September 5, 1980, Gary Numan released “Telekon” the third and final studio release of what Numan retrospectively termed the “Machine” section of his career, following “Replicas” with Tubeway Army and “The Pleasure Principle” in 1979, the first album under his own name. Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) claimed to have listened to it every day during the making of “Pretty Hate Machine” while Stephin Merritt from The Magnetic Fields also became a Numan fan through the album. Otherwise, “Telekon” received a largely hostile reception from contemporary music critics. Many critics anyway considered Numan one of the “one-hit wonders” for his most popular song “Cars”, a single from his previous album. For the less ignorants, it is announced that Numan’s new album entitled “Dead Son Rising” will be released on September 12, 2011.
“And what if God’s dead
We must have done something wrong
This dark facade ends
We’re independent from someone…”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RL5bqZkmQg&w=540&h=435]
Track list:
01. “This Wreckage” – 5:26
02. “The Aircrash Bureau” – 5:41
03. “Telekon” – 4:29
04. “Remind Me to Smile” – 4:03
05. “Sleep by Windows” – 4:58
06. “We Are Glass”* – 4:47
07. “I’m an Agent” – 4:19
08. “I Dream of Wires” – 5:10
09. “Remember I Was Vapour” [1] – 5:11
10. “Please Push No More” – 5:39
11. “The Joy Circuit” – 5:12
12. “I Die: You Die” – 3:47
13. “A Game Called ‘Echo'” – 5:06
14. “Photograph” – 2:43
15. “Down in the Park” (Piano Version) – 2:27
16. “Trois Gymnopédies (1st Movement)” – 4:15
Gary Numan – Telekon @ Amazon.com
The album’s musical style ranged from upbeat songs such as “I’m an Agent” and “The Joy Circuit” to more lyrical, mood pieces like “Sleep by Windows” and “Remember I Was Vapour” – both, very gentle, subtle and beautiful, spacy, minimalist compositions. “Please Push No More” is also a slow, glowing and beautiful composition with the piano and Numan’s voice in center. “The Joy Circuit” uses a combination of synths and string instruments creating a fresh, exciting orchestral ambiance.
In contrast to his previous album and its lack of guitars and its robotic sound, “Telekon” featured heavy use of guitars and strings along with richer synthesizer textures. Numan broadened his previous synth palette with additional machines such as the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, ARP Pro Soloist and Roland Jupiter-4.
“Telekon” was preceded by two hit singles, “We Are Glass” and “I Die: You Die”, though neither of these was included on the album in its initial UK vinyl release.
In December 2006, Numan undertook a Telekon “Classic Album” tour, comprising four concerts in the UK in which he played all the songs from the “Telekon” album, as well as its associated singles and B-sides.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74JBun0cmOc&w=540&h=435]
