A Review of "Dark Light" by Derek Langsford
(who gave it 9 out of 10)
August 26th 1996
(originally published in rec.music.reviews, date unknown)

Gary Numan has serviced his fans well with live albums since leaving Beggars Banquet, with "White Noise" in '85, "Ghost" in '87, "The Skin Mechanic" in '89, "Dream Corrosion" in '94, and now, "Dark Light". Yes, this is Numan's second 2 CD concert release in less than 12 months, but it is not superfluous. There are only five tracks in common with last year's "Dream Corrosion" album; many songs have rarely been played in recent years, and some have not appeared on live albums before. So, it's a welcome collection. Another vital difference is that this comes after what most fans regard as a splendid return to form with his 1994 "Sacrifice" album. "Dream Corrosion" was a between album tour after a somewhat disappointing "Machine and Soul" album.

Since 1987 Numan's music has not been based primarily on synthesizers. Guitar has played a major role but not so much as to make him a "guitar act". Synths still play a big role but this is not the Numan of the early 1980s. This time Numan left behind a female backing vocalist but kept the remainder of the band that played on the DC tour, including Kipper, a sometimes-overbearing extroverted guitarist, and Ade Orange, the renowned keyboard player. The sound is not too dissimilar to DC as a result, although Kipper and Ade Orange on backing vox work with great effect only on occasion (e.g. 'Magic'). At other times they don't (e.g. 'The Hunter'). Still, the overall performance has energy and verve. The sound quality is also much better than on DC, perhaps because Tim Summerhayes did the engineering. Clearly there is extensive use of programmed percussive backing and even potentially tapes to fill out the intrumentation. Though this may deter purists it allows the erformance to come far closer to the studio sound than playing completely live would allow.

'Pray', the opening track on "Sacrifice", is used as the concert intro and leads into a very faithful performance of 'A Question of Faith'. This was the single that was out at the time of the tour. Numan's vocals are in good form as he handles this song with more accuracy than I think I have ever heard before. Numan has tended in the past to wander with his vocals, often enunciating poorly. Perhaps the "Sacrifice" songs are more in Gary's natural vocal range but one can't rule out the effect of taped backing vocals keeping him on track.

One of the impressive things about this performance is the song choice. Numan delves back into his Beggars banquet catalogue for a majority of the material (8 tracks from "Sacrifice" (1994), 1 from "Berserker" (1984) and *16* from pre-1984). "I Dream of Wires" is performed faithfully with strong synth sounds but without the heavy drumming that was so impressive on the original. 'Noise Noise', a new favourite from the DC tour, is done well, but the female vox is missing and Kipper and Ade don't quite cut it. I prefer the DC version.

Interestingly much of the material comes from Numan's first few albums. 'Listen to the Sirens', 'Everyday I Die', 'Friends', 'Praying to the Aliens', 'Replicas' and 'Meanstreet' on disc 1 alone. 'Listen' is faithful to the original, EdID is much more sinister and mature than previous performances. It is completely re-energized. Numan handles the rapid fire lyrics on 'Friends' with surprising adeptness as he does on disc 2 with 'Do You Need the Service?'. 'Praying to the Aliens" doesn't work for me due to the fast pace and the use of guitar where synth would have been more appropriate. But it is followed by a suprisingly excellent performance of 'Replicas', a song that one would have not expected to work well live. 'Meanstreet' takes one back to Numan's punk beginnings and fits in despite it's age.

Inserted among these older songs are two "Sacrifice" tracks. 'Scar', one of my favourite album tracks, doesn't seem to gel. The backing vocals are flat and the instruments seem discordant. 'Magic' is better with its programmed intro and percussion.

Disc 2 opens with a surprise - 'Stormtrooper in Drag', a song co-written by Paul Gardiner who committed suicide in 1984. Gary dedicates it to Paul. Again a fairly straightlaced but good job. 'Deadliner' suffers from weak synth backing and it fails to have the impact it should perhaps because it is more "live" than many of the other "Sacrifice" songs. 'Bleed', the lead-off song on the now superflous EP, has Kipper adding some extra(neous) guitar in the later stages but overall it is again a true to the album rendition as dictated by the backing programming/tape.

'The Dream Police' is upbeat and updated. Excellent. 'I Die: You Die' should die or at least be omitted from a few tours. This song rarely gets a performance that imparts the atmosphere of the original. It's one of my favourite studio tracks but gets short changed again with a rushed, guitar laden, "synth-lite" treatment. Time to put that one to bed for a while I think.

Another surprise is 'The Hunter' from "Berserker" but it is performed with mixed results. Added percussion lift the song from it's original form, and adds texture but Kipper gets a little carried away on guitar and the backing vocals are inneffective substracting from would have been a better than the original interpretation. 'Remind Me to Smile' is performed effectively in Numan's "power style" and essentially the same as on DC. 'Are 'Friends' Electric?' gets a similar DC treatment but without the long intro. A welcome and refreshing approach. Numan has been milking the AFE intro for too long so this change is welcome.

As indicated earlier, he handles 'Do You Need the Service?' with aplomb but again Kipper goes over the top. 'Love and Napalm' works well, and the finale is two songs that were big successes on the DC tour. 'Jo the Waiter' and 'I'm an Agent' again with little change from the DC tour. 'Jo the Waiter' goes over very well and the crowd do fine with the "I cried" line that is fast replacing the "But are 'friends' electric?" line as the most enjoyable performer/crowd interaction at Gary's concerts.

Overall, the combination of the new "Sacrifice" material, the inclusion of many rarely or never previously performed songs, the new energy injected into some of those songs, Gary's voice being in good form, and the generally very good sound quality make this album one that is more worthy than DC to have in one's collection. And although the "Sacrifice" material could use a little more work and Kipper could do a little less, it's definitely Numan's best "live" album since "White Noise" and perhaps even "Living Ornaments".

I recommend it wholeheartedly to the fan but I doubt there will be many casual buyers depsite it being an excellent live album as live albums go. This is not a "Gary Numan Greatest Hits" live CD but those willing to take a chance and hear what Numan has been up to lately may not be disappointed.

If you would like to be added to an informal mailing list to receive monthly updates of Gary Numan's doings etc email me at dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu