I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to call Gary Numan the Godfather of Industrial Music. His body of work, spanning almost fifty years, speaks for itself. From his punk rock origins with the band Tubeway Army, to his runaway success with The Pleasure Principle album, and of course the mega-single Cars, Numan has firmly cemented himself as the benchmark that Industrial artists are compared, consciously or otherwise. His detached android-like persona became iconic during the New Wave era and his distinctive, almost mechanical-sounding voice has never been replicated by any of even his most devoted emulators. And while A Perfect Circle isn’t his first live album, it acts as a great time capsule and retrospective of Numan’s career.
Filmed and recorded at the OVO Arena at Wembly in London during his 2022 tour, Numan takes the crowd through a comprehensive tour of his musical history, featuring songs spanning almost every phase of his career. The performance is a top-notch production as expected, with plenty of visual spectacle. Interestingly, Numan has abandoned the stoic and almost disinterested stage guise in favor of a more animated show. Swaying, dancing, and egging the audience on with an ease that shows how he’s grown into the role of not just creative genius but a full-blown rockstar.
Joining Numan onstage are contributors to Intruder, his most recent release at that point, including his daughters Raven and Persia, adding background vocals.
A Perfect Circle is perhaps the best introduction for newcomers to understand and appreciate Gary Numan, the innovator he was then and exemplar of electronic music that remains to this day.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mZ8bF8ukvxExEOwCK6OsUGT2gVJkTGE1k&si=63yfUcDDVnh7r-kU