Pure (Gary Numan album)
Encyclopedia
Pure is a 2000 album by Gary Numan
, the follow-up to 1997's Exile
.
but in a somewhat more personal fashion than on Exile. Many critics considered it Numan’s most aggressive album musically, with its prominent guitar
work, as well as one of his strongest vocally. The recording featured an expanded group of collaborators after the largely one-man efforts of Sacrifice
(1994) and Exile. The Sulpher team of Rob Holliday
and Monti contributed guitar and drums
, respectively, as well as keyboards
and additional production.
The opening/title song was typical of most tracks on the album, beginning with ethereal strings and piano effects that gave way to an industrial metal
guitar riff before breaking into a thunderous chorus. It was described by Numan as an attempt to explore the mind of a rapist and murderer. "Walking With Shadows" started with a scenario similar to the early Tubeway Army
song "The Life Machine", that of a man in a coma, but one who, rather than wishing to return to his loved ones, wanted his loved ones to join him. "My Jesus", "Listen to My Voice" and "Rip" expanded upon the atheistic/heretical
themes that were introduced on Sacrifice and which dominated Exile. "I Can’t Breathe" inhabited a world similar to Sacrifice’s "Deadliner", that of a waking nightmare. "Fallen" was the composer's first instrumental in a number of years, full of distorted effects. "A Prayer for the Unborn" and "Little Invitro" were relatively gentler numbers inspired by personal tragedy, specifically the recent miscarriages suffered by Numan's wife Gemma and the couple's many unsuccessful IVF attempts up until that time.
Pures style was compared to that of other industrial rock
acts, such as Nine Inch Nails
and Marilyn Manson
, who had themselves acknowledged Numan's earlier influence on their own music. Whilst some critics and fans professed themselves weary of a third record apparently obsessed with (anti) religious themes, others such as The Sunday Times
described Pure as Numan’s best album since his classic 1979/80 period.
of dubious authenticity exists. However, a 2CD numbered limited edition 'Tour Edition' was released in 2001, containing a poster and a bonus CD with screensaver, live tracks and two remixes. The album artwork was also extensively re-worked. The only single, "Rip", was released 18 months after the album; it reached number 29 in the UK charts, making it Numan’s first new single to hit the Top 40 since "No More Lies" with Shakatak
’s Bill Sharpe in 1988.
in October 2000, music journalist Noel Gardner described the album as "Pure [...] ends up a mere testament to Numan's bloated vanity; impeccably produced, yet wincingly self-important and wholly charmless". Darryl Sterdan, when reviewing the album for Canoe.ca, wrote that Numan's style copied Marilyn Manson
and Trent Reznor
and described Numan's singing as "whispering like Marilyn Manson and yelping like Reznor about pain, isolation and sacrifice". Sterdan went on to say, "Numan admits these brooding electro-goth pouts and tantrums were inspired and influenced by U.S. electro-metal. He gets one point for honesty, but none for originality or even timeliness -- Rip, Torn and Fallen sound like the cliche dreck Trentoids were churning out en masse in '96. It didn't work then, and it doesn't work now. Especially for a guy like Numan who can do so much better."
Writing in The Guardian
, Maddy Costa also described Numan as sounding like Manson and Reznor, but said "nobody quite emulates him". Liana Jonas, reviewing the album for Allmusic, says, "Pure is good, dark mood music, seasoned with menacing basslines, electronic crashes and spikes, and slow-grinding guitars. It's an effective pairing -- ghostly voice coupled with industrialized music; often this genre features scream-singing." PopMatters
review of the album written by Wilson Neate said, "Pure is Gary Numan's richest, most powerful and most aggressive work in years."
Pure failed to make an impression on the UK Albums Chart
where it only reached number 58 and only stayed on the charts for one week.
, except where noted.
All timings are approximate and will vary slightly with different equipment.
Same track listing as original release.
CD Two
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...
, the follow-up to 1997's Exile
Exile (Gary Numan album)
Exile is a 1997 album by Gary Numan. Its release continued a surprise critical upswing in Numan's career which began three years earlier with the release of Sacrifice....
.
Music and lyrics
Lyrically, Pure was seen as continuing the composer’s attacks on Christian dogmaDogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
but in a somewhat more personal fashion than on Exile. Many critics considered it Numan’s most aggressive album musically, with its prominent guitar
Guitar
The 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...
work, as well as one of his strongest vocally. The recording featured an expanded group of collaborators after the largely one-man efforts of Sacrifice
Sacrifice (Gary Numan album)
Sacrifice is a 1994 album by Gary Numan. Its release followed a self-acknowledged career low point, Machine + Soul , and is often cited as marking the start of a critical and artistic rejuvenation for the one-time pop star...
(1994) and Exile. The Sulpher team of Rob Holliday
Rob Holliday
Rob Holliday is a professional musician. He was the live guitarist of industrial metal band Marilyn Manson as well as for Gary Numan, The Prodigy, and Sulpher...
and Monti contributed guitar and drums
Drum kit
A 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 ....
, respectively, as well as keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
and additional production.
The opening/title song was typical of most tracks on the album, beginning with ethereal strings and piano effects that gave way to an industrial metal
Industrial metal
Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws from industrial music and many different types of heavy metal, using repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Founding industrial metal acts include Ministry, Godflesh, and KMFDM.Industrial metal's...
guitar riff before breaking into a thunderous chorus. It was described by Numan as an attempt to explore the mind of a rapist and murderer. "Walking With Shadows" started with a scenario similar to the early Tubeway Army
Tubeway Army
Tubeway Army were a London-based punk rock and new wave band led by lead singer Gary Numan. They were the first band of the post-punk era to have a synthesizer-based hit, with their single Are 'Friends' Electric? and its parent album Replicas both topping the UK Album Chart in mid-1979.-Line-up:The...
song "The Life Machine", that of a man in a coma, but one who, rather than wishing to return to his loved ones, wanted his loved ones to join him. "My Jesus", "Listen to My Voice" and "Rip" expanded upon the atheistic/heretical
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
themes that were introduced on Sacrifice and which dominated Exile. "I Can’t Breathe" inhabited a world similar to Sacrifice’s "Deadliner", that of a waking nightmare. "Fallen" was the composer's first instrumental in a number of years, full of distorted effects. "A Prayer for the Unborn" and "Little Invitro" were relatively gentler numbers inspired by personal tragedy, specifically the recent miscarriages suffered by Numan's wife Gemma and the couple's many unsuccessful IVF attempts up until that time.
Pures style was compared to that of other industrial rock
Industrial rock
Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused...
acts, such as Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, 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...
and Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson (band)
Marilyn Manson is an American metal band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Formed in 1989 by Brian Warner and Scott Putesky, the group was originally named Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids with their uniquely theatrical performances gathering a local cult following in the early '90s. This attention...
, who had themselves acknowledged Numan's earlier influence on their own music. Whilst some critics and fans professed themselves weary of a third record apparently obsessed with (anti) religious themes, others such as The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
described Pure as Numan’s best album since his classic 1979/80 period.
Promotion and release
Numan toured extensively in support of the new album, captured in the Scarred live recording issued in 2003. A number of the tracks were also remixed for the Hybrid collection, released the same year. Unlike the three previous albums, no 'Extended' version of Pure was ever officially made available, though a bootlegBootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
of dubious authenticity exists. However, a 2CD numbered limited edition 'Tour Edition' was released in 2001, containing a poster and a bonus CD with screensaver, live tracks and two remixes. The album artwork was also extensively re-worked. The only single, "Rip", was released 18 months after the album; it reached number 29 in the UK charts, making it Numan’s first new single to hit the Top 40 since "No More Lies" with Shakatak
Shakatak
Shakatak are an English jazz-funk band, founded in 1980.-Career:Shakatak scored a number of chart entries, including two Top Ten hits in the UK Singles Chart, "Night Birds" and "Down on the Street" plus a further 12 entries in the Guinness book of British Hit Singles...
’s Bill Sharpe in 1988.
Reception
Pure has received mixed reviews. Writing in NMENME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
in October 2000, music journalist Noel Gardner described the album as "Pure [...] ends up a mere testament to Numan's bloated vanity; impeccably produced, yet wincingly self-important and wholly charmless". Darryl Sterdan, when reviewing the album for Canoe.ca, wrote that Numan's style copied Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
and Trent Reznor
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
and described Numan's singing as "whispering like Marilyn Manson and yelping like Reznor about pain, isolation and sacrifice". Sterdan went on to say, "Numan admits these brooding electro-goth pouts and tantrums were inspired and influenced by U.S. electro-metal. He gets one point for honesty, but none for originality or even timeliness -- Rip, Torn and Fallen sound like the cliche dreck Trentoids were churning out en masse in '96. It didn't work then, and it doesn't work now. Especially for a guy like Numan who can do so much better."
Writing in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Maddy Costa also described Numan as sounding like Manson and Reznor, but said "nobody quite emulates him". Liana Jonas, reviewing the album for Allmusic, says, "Pure is good, dark mood music, seasoned with menacing basslines, electronic crashes and spikes, and slow-grinding guitars. It's an effective pairing -- ghostly voice coupled with industrialized music; often this genre features scream-singing." PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
review of the album written by Wilson Neate said, "Pure is Gary Numan's richest, most powerful and most aggressive work in years."
Pure failed to make an impression on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
where it only reached number 58 and only stayed on the charts for one week.
Track listing
All songs written by Gary NumanGary 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...
, except where noted.
All timings are approximate and will vary slightly with different equipment.
2000 Eagle Records CD release (EAGCD 078)
- "Pure" – 5:08
- "Walking With Shadows" – 5:52
- "Rip" – 5:06
- "One Perfect Lie" – 4:35
- "My Jesus" – 5:45
- "Fallen" – 2:31
- "Listen to My Voice" – 5:12
- "A Prayer for the Unborn" – 5:43
- "Torn" – 5:10
- "Little Invitro" – 4:28
- "I Can't Breathe" (Numan, Rob HollidayRob HollidayRob Holliday is a professional musician. He was the live guitarist of industrial metal band Marilyn Manson as well as for Gary Numan, The Prodigy, and Sulpher...
, Monti) – 5:45
2001 Eagle Records 'Tour Edition' CD (EDGTE 078)
CD OneSame track listing as original release.
CD Two
- "Pure (live)" - 6:43
- "My Jesus (live)" - 5:52
- "Rip (live)" - 5:09
- "Cars (live)" - 3:22
- "Replicas (live)" - 5:13
- "A Prayer For The Unborn (Greyed Up Remix)" - 8:35
- "Listen To My Voice (Greyed Up Remix)" - 8:01
- The live tracks later appeared on the 'Scarred' live album. 'A Prayer For The Unborn (Greyed Up Remix)' later appeared on the 'Exposure' compilation album.
Musicians
- Gary Numan – 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...
, KeyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, ProgrammingProgramming (music)Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
, 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... - Richard Beasley – 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 ....
- Steve Harris – Guitar
- Rob HollidayRob HollidayRob Holliday is a professional musician. He was the live guitarist of industrial metal band Marilyn Manson as well as for Gary Numan, The Prodigy, and Sulpher...
– Guitar, Keyboards - Monti – Drums, Keyboards, Programming