A Review of "Sacrifice - Extended Mixes" by Derek Langsford
(who gave it 8 out of 10)
August 19th 1996

Gary Numan can arguably be hailed as the creator of the synthesizer explosion at the end of the 70s in the UK which led the way for the success of bands such as Ultravox, The Human League, Yazoo and Depeche Mode. Although his commercial success peaked soon thereafter, he continued to make albums. However, by the late 80s they were mostly ignored by everyone but his fans and the UK music press which, for the most part, still continues it's childish, knee jerk, anti-Numan diatribe.

After losing his musical direction in the mid-80s and veering into more dance orientated material, he released last October what has to be his best album in at least a decade, perhaps even ever. "Sacrifice" eliminated the elements that had created serious doubts over the last 10 years, even among hard-core fans, and reestablished his creative strengths in a swirl of synths, guitars and percussion that had a distinct gothic feel to it. It was sythesizer-based music with more variety and substance than the typical lightweight dance-synth music so prevalent in the 90s. It was more Sisters of Mercy and NIN rather than Erasure or Pet Shop Boys. It should have impressed even the most jaded critic, but still he struggles to get the recognition that this album deserves. Perhaps this release will do it, but probably not.

One unique feature of Gary Numan is that he often records extended versions of his albums. "Sacrifice (extended mixes)" continues the series after similar treatments for "Berserker" 1984, "The Fury" 1985, and "Machine and Soul" 1993. Not only does it give his albums more exposure and sales but it allows him to experiment a little with the tracks while giving the fans a bonus treat at the same time.

Numan's extended mixes are not extensive remixes. There are no dance or dub remixes, or 140bpm versions here. He does not change the songs radically, rather he adds more intro, instrumental breaks, verses, choruses, and maybe outro. This may disappoint those used to radical remixes. Myself, I like the approach because even though remixes of Numan's work can work well, like the Zeus B. Held remixes of "Cars" in 1988, but sometimes they do not, like the 1993 "Cars" EP, for example.

On this release, Numan expands the songs allowing them to build and maintain the atmosphere they create (Pray, A Question of Faith, Desire, Love and Napalm, Bleed, The Seed of A Lie). Some songs are reinterpreted and generally add significantly to the original (Deadliner, Scar, You Walk in My Soul). Overall the mixes are very satisfying, adding to the original without reshaping or altering their effect. IMO "Scar" would have made a better comapanion than "Magic" to "Absolution" on the EP released in 1995. This song, "You Walk in My Soul", "Bleed" and "The Seed of a Lie", perhaps Numan's most haunting ballad to date, are quite stunning.

I personally loved the original album after previously believing it unlikely Numan would ever produce a decent album again. The extended mixes version just gives the listener more time to wallow in the glorious textures and chords of the original. I recommend it to past and present fans without hesitation. For those unfamiliar with Numan I'd heartily recommend the regular version first. The extended mixes are perhaps too long to appreciate without knowing the original versions.