The Skin Mechanic is a live album released by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 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. 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...

 during his stint with IRS Records. The album was recorded in 1988 and released in 1989.

Throughout September and October 1988, Numan embarked on an 18-date UK live tour to support his latest studio album, Metal Rhythm

Metal Rhythm

Metal Rhythm is the 11th studio album, and 9th under his own name, by electronic music pioneer Gary Numan, released in 1988. It is his first album released through IRS Records.- Overview :...

. The Skin Mechanic (which took its name from a lyric in the Metal Rhythm song "Hunger") was recorded at the Dominion Theatre, London on September 28th, 1988. The album was released over a year later, in October 1989. It charted at UK#55, and was followed by a 1990 video release of the 1989 tour, also confusingly called The Skin Mechanic.

A remastered CD reissue appeared in 1999 with a shuffled track order (but no additional tracks) and a much expanded booklet that contained the lyrics and an essay by Steve Malins.

Track listing

All tracks written by Gary Numan.

All timings are approximate and will vary slightly with different equipment.

1989 IRS Records CD release (EIRSACD 1019)

1. "Survival" - 2:12
2. "Respect" - 4:09
3. "Call Out The Dogs" - 4:04
4. "Cars
   Cars (song)
   Fear Factory, an American industrial metal band, recorded a version of "Cars" and released it as the second single from their third studio album, Obsolete. The song was only included as a bonus track on the limited edition digipak re-release of Obsolete and would be instrumental in breaking Fear...
   
   " - 5:20
5. "Hunger" - 4:30
6. "Down in the Park
   Down in the Park
   "Down in the Park" is a 1979 single written and recorded by Gary Numan with his band Tubeway Army. The first cut from the album Replicas, it was not a hit when released but has long been a critical and fan favourite and for many years was described by Numan as his best composition.-Style:Like the...
   
   " - 5:24
7. "New Anger" - 3:13
8. "Creatures" - 5:06
9. "Are 'Friends' Electric?
   Are 'Friends' Electric?
   "Are 'Friends' Electric?" is a 1979 song written by Gary Numan, released under the name of his then-band Tubeway Army as a single and on the album Replicas...
   
   " - 7:46
10. "Young Heart" - 4:58
11. "We Are Glass
    We Are Glass
    "We Are Glass" is a Gary Numan single released in 1980. Its up-tempo beat, scratchy guitars and pitch-bending synthesizer effects made it a prime example of the synthpop of the time....
    
    " - 5:05
12. "I Die: You Die
    I Die: You Die
    "I Die: You Die" is a Gary Numan single from 1980. Released shortly before his fourth album, Telekon, it continued the anthemic style Numan had begun earlier in the year with "We Are Glass". The composer himself described the two singles as "Much the same thing...
    
    " - 3:58
13. "I Can't Stop" - 3:16

1999 EMI CD reissue (7243 5 21406 2 6)

1. "Survival" - 2:12
2. "Respect" - 4:09
3. "Call Out The Dogs" - 4:04
4. "Cars
   Cars (song)
   Fear Factory, an American industrial metal band, recorded a version of "Cars" and released it as the second single from their third studio album, Obsolete. The song was only included as a bonus track on the limited edition digipak re-release of Obsolete and would be instrumental in breaking Fear...
   
   " - 5:20
5. "Hunger" - 4:30
6. "Down in the Park
   Down in the Park
   "Down in the Park" is a 1979 single written and recorded by Gary Numan with his band Tubeway Army. The first cut from the album Replicas, it was not a hit when released but has long been a critical and fan favourite and for many years was described by Numan as his best composition.-Style:Like the...
   
   " - 5:24
7. "New Anger" - 3:13
8. "Creatures" - 5:06
9. "Young Heart" - 4:58
10. "Are 'Friends' Electric?
    Are 'Friends' Electric?
    "Are 'Friends' Electric?" is a 1979 song written by Gary Numan, released under the name of his then-band Tubeway Army as a single and on the album Replicas...
    
    " - 7:46
11. "We Are Glass
    We Are Glass
    "We Are Glass" is a Gary Numan single released in 1980. Its up-tempo beat, scratchy guitars and pitch-bending synthesizer effects made it a prime example of the synthpop of the time....
    
    " - 5:05
12. "I Can't Stop" - 3:16
13. "I Die: You Die
    I Die: You Die
    "I Die: You Die" is a Gary Numan single from 1980. Released shortly before his fourth album, Telekon, it continued the anthemic style Numan had begun earlier in the year with "We Are Glass". The composer himself described the two singles as "Much the same thing...
    
    " - 3:58

• There is no explanation for the shuffled track listing on the 1999 reissue.

Musicians

• 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...
  
   - vocals
  Singing
  Singing 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...
  
  
• Rrussell Bell - 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...
  
  
• Andy Coughlan - bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Chris Payne - 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...
  
  , violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  
• Ade Orange - keyboards, saxophone
  Saxophone
  The 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...
  
  
• Cedric Sharpley - 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 ....
  
  
• John Webb - saxophone
• Val Chalmers - vocals
• Emma Chalmers - vocals