment.In the United Kingdom the label's managing director is Lindsay Brown, former manager of Van Halen, while in the United States the head is Mike Carden, formerly of CMC...
. This version maintained the original artwork but added five B-sides and outtakes as bonus tracks, and unlike the U.S. reissue, it included liner notes.
The Berserker Tour
Numan's 19-date UK Berserker Tour of November–December 1984 featured a stylized "high-tech Roman temple" stage set to complement Numan's white leather jacket/white make-up/blue-hair look. The tour spawned a double-album, White Noise, recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon in December 1984. The same concert was captured (albeit in edited form) on the video The Berserker Tour; both the album and the video were released in 1985. In early 2008, the video of the entire concert was released for the first time, on the DVD Cold Warning. The DVD contains, as an extra feature, a 2007 interview in which Numan discusses his recollections of the Berserker album and tour. Numan mentions that Berserker was influenced by Trevor HornTrevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring in north-east England....
's production work with Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were a British dance-pop band popular in the mid-1980s. The group was fronted by Holly Johnson , with Paul Rutherford , Peter Gill , Mark O'Toole , and Brian Nash .The group's debut single "Relax" was banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts and...
, and claims that distribution problems and a lack of media airplay contributed to its disappointing sales.
Track listing
All tracks written by Gary Numan.All timings are approximate and will vary slightly with different equipment.
1984 Numa vinyl release (NUMA 1001)
- "Berserker" - 5:52
- "This is New Love" - 6:19
- "The Secret" – 5:55
- "My Dying Machine" - 5:37
- "Cold Warning" - 6:01
- "Pump it Up" - 4:45
- "The God Film" - 4:42
- "A Child with The Ghost" - 4:04
- "The Hunter" - 4:32
1991 Numa CD reissues (NUMACD 1001)
- "Berserker" - 6:46
- "This Is New Love" - 8.48
- "The Secret" - 6:45
- "My Dying Machine" - 9:23
- "Cold Warning" - 7:03
- "Pump It Up" - 4:51
- "The God Film" - 4:44
- "A Child With The Ghost" - 4:04
- "The Hunter" - 6:48
- Original copies have no barcode and the CD printing is in blue. The second NUMA reissue is barcoded, has a different rear picture sleeve and the CD printing is in black. The catologue numbers are identical.
1999 Cleopatra U.S. CD reissue (CLP 0536-2)
- "Berserker" - 5:52
- "This Is New Love" - 6:19
- "The Secret" - 5:55
- "My Dying Machine" - 5:37
- "Cold Warning" - 6:01
- "Pump It Up" - 4:45
- "The God Film" - 4:42
- "A Child With The Ghost" - 4:04
- "The Hunter" - 4:32
- "Berserker (Extended)" - 6:46
- "Empty Bed, Empty Heart" - 3:12
- "My Dying Machine (Extended)" - 9:23
- "Here Am I" - 5:46
1999 Eagle Records UK CD reissue (EAMCD072)
- "Berserker" - 5:52
- "This Is New Love" - 6:19
- "The Secret" - 5:55
- "My Dying Machine" - 5:37
- "Cold Warning" - 6:01
- "Pump It Up" - 4:45
- "The God Film" - 4:42
- "A Child With The Ghost" - 4:04
- "The Hunter" - 4:32
- "Empty Bed, Empty Heart" - 3:12
- "Here Am I" - 5:46
- "She Cries" - 6:01
- "Rumour" - 2:50
- "This Ship Comes Apart" - 4:01
- "Rumour", although a Numan solo track for the Berserker sessions, was also the B-side to the London Times single with Radio HeartRadio Heart"Radio Heart" is the second single from The Futureheads's third album This Is Not the World. It was released on 19 May 2008 in the United Kingdom and reached #65 on the UK Singles Chart and #1 in the UK Indie Chart...
in 1987. - "She Cries", a B-side on the "My Dying Machine" single, was a remixed demo from the I, AssassinI, AssassinI, Assassin is the sixth studio album by Gary Numan. Released in 1982, it reached no.8 on the UK charts.Three songs; "Music for Chameleons", "We Take Mystery " and "White Boys and Heroes" were released as singles from the album and all reached the UK Top 20 I, Assassin is the sixth studio album...
album sessions. - "A Child With The Ghost" was also recorded by Tik and TokTik and TokTik and Tok are the robotic mime and music duo of Tim Dry and Sean Crawford. They began performing together with SHOCK: a rock/mime/burlesque/music troupe in the early 1980s with Barbie Wilde, Robert Pereno, L.A. Richards and Carole Caplin....
, appearing on their 'Intolerance' album. - "Pump It Up" was also recorded by Caroline MunroCaroline MunroCaroline Munro is an English actress and model known for her many appearances in horror, science fiction and action films of the 1970s and 1980s.-Early career:...
as "Pump Me Up" and released as a single on Gary's Numa label.
Musicians
- Gary NumanGary NumanGary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music...
- vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones... - Chris Payne - violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, synthesisers - Cedric Sharpley - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Rrusell Bell - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- John Webb - synthesiser, programming
- Martin Elliot - bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Andy Coughlan - bass
- Pat Kyle - saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
- Tessa NilesTessa NilesTessa Niles is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of artists.-Early life and career:Born in Kent, Niles began her professional singing career, as both a lead and a backing vocalist, in 1979...
- backing vocals - Tracey AckermanTracey AckermanTracy Ackerman is a British singer and songwriter. She works with several other British songwriters including Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson of Absolute and Mark Taylor....
- backing vocals - Zaine GriffZaine GriffZaine Griff is a singer-songwriter who formed part of the English new wave scene of the 1980s. Although being educated and beginning as musician in New Zealand, he moved to England in the 1970s, where he continued with his artistic and musical career, becoming a solo artist...
- backing vocals - Mike Smith - PPG Programming
- Ian Herron - PPG Programming