Outland (Gary Numan album)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Outland
Studio album by Gary Numan
Released	March 1991, reissue September 1999
Genre	Electronic music, Funk, Pop rock
Label	IRS Records, EMI
Producer	Gary Numan
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Gary Numan chronology
Automatic (1989) Outland (1991) Machine + Soul (1992)

Outland is a 1991 album released by Gary Numan. It was Numan's second and last studio album to be released by IRS Records, reaching #39 on the UK album charts. The songs "Heart" and "My World Storm" were released as singles: "Heart" charted at #43, while "My World Storm" failed to chart, reflecting the poor sales Numan was experiencing at the time.

Musically, Outland continues the synth-pop/dance-funk style of Numan's previous albums, which would continue until the artist's 1994 industrial album Sacrifice. The electro-jazz stylings of Outland are reminiscent of Numan's 1989 collaboration album with Bill Sharpe, Automatic, although its dystopian lyrics are more typical of Numan's solo work. Outland could almost be described as a concept album, as its songs share common themes and (in the case of the tracks "Confession" and "From Russia Infected") common musical and lyrical motifs. Indeed, Outland features more overt references to science-fiction than any other album Numan has released. The album features many vocal samples from notable sci-fi/action movies of the 1980s, including Blade Runner, The Terminator, Aliens and Predator (the title of Outland itself may be a reference to the 1981 science fiction film of the same name). The instrumental interludes on Outland add to the album's cinematic atmosphere. Of the album, Numan recalled:

“

The American producers Jam and Lewis were a big influence on Outland. I thought their grooves were extremely clever...Perhaps I should've taken the percussion thing and added something else to it, but my songwriting followed the black funk/dance/rock style as well. It wasn't entirely what my fans had been hoping for, although some thought it was one of my best albums. Being so involved, and responsible, for virtually every aspect of it, from writing to production to engineering, I felt it was a very personal record. By mastering the technology I was able to get closer to the sounds in my head.[1]

”

Numan's "Outland Tour" was originally scheduled for September 1990, but a lightning storm caused damage to Numan's recording studio, delaying the album and postponing the 14-date tour until March 1991. In September-October 1991, Numan embarked on the 19-date "Emotion Tour" (the first show was performed in Belgium; the rest were in the UK). To date, no official live albums or videos have been released from Numan's 1991 tours.

Numan was disappointed by the lack of effort IRS put into promoting Outland. After the album's commercial failure, Numan quit the company and reactivated his own label, Numa Records (through which Numan had released three studio albums between 1984 and 1986). Numan released two more studio albums through Numa (1992's Machine + Soul and 1994's Sacrifice) before shutting down the label again (this time permanently).

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 Reissue Bonus Tracks 2 Personnel 3 References

[edit] Track listing

All tracks written by Gary Numan.

1. "(Interval 1)" – 1.13
2. "Soul Protection" – 3.36
3. "Confession" – 4.17
4. "My World Storm" – 3.43
5. "Dream Killer" – 4.22
6. "Dark Saturday" – 4.02
7. "Outland" – 4.05
8. "Heart" – 4.06
9. "(Interval 2)" – 0.19
10. "From Russia Infected" – 4.30
11. "(Interval 3)" – 0.39
12. "Devotion" – 4.13
13. "Whisper" – 4.20

[edit] Reissue Bonus Tracks

1. "Shame" — 4:39
2. "Icehouse" — 3:19
3. "Tread Careful" — 4:12
4. "My World Storm" (US Promo Mix) — 5:44
5. "My World Storm" (Alternative Mix) — 3:14

• "My World Storm" (US Promo Mix) features of snippet from "Cars"

[edit] Personnel

• Gary Numan – vocals, keyboards, bass, drum programming, percussion programming, acoustic guitar (track 5)
• Keith Beauvais – guitar
• Mike Smith – drums, keyboards, acoustic guitar (track 13), slide guitar (track 7), guitar (track 8), bass (track 8), bongos (track 8)
• Dick Morrissey – saxophone (track 5)
• Tim Whitehead – saxophone (tracks 6 and 8)
• Rrussell Bell – guitar (track 7)
• Nick Beggs – bass (track 8)
• Paul Harvey – rhythm guitar (track 12), slide guitar (track 12)
• Cathi Ogden – backing vocals

[edit] References

• All Music Guide
• Discogs.com

v • d • e Gary Numan Albums with Tubeway Army Tubeway Army • Replicas • The Plan Studio albums The Pleasure Principle • Telekon • Dance • I, Assassin • Warriors • Berserker • The Fury • Strange Charm • Metal Rhythm • Outland • Machine + Soul • Sacrifice • Exile • Pure • Jagged • Splinter Collaborations Automatic (with Bill Sharpe) • Human (with Michael R. Smith) Live albums Living Ornaments '79 • Living Ornaments '80 • White Noise • Ghost • The Skin Mechanic • Dream Corrosion • Dark Light • Living Ornaments '81 • The Radio One Recordings • Scarred • Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire • Hope Bleeds • Fragment 1/04 • Fragment 2/04 • The Complete John Peel Sessions • Jagged Live • Engineers Soundtracks The Radial Pair Compilations Exhibition • The Premier Hits • The Mix • Exposure • Hybrid • Resonator Related articles Discography • Paul Gardiner