A Review of "The Pleasure Principle" by Phil Whalley
(who gave it 7 out of 10)
November 2nd 1996

If Replicas is the album for which Numan is best remembered, 'Cars' is the song. Replicas saw the guitars turned down, The Pleasure Principle (alas) saw them disappear altogether. Moreover, much of the album's material was not strong enough to cover the absence. The Moog minimalism of tracks like 'Observer', 'Conversation' and 'Engineers' and the over reliance on the quackish bass synth makes this one of my least favourite early albums.

However, the album's highlights arguably outshine those of Replicas - the fragile beauty of 'Complex', the rousing finale of 'M.E.', the uplifting 'Tracks' and the classic 'Cars'. Any album which contains all of these can't be judged too harshly.

BEST TRACK - 'Tracks', a thick slab of Numan synth rifferama (with Ced opening his hi-hats like there's no tomorrow) inbetween an evocative intro and mournful ending.