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The Pleasure Principle is the third studio album, and debut album under his own name, by electronic music
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....
 pioneer Gary Numan
Gary Numan

Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of commercial electronic music and has been described as the "King of synthpop." Numan is widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars "....
, released in 1979. Released the same year as Replicas
Replicas (album)

Replicas is an album by Gary Numan and Tubeway Army, released in 1979. It was the second and final Tubeway Army Gramophone record, following a Tubeway Army the previous year....
 (under the name Tubeway Army
Tubeway Army

Tubeway Army was a London-based Punk rock and New Wave music band led by singer/guitarist Gary Numan . Tubeway Army was the first band of the post-punk era to have an electronic hit, with the single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and its parent album, Replicas , topping the UK Album Chart in mid 1979....
), The Pleasure Principle also went to number 1 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and paved the way to chart success for a string of synthpop
Synthpop

Synthpop is a subgenre of New Wave music and pop music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It is most closely associated with the era between the late 1970s and early to middle 1980s, although it has continued to exist and develop ever since....
 acts such as Ultravox
Ultravox

Ultravox are a British New Wave music band that rose to prominence in the late 1970s/early 1980s. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the early 1980s....
, The Human League
The Human League

The Human League are a British people synthpop band. Formed in Sheffield, South Yorkshire in 1977, they achieved popularity after a key change in line-up in the early 1980s....
, Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode is an electronic music band formed in 1980, in Basildon, Essex, England. The group's original line-up was Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andrew Fletcher and Vince Clarke ....
 and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England. OMD record for Virgin Records ....
. It is widely considered by most critics and fans alike as Numan's best work and a milestone in New Wave
New Wave music

New Wave is a genre of rock music which originated from the late 1970s. It emerged from punk rock as a reaction against the popular music of the 1970s....
 and commercial electronic music
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....
 history.






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The Pleasure Principle is the third studio album, and debut album under his own name, by electronic music
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....
 pioneer Gary Numan
Gary Numan

Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of commercial electronic music and has been described as the "King of synthpop." Numan is widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars "....
, released in 1979. Released the same year as Replicas
Replicas (album)

Replicas is an album by Gary Numan and Tubeway Army, released in 1979. It was the second and final Tubeway Army Gramophone record, following a Tubeway Army the previous year....
 (under the name Tubeway Army
Tubeway Army

Tubeway Army was a London-based Punk rock and New Wave music band led by singer/guitarist Gary Numan . Tubeway Army was the first band of the post-punk era to have an electronic hit, with the single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and its parent album, Replicas , topping the UK Album Chart in mid 1979....
), The Pleasure Principle also went to number 1 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and paved the way to chart success for a string of synthpop
Synthpop

Synthpop is a subgenre of New Wave music and pop music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It is most closely associated with the era between the late 1970s and early to middle 1980s, although it has continued to exist and develop ever since....
 acts such as Ultravox
Ultravox

Ultravox are a British New Wave music band that rose to prominence in the late 1970s/early 1980s. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the early 1980s....
, The Human League
The Human League

The Human League are a British people synthpop band. Formed in Sheffield, South Yorkshire in 1977, they achieved popularity after a key change in line-up in the early 1980s....
, Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode is an electronic music band formed in 1980, in Basildon, Essex, England. The group's original line-up was Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andrew Fletcher and Vince Clarke ....
 and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England. OMD record for Virgin Records ....
. It is widely considered by most critics and fans alike as Numan's best work and a milestone in New Wave
New Wave music

New Wave is a genre of rock music which originated from the late 1970s. It emerged from punk rock as a reaction against the popular music of the 1970s....
 and commercial electronic music
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....
 history.

Structure and release

For the first and only time on an album, Numan completely abandoned guitars. 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
Minimoog

The Minimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer, invented by Bill Hemsath and Robert Moog. Released in 1971 by the original Moog Music, it was among the first widely available, portable and relatively affordable synthesizers....
 synthesizer
Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing a variety of sounds by generating and combining signals of different frequency....
 employed on his previous album, Numan now made liberal use of the Polymoog
Polymoog

The Polymoog is a polyphony analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Moog Music from 1975 to 1980. The Polymoog was based on divide-down oscillator technology similar to organs and string synthesizers of the time, and this led to a certain lack of flexibility compared to later polyphonic synthesizers such as the Yamaha CS-80 and the Seque...
 keyboard, particularly its distinctive "Vox Humana" preset. Other production tricks included copious amounts of flanging
Flanging

Flanging is an audio effect that occurs when two identical signals are mixed together, but with one signal time-delayed by a small and gradually changing amount, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds....
, phasing
Phasing

In the compositional technique phasing, popularized by composer Steve Reich, the same part is played on two musical instruments, in steady but not identical tempo....
 and reverb
Reverberation

Reverberation is the persistence of sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed. A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound is produced in an enclosed space causing a large number of Echo to build up and then slowly decay as the sound is absorbed by the walls and air....
, plus the unusual move of including solo viola
Viola

The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position....
 and violin
Violin

The violin is a Bow string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
 parts in the arrangements.

Notable tracks included "Airlane", the lead-off instrumental; "Metal", sung from the perspective of an android
Android

An android is a robot designed to look and act human. The word derives from a?d???, the genitive of the Greek language a??? aner, meaning "man", and the suffix -eides, used to mean "of the species; alike" ....
 longing to be human and covered by Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock music group, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio, Ohio. As its main Producer , singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction....
 on Things Falling Apart
Things Falling Apart

Things Falling Apart is an album by Nine Inch Nails released in 2000. Things Falling Apart is the sixteenth official Nine Inch Nails release and is the companion remix disc to The Fragile....
, Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa

Afrika Bambaataa is an United States Disc jockey from the South Bronx, who was instrumental in the early development of Hip hop music throughout the 1980s....
 on Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light and used as backing for Planet Funk
Planet Funk

Planet Funk is an Italy electronic dance musical group.Members are Sergio Della Monica, Alex Neri, Domenico GG Canu, Marco Baroni, and Alessandro Sommella , in addition to a series of guest singers in collaboration, like The Servant , Sally Doherty, Raiz and John Graham ....
's "Who Said"; "Films", acknowledged by Bambaataa as an important influence on the U.S.
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 hip hop
Hip hop music

Hip hop music is a music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rapping which is accompanied with backing beats. Hip hop music is part of hip hop culture, which began in the Bronx, in New York City in the 1970s, predominantly among African Americans and Latino Americans....
 scene; "M.E.", told by the last machine on Earth and later used as backing for Basement Jaxx
Basement Jaxx

Basement Jaxx are a critically acclaimed United Kingdom House music duo, comprising Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, that rose to popularity in the late 1990s....
’s "Where’s Your Head At?"; the electronic ballad "Complex
Complex (Gary Numan song)

"Complex" is a song by United Kingdom musician Gary Numan. A recording of it appeared on his 1979 in music album The Pleasure Principle , and was also released as a single in the UK, where it was a top 10 hit....
", a UK number 6 single; and "Cars
Cars (song)

"Cars" is a 1979 song by Gary Numan, released as a single from the album The Pleasure Principle . It reached the top of the charts in several countries and today is considered a New Wave music staple....
", a worldwide synthpop
Synthpop

Synthpop is a subgenre of New Wave music and pop music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It is most closely associated with the era between the late 1970s and early to middle 1980s, although it has continued to exist and develop ever since....
 hit recently covered by Fear Factory
Fear Factory

Fear Factory is an American heavy metal music band. The band formed in 1989 and have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes....
 and sampled for Armand Van Helden
Armand Van Helden

Armand Van Helden is a record producer and remixer whose biggest commercial successes came from his remixes of the 1996 Tori Amos song "Professional Widow," which reached the top of the UK Singles Chart, and his own track "U Don't Know Me ," which was Number 1 in the United Kingdom in January 1999....
’s "Koochy". "Cars" reached number 9 in the U.S., helping make The Pleasure Principle Numan's strongest Stateside showing, but lack of a strong commercial follow-up meant he was tagged a one-hit wonder
One-hit wonder

A one-hit wonder is a music industry term to describe an artist generally known for only one hit single ....
 there.

The Pleasure Principles title and cover art were inspired by the René Magritte
René Magritte

Ren? Fran?ois Ghislain Magritte was a List of Belgians surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images....
 painting Le Principe Du Plaisir. Numan toured throughout the world in support of the album with a huge stage set including banks of neon lights
Neon lamp

A neon lamp is a gas discharge lamp containing primarily neon gas at low pressure. The term is sometimes used for similar devices filled with other noble gases, usually to produce different colors....
 and twin pyramids which danced across the stage via radio control. The live show was captured on record as Living Ornaments ’79 and on video
Video

Video is the technology of electronics Videography, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing Scene in motion....
 as The Touring Principle. The support act on the UK leg of the tour was Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England. OMD record for Virgin Records ....
. An expanded version of Living Ornaments '79 was issued on CD in 2005, and the final show of The Touring Principle was captured on the CD Engineers (released exclusively through Numan's official website) in 2008.

Of the bonus tracks currently available on CD
Compact Disc

A Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store Data , originally developed for storing digital audio. The CD, available on the market since October 1982, remains the standard physical medium for sale of commercial Sound recording and reproduction to the present day....
, "Random" and "Oceans" were instrumental
Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or any other sort of vocal music; all of the music is produced by musical instruments....
 outtakes from The Pleasure Principle sessions, originally issued on vinyl with other previously-unreleased tracks in 1985; "Asylum" was the instrumental flip of the "Cars" vinyl single; the live versions of "Me! I Disconnect From You" and "Bombers
Bombers (Gary Numan song)

"Bombers" is the second single by Gary Numan and his band Tubeway Army, released in 1978. The song is in a somewhat more conventional Rock music style than their Punk rock-orientated debut, "That's Too Bad", and features sound effects simulating air raid sirens, dive bombers, and machine gun fire....
" made up the B-side of "Complex", having been recorded on tour and lately made available in their original context on the expanded Living Ornaments '79 CD, along with "Remember I Was Vapour" and "On Broadway
On Broadway

"On Broadway" is a song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil in collaboration with the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller....
". The latter two tracks first saw the light of day as a promotional single shipped with early pressings of the album Telekon
Telekon

Telekon is the fourth studio album, and second album under his own name, by electronic music pioneer Gary Numan, released in 1980.The album debuted at the top of the United Kingdom charts in September 1980, making it his third consecutive no.1 album....
 in 1980; Numan's unlikely version of the classic "On Broadway" was dominated by a characteristic synthesizer solo by then-former (and soon-to-be-again) Ultravox
Ultravox

Ultravox are a British New Wave music band that rose to prominence in the late 1970s/early 1980s. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the early 1980s....
 band member Billy Currie
Billy Currie

Billy Currie is a musician and songwriter. He is best known as the keyboard instrument player with the New Wave music band , Ultravox, who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1980s....
.

Track listing

All songs are written by Gary Numan, except where noted.

  1. "Airlane" - 3:18
  2. "Metal" - 3:32
  3. "Complex
    Complex (Gary Numan song)

    "Complex" is a song by United Kingdom musician Gary Numan. A recording of it appeared on his 1979 in music album The Pleasure Principle , and was also released as a single in the UK, where it was a top 10 hit....
    " - 3:12
  4. "Films" - 4:09
  5. "M.E." - 5:37
  6. "Tracks" - 2:51
  7. "Observer" - 2:53
  8. "Conversation" - 7:36
  9. "Cars
    Cars (song)

    "Cars" is a 1979 song by Gary Numan, released as a single from the album The Pleasure Principle . It reached the top of the charts in several countries and today is considered a New Wave music staple....
    " - 3:58
  10. "Engineers
    Engineers (Gary Numan track)

    "Engineers" is a Gary Numan song, probably based on the novel The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick, which is about people who work in underground shelters as engineers building robots for the ruling classes up above....
    " - 4:01
  11. "Random" (Demo)* - 3:49
  12. "Oceans" (Demo)* - 3:03
  13. "Asylum" (B-Side of Cars)* - 2:31
  14. "Me! I Disconnect From You" (Live)* - 3:06
  15. "Bombers
    Bombers (Gary Numan song)

    "Bombers" is the second single by Gary Numan and his band Tubeway Army, released in 1978. The song is in a somewhat more conventional Rock music style than their Punk rock-orientated debut, "That's Too Bad", and features sound effects simulating air raid sirens, dive bombers, and machine gun fire....
    " (Live)* - 5:46
  16. "Remember I Was Vapour" (Live)* - 4:46
  17. "On Broadway" (Live)* (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Barry Mann
    Barry Mann

    Barry Mann is an United States songwriter, and part of one of the most prolific songwriting partnerships in the world of rock and roll music....
    , Cynthia Weil
    Cynthia Weil

    Cynthia Weil is a prominent United States songwriter. She is famous for having written many songs together with Barry Mann.Weil was trained as an actor and dancer but soon demonstrated a songwriting ability that led to her collaboration with Barry Mann whom she would eventually marriage....
    ) - 4:48


  • CD bonus tracks are marked with an asterisk (*).


Personnel

  • Gary Numan
    Gary Numan

    Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of commercial electronic music and has been described as the "King of synthpop." Numan is widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars "....
     – Vocals
    Singing

    Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the human voice, which is often contrasted with regular speech. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist....
    , Keyboards
    Keyboard instrument

    A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organ s as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic musical instrument....
     (Minimoog
    Minimoog

    The Minimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer, invented by Bill Hemsath and Robert Moog. Released in 1971 by the original Moog Music, it was among the first widely available, portable and relatively affordable synthesizers....
    , Polymoog
    Polymoog

    The Polymoog is a polyphony analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Moog Music from 1975 to 1980. The Polymoog was based on divide-down oscillator technology similar to organs and string synthesizers of the time, and this led to a certain lack of flexibility compared to later polyphonic synthesizers such as the Yamaha CS-80 and the Seque...
    , ARP Odyssey
    ARP Odyssey

    The ARP Instruments, Inc. Odyssey was an analog circuit synthesizer introduced in 1972. Responding to pressure from Moog Music to create a portable, affordable "performance" synthesizer, ARP scaled down its popular ARP 2600 synthesizer and created the Odyssey, which became the best-selling synthesizer they made....
    ), Synthetic percussion
  • Paul Gardiner
    Paul Gardiner

    Paul Gardiner was a British musician best known for playing bass guitar with Gary Numan and Tubeway Army. He also released material under his own name....
     – Bass
    Bass guitar

    The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
  • Chris Payne – Keyboards (Minimoog, Polymoog, Piano
    Piano

    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
    ), Viola
    Viola

    The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position....
  • Cedric Sharpley – Drum
    Drum

    The drum is a member of the percussion instrument group, technically classified as a membranophone.. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with parts of a player's body, or with some sort of implement such as a drumstick, to produce sound....
    s, Percussion
    Percussion instrument

    A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration....
  • Billy Currie
    Billy Currie

    Billy Currie is a musician and songwriter. He is best known as the keyboard instrument player with the New Wave music band , Ultravox, who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1980s....
     – Fadeout violin
    Violin

    The violin is a Bow string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
     on "Tracks" and "Conversation"
  • Garry Robson – Backing vocals on "Conversation"