Machine and Soul
| Machine + Soul | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Gary Numan | ||||
| Released | September 1992 | |||
| Recorded | Outland Studio, Late 1991 - Mid 1992 | |||
| Genre | Funk, pop rock, new wave, industrial rock, dark wave | |||
| Length | 47:09 | |||
| Label | Numa | |||
| Producer | Kipper | |||
| Gary Numan chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
1998 reissue cover
|
||||
| Singles from Machine + Soul | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    |
Machine + Soul is the fourteenth studio album by musician Gary Numan, released in 1992. It was a low point, released primarily to help pay off debt, and was the last of his efforts to make his music more radio-friendly. His subsequent work went in the much darker and more industrial direction that would revive his career.
Numan's two previous studio albums, 1988's Metal Rhythm and 1991's Outland, had been released through IRS Records. However, Numan's relationship with that label had become strained, leading to his quitting IRS and reactivating his own label, Numa Records, on which he had released his work from 1984 until 1986. He continued to release albums on that label, before closing it down permanently after Sacrifice.
Musically, Machine + Soul continued the synth-rock/funk style of Metal Rhythm and Outland; in fact, the two Prince covers, "U Got the Look" and "1999" (the latter of which was relegated to B-side status), were recorded during the Outland sessions and at one point were set for inclusion on that album. Like Outland, Machine + Soul features movie vocal samples (for example, a line from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory can be heard at the beginning of the album). However, Numan strove for a much more commercial sound with Machine + Soul, influenced by the work of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as well as by Prince. A decade after Machine + Soul's release, Numan had little difficulty describing his feelings for the album:
Numan stated that reflecting on the album and its reception almost convinced him to retire from the music industry altogether.
Numan later said that in 1993, "Nothing was right...That music, those clothes, that haircut. Imagine falling off a ship in the ocean, knowing if you stop swimming you're finished. That's what I was doing then. I was trying not to die."
Machine + Soul reached #42 on the UK album charts. Three singles were released from the album: "Emotion", which did not chart; "The Skin Game", which reached #68; and the title track, which reached #72.
...
Wikipedia