A Review of "Replicas" by Phil Whalley
(who gave it 8 out of 10)
November 2nd 1996

Whereas the blue album had been inspired in part by Numan's own experiences with drugs and teenage relationships as well as his musings over life and the shape of things to come, the concepts underpinning Replicas relied almost totally on his Burrough's-inspired vision of the future, which to me seem to also include elements of Orwell. If the future was to be oppressive and confined, then this album began to set the tone.

With visually stunning image and artwork, Replicas was musically more clipped and clinical than its predecessor, but bringing the synths from out of the guitar's shadow saw a new versatile sound emerge. This could combine with guitar if need be (personal favourites are the end of 'Me! I Disconnect From You' with the power chords combining brilliantly with the lone synth riff, and the soaring synth on the final verse of 'The Machman') or could be solely used to create a desperately disturbing, yet beautiful ambience like that of 'Down In The Park'.

As an album, its peaks easily surpassed those of the blue album, but the latter remains the more adventurous of the two. Replicas' weakness is too many filler tracks - 'Praying To The Aliens' and 'You Are In My Vision' are lyrically vintage, but lack compositional depth. 'When The Machines Rock' and 'I Nearly Married A Human' contain memorable swirling synths and some great phased guitar work, but they fail to provide a coherent or convincing end to the album.

The inclusion of some of the above tracks on Replicas became a matter of some debate when Beggars Banquet released the remaining tracks of the Replicas sessions, which unearthed such gems as 'We Have A Technical'. Despite this, Replicas has become the quintessential Numan album - a rare fusion of image and sound which momentarily captured the mood of the time.

BEST TRACKS - unsettling but compelling, 'Down In The Park' and 'The Machman'.