There can be few artists in popular music history to have so successfully cultivated critical loathing. The futuristic songs. The hair transplants. The silly aeronautical stunts. This moody performer had 2 number 1 singles "Are friends electric" and "Cars", and 3 number 1 albums in 79/80.

 

Never a huge fan but i admit to liking his early stuff. Seemed to lose his way after 1981, although he's had loads of singles which missed the top 10 over the years.

 

Anyone else like him or hate him. :)

I like Cars and Music For Chameleons (used in I'm Alan Partridge).

Must admit, I liked Cars and Are Friends Electric but don't know much of his later stuff.

His present, more driven, intense, Nine Inch Nails-influenced direction is something you'll either love or hate, for most it's hard to get into... His last album "Jagged" was a very precise, finely tuned, incredibly technical and frighteningly well produced work... A lot of it was very samey, and it's fair to say that it does kinda come off as sounding like a huge, sprawling, 50-minute single song with individual component parts.... But, I reckon that was probably what Gary was going for tbh.... :lol:

 

I've seen Gary Numan live about four times now, and I've always been impressed by what I've heard....

absolutely loathe him.

 

The man doesn't have one single genuine idea in his head.... he's stolen from most of the icons I hold dear, and even now, with his toe-curlingly embarassing 'metal' sound, he's pinching off nobodies like Nine Inch Nails (sorry, Scott, but they stink to high heaven).

 

From his Bowie-esque beginnings to his botched hair transplants to him crashing aeroplanes to his support of Thatcher through the 80s - the guy's a national joke, and should always be remembered as one - moreso now than ever.

 

What amazes me is the crowd who flock to see him now - all naff quasi-goth girls with coloured hair, dated old piercings and dreadful stack boots (in 2007, even) to middle aged goth blokes with paunches and thinning hairlines.

 

Ugh - Gay Numan - contemptible. Vile, just vile.

What amazes me is the crowd who flock to see him now - all naff quasi-goth girls with coloured hair, dated old piercings and dreadful stack boots (in 2007, even) to middle aged goth blokes with paunches and thinning hairlines.

 

 

well we ALL cant be trendy fashion icons russ!.... people should be allowed to express themselves in whatever manner they want to... and why cant original 'old' goth blokes dress that way? what do you expect middle aged blokes to dress like? dale winton? fak orf m8! ageing music fans should remain faithful to their fashion preferance, the alternative is bland.

 

 

as for gary numan.... i think he is possibly underrated as an influence on electronic sounds, im not sure where he thinks early tracks like the superb 'are friends elecrtic' have been pinched from.... as far as i know (and i may be wrong) but that track is unique. not keen though on most of his 'post 80' material...

 

Yeah, he kinda ripped off Cabaret Voltaire, The Human League et al in the old days and now he's like an embarrassing uncle listening to your NIN album and going on about how Nitzer Ebb were much better, while simultaneously being worse than both.

 

Both Cars and AFE are still behemoths of singles though.

absolutely loathe him.

 

The man doesn't have one single genuine idea in his head.... he's stolen from most of the icons I hold dear, and even now, with his toe-curlingly embarassing 'metal' sound, he's pinching off nobodies like Nine Inch Nails (sorry, Scott, but they stink to high heaven).

 

From his Bowie-esque beginnings to his botched hair transplants to him crashing aeroplanes to his support of Thatcher through the 80s - the guy's a national joke, and should always be remembered as one - moreso now than ever.

 

What amazes me is the crowd who flock to see him now - all naff quasi-goth girls with coloured hair, dated old piercings and dreadful stack boots (in 2007, even) to middle aged goth blokes with paunches and thinning hairlines.

 

Ugh - Gay Numan - contemptible. Vile, just vile.

 

A bit judgemental of the Goth scene mate... If I were to go off on one about what I currently think of the Gay Club scene I'll probably be accused of being Homophobic.... But frankly I find mainstream Gay Culture to be vastly more offensive to my sense of taste (as well as it actually being offensive to Gay people themselves, if only they could see it...) and vastly more cliched and generally cheesy and naff as fukk than the Underground Gothic/EBM/Cyber scene which has music vastly more challenging than the fukkin' Sharon and Tracy sh!te down at GAY (or indeed about 90-odd percent of ANY Gay clubs) on any given Saturday.... You wanna talk about 'old fashioned'...? What's so up-to-date and cutting edge about slightly reconstituted 70s Disco and hoary, cheesy remixes of 70s classics such as "Heart of Glass"....? Dress it up as 'camp' and 'kitsch' and watch all the gullible gay men flocking to it to have their 'pink pounds' totally fleeced off them....

 

And who did Gary Numan rip off then in 1978 when he was a pioneer of the Synth/Electronic scene in this country...? Sure, he took his cues from Kraftwerk, but who the fukk DIDN'T from that particular era (Human League certainly did for one...), and beyond to this day.....???? Name me ONE Dance/Techno/Synth act who does not owe Kraftwerk, Gary Numan and others a debt of gratitude..... And you and Richie fail to recognise that Numan is an influence on the likes of Reznor, Manson, Nitzer Ebb and loads of others in the Industrial scene and he is merely taking back his own sound.... And he has been very clever in who he has chosen to work/collaborate with recently as well... Far from being 'embarrassing' Numan is one of our genuine musical pioneers, sure in his wilderness years (most of the 90s..), it's been a bit c**p, but now he's back with a vengeance...

I just think Gary Numan leapfrogged others who might have had a better chance of chart success if they'd been based in London like Gary and not, say, Sheffield which had a good local scene, but was largely ignored outside. I certainly don't dispute the influence Kraftwerk had on EVERY electronic band in the UK.

 

In any case, I'm not keen on Numan's current stuff at all...

A bit judgemental of the Goth scene mate... If I were to go off on one about what I currently think of the Gay Club scene I'll probably be accused of being Homophobic.... But frankly I find mainstream Gay Culture to be vastly more offensive to my sense of taste (as well as it actually being offensive to Gay people themselves, if only they could see it...) and vastly more cliched and generally cheesy and naff as fukk than the Underground Gothic/EBM/Cyber scene which has music vastly more challenging than the fukkin' Sharon and Tracy sh!te down at GAY (or indeed about 90-odd percent of ANY Gay clubs) on any given Saturday.... You wanna talk about 'old fashioned'...? What's so up-to-date and cutting edge about slightly reconstituted 70s Disco and hoary, cheesy remixes of 70s classics such as "Heart of Glass"....? Dress it up as 'camp' and 'kitsch' and watch all the gullible gay men flocking to it to have their 'pink pounds' totally fleeced off them....

 

And who did Gary Numan rip off then in 1978 when he was a pioneer of the Synth/Electronic scene in this country...? Sure, he took his cues from Kraftwerk, but who the fukk DIDN'T from that particular era (Human League certainly did for one...), and beyond to this day.....???? Name me ONE Dance/Techno/Synth act who does not owe Kraftwerk, Gary Numan and others a debt of gratitude..... And you and Richie fail to recognise that Numan is an influence on the likes of Reznor, Manson, Nitzer Ebb and loads of others in the Industrial scene and he is merely taking back his own sound.... And he has been very clever in who he has chosen to work/collaborate with recently as well... Far from being 'embarrassing' Numan is one of our genuine musical pioneers, sure in his wilderness years (most of the 90s..), it's been a bit c**p, but now he's back with a vengeance...

 

for the first paragraph, I agree 120%. The gay scene reeks to high heaven - I blame Jeremy Joseph for everything, myself.

 

For the second? No way was Numan a pioneer of anything...oh, except maybe blue hair for men with Elton John hairlines.... Numan's about as influential as a flip flop.

 

 

.... Numan's about as influential as a flip flop.

 

thats nonsense really m8....

 

 

he was heavily INFLUENCED... but surely only Americans could possibly think of him as 'influential'.... I see the usual ragged roll call of Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails being mentioned - but these 2 bands have made their careers not being influenced by, but by COPYING far better European acts.

 

To call Numan a pioneer, sorry Scott, I usually think you speak sense, but on this occasion - are you SERIOUS?!

 

He's been copied by others, but he pioneered nothing, not a single thing.

he was heavily INFLUENCED... but surely only Americans could possibly think of him as 'influential'.... I see the usual ragged roll call of Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails being mentioned - but these 2 bands have made their careers not being influenced by, but by COPYING far better European acts.

 

To call Numan a pioneer, sorry Scott, I usually think you speak sense, but on this occasion - are you SERIOUS?!

 

He's been copied by others, but he pioneered nothing, not a single thing.

 

First paragraph - you seriously underestimate the power of Nine Inch Nails - I cant think of a band of that particular genre in the past 20 years who have had so much of an impact on the Alternative/Metal/Electronic scene as them, even Depeche Mode started sitting up and taking notice when "Pretty Hate Machine" came out (in 1989 - same year as "Violator" btw...), and did at least three albums which were as a direct cause and effect of that album (their pretty dramatic change of style in the 90s can certainly be no coincidence..). Also, there's a definite NIN slant on Jesus and Mary Chain's 1992 album "Honey's Dead" (lyrics like "I wanna die just like Jesus Christ/I wanna die on a bed of spikes" could certainly have been written by Reznor..).

 

Certainly, Reznor was influenced by the likes of Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, Young Gods, etc, as well as Canadian Industrial giants Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly; Ministry/Al Jourgenson was almost certainly an influence as well on Reznor as well, but he certainly did not 'dumb down' any of his influences... "Pretty Hate Machine", "Downward Spiral" and "Broken" were hardly commercial albums at the time (they seem so now because of the legions of copyists that followed on from Reznor..), Reznor is just one of these rare musical mavericks who have the ability to tap into something and inspire others to follow... You cant hold Reznor responsible for sh!te like Linkin Park or Limp Bizkit anymore than you can blame Lennon and McCartney for the Gallaghers...

 

Of course Numan was a pioneer of Electronic music... Tubeway Army's "Replicas" pre-dated the whole "New Romantic" scene for a start... Just cos you dont like him doesn't mean he didn't have a direct impact... I dont like The Beatles much, but would never underestimate their influence...

I just think Gary Numan leapfrogged others who might have had a better chance of chart success if they'd been based in London like Gary and not, say, Sheffield which had a good local scene, but was largely ignored outside. I certainly don't dispute the influence Kraftwerk had on EVERY electronic band in the UK.

 

In any case, I'm not keen on Numan's current stuff at all...

 

 

Well, being based in Sheffield hardly did The Human League any harm did it...? Top 10 hits and a Christmas No 1..... Yeah, they really suffered from the disadvantage of being from Sheffield...... :lol:

Reznor wrote toe-curlingly awful 6th-form poetry for the disaffected. Deep and meaningful? Unintentionally hilarious, I reckon. Possibly the most overrated musicians since Nirvana and Bob Dylan. Thank God they were all but ignored in the UK.

 

You mention Skinny Puppy and Nitzer Ebb.... if you're talking influential and groundbreaking.... well, look no further.

 

And Replicas was nothing more than a teenager's re-tread through 'Low'... even with comical copycat deadpan vocals.

Reznor wrote toe-curlingly awful 6th-form poetry for the disaffected. Deep and meaningful? Unintentionally hilarious, I reckon. Possibly the most overrated musicians since Nirvana and Bob Dylan. Thank God they were all but ignored in the UK.

 

Hmm, well, they're doing four sell-out nights at Brixton Academy this March, and they did get a Top 10 single with "Hand That Feeds", so I would hardly say they're being ignored in the UK.....

 

I would hardly call songs like "Hurt" 'sixth form', it's up there with Joy Division at their most haunting as far as I'm concerned....

Well, being based in Sheffield hardly did The Human League any harm did it...? Top 10 hits and a Christmas No 1..... Yeah, they really suffered from the disadvantage of being from Sheffield...... :lol:

 

Once they'd signed to Virgin in London, yeah. By the time 'Dare' and 'Don't You Want Me' came out they'd been around for over four years and released two records. It took them a long, long time to make it whereas if they'd been from London they'd have made it much sooner.

 

but the League never left Sheffield.... Virgin London went to them.

. Possibly the most overrated musicians since Nirvana and Bob Dylan. Thank God they were all but ignored in the UK.

 

 

 

 

eh?... i think you're suffering from an 'objectivity malfunction' there m8... dylan in particular is undisputedly one of the most influencial artists of all time... i dont like him tbh, but i can see that other well respected musicians do.. but you have cited bananarama as being 'original'... m8, they are not fit to lick dylans/nirvanas or numans boots.

I've always thought Dylan to be one of the world's most overrated musicians.... like Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and to some extent Bowie, it's almost blasphemy to say you don't like them.

 

Well, I hate Dylan's dreary run-of-the-mill music... all of it, and I'm not afraid to say it.

 

And as for the Nanas... hands off my Bananas, Rob, or things could get nasty.... :P