Gary Numan Albums Ranked

Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), better known as Gary Numan, is an English singer, musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He entered the music industry as the frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his debut solo album The Pleasure Principle in 1979, topping the UK Albums Chart. While his commercial popularity peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the No. 1 singles “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” and “Cars”, he maintains a strong cult following.
Numan is considered a pioneer of electronic music, with his signature sound consisting of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals. He is also known for his distinctive voice and androgynous “android” persona. In 2017, he received an Ivor Novello Award, the Inspiration Award, from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors.. Here are all of Gary Numan’s albums ranked.

Don’t miss out on the music of Gary Numan below! Click to enjoy songs that made him the pioneer of electronic music!

10. Exile (1997)

“Musically, this record is fine if monolithic. Lots of Blade Runner-ish intros and extended dark synth washes. It’s all very dense, very umber. It’s a little bit monotonous too, but in a relatively pleasing way. Dominion Day and Dark are probably the key tracks here, but there’s no filler to speak of. But rejoice! The saxophones and back-up girl wailings of the 80 are thankfully long gone from Gary’s oeuvre.”

9. Warriors (1983)

“I mean, if you knew nothing about this record or even its creator, you’d scan the song list and see promising things like My Centurion, The Prison Moon, Love is Like Clock Law and you’d maybe think there’s some good science fiction based synth-rock, darkwave or otherwise catchy and fulfilling music within. I mean, wouldn’t you think a song title like The Rhythm of the Evening promises something? You would, for sure.”

8. Pure (2000)

“The songs themselves are filled with an almost relentlessly dark and angry outlook, highlighted by some very real then-recent losses in his life. But those details can take a while to decipher, as they initially seem camouflaged within the album’s general tone. And while at first it seems that his songs have gotten much more political, his intent probably wasn’t really to preach from a soapbox, but rather to project an overall sense of powerlessness.”

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7. Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind) (2013)

“I love 80s synthpop, but Gary Numan’s early stuff just never fully clicked with me. I like it, but I want to love it and I just can’t. On the other hand, I’m not the biggest industrial fan (though maybe this’ll be the start of something), but this one just clicked right away. It’s an effective and powerful darkness, but yet also catchy and even danceable. That’s a combination I love in theory but often leaves me cold in practice. Gary Numan gets it really right here. I’m excited to check out the rest of his later works now.”

6. I, Assassin (1982)

“So it surprises nobody that the weakest link here is Numan himself. He knows he’s partnered with some stellar company, but his shortcomings are apparent. Still, I, Assassin is bookended by two swell tracks, with We Take Mystery being one of the better things he’s recorded (and even this goes on for a minute too long). Music for Chameleons is good too, as is the beginning of The 1930’s Rust, but the remainder are just dull, sterile gelid funk workouts.”

5. Dance (1981)

“Gary’s least accessible and most introverted album, mostly overlooked and misunderstood. This is a great album that deserves intensive listening, it grows with each listening session. This is Gary Numan’s “White Album”, varied and brilliant, his best performance by far.The production and performances are also timeless, it sounds timeless and classic at once. The album was originally released without the title track, be sure to get the re-mastered issue with “Dance” and other bonus tracks.”

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4. Tubeway Army (1978)

‘An album that most people are going to hate. It’s a cold detached raw album from 1978 that mixes guitar,early synth and a unique vocal together to make what i think is one of Numan’s most memorable albums. If songs about sexual ambiguity,mental health,test tube babies, masturbation,life support machines are your thing your gonna love it,if not forget it.”

3. Telekon (1980)

“This album was possibly Numans most synth driven and polished works since his Tubeway Army days. While still not as technical as the works of, say, John Foxx, he was synonimous with the robotic style of musical reference. Yet on songs like ‘Remind me to smile’, Numan displayed a more than passing ability to turn his hand to the more funky dance guitar and bass riffs(a trait often accredited to Numans obvious Bowie influences). This album shows off Gary Numans diverse songwriting talents, from the almost ballad like ‘Please push no more’, to the more ‘ballsy’ ‘I die you die’ or the jumping string arrangement of ‘Joy Circuit’. A worthwhile album in any collection.”

2. Replicas (1979)

“This is Gary Numan’s only consistently excellent album. Some may find it rather claustrophobic, and it’s true that some of the songs sound very similar, but this only adds to its appeal; it’s a wash of sound, A kind of sonic entrapment. “Are Friends Electric” is still fabulous, the ideal soundtrack to every cool sci-fi programme ever, with its dry-ice organ breaks and swirly Eno-style distortions. But “Me I Disconnect From You” is almost a good dance record, and “Replicas” itself is no less than the sound of a post-nuclear wasteland in overfilled echnicolour. Marvellous.”

1. The Pleasure Principle (1979)

“Easily Numan’s most cohesive album, and of course a huge seller. Following hard on the heels of the Tubeway Army ‘Replicas’ project, PP managed to carry many of the twisted sci-fi themes of it’s predecessor, whilst moulding them to cold, robotic yet accessible synth-pop tunes. All the tracks were deliberately given one-word titles and the artwork was shot through with a pyramid theme, in both cases a gimmick, but cool at the time.”