The Plan (Tubeway Army album)

The Plan is a retrospective album of early demo recordings by Tubeway Army (the band name originally used by Gary Numan) released in 1984.

The demos were originally recorded in 1978. In the album's sleevenotes, Numan states that they were deliberately written and recorded in the then-popular punk rock style (clipped vocals, buzzsaw guitar mainly playing barre chords, bass and drums), with the express aim of securing a record deal. Some of the songs on the album (such as "Friends", "Something's In The House" and "My Shadow in Vain") later became the basis for songs on the released debut album Tubeway Army, automated with the synthesizer rock sound which would become the Tubeway Army/Numan trademark.

Numan's record company, Beggars Banquet Records, decided to release these recordings in September 1984, a year after Numan left the label. In the intervening seven years since recording the demos, Numan's career had scaled great heights of commercial success and then waned. His most successful material had been similar in basic form and structure to the demos on The Plan, but had showcased a new synthesizer-based instrumentation instead of the 'punk' sound.

The Plan went on to do moderately well, reaching #29 on the UK album chart. Two months after The Plan's release, Numan issued Berserker, his first album through his own record label, Numa Records. Chartwise, The Plan outperformed Berserker, the latter reaching #45 on the UK album chart. For later CD releases of The Plan, bonus tracks were added such as Tubeway Army's debut single "That's Too Bad" and an early version of the Tubeway Army album track "The Life Machine".

Track listing

All tracks written by Gary Numan.

Original LP

1. "This Is My Life"
2. "My Shadow In Vain"
3. "Critics"
4. "Mean Street"
5. "Thoughts No.2"
6. "Bombers"
7. "Basic J"
8. "Ice"
9. "Something's In The House"
10. "Friends"
11. "Check It"
12. "Steel & You"

1999 CD reissue

1. "That's Too Bad" (single version) – 3:20
2. "Oh! Didn't I Say" – 2:16
3. "Out of Sight" – 3:28
4. "Bombers" (original version) – 3:53
5. "My Shadow in Vain" (original version) – 4:05
6. "This Machine" (original version of "Steel & You") – 3:56
7. "Thoughts No. 2" – 3:25
8. "Something's in the House" (original version) – 4:06
9. "Check It" – 3:35
10. "Monday Troop" – 2:58
11. "This Is My Life" – 2:16
12. "Mean Street" – 3:15
13. "Ice" – 2:16
14. "Crime of Passion" – 3:35
15. "Life Machine" (original version) – 1:52
16. "Critics" – 1:51
17. "Do Your Best" (original version of "Friends") – 2:32
18. "Basic J." – 2:51
19. "That's Too Bad" (original version) – 3:17
20. "Bombers" (single version) – 3:52
21. "Blue Eyes" – 1:44
22. "O.D. Receiver" – 2:38
23. "Fadeout 1930" – 3:13
24. "Don't Be a Dummy" (Lee Cooper advert) – 0:30

References

• Allmusic
• Paul Goodwin (2004). Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan