Warriors (Gary Numan album)
| Warriors | ||||
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| Studio album by Gary Numan | ||||
| Released | 16 September 1983 | |||
| Recorded | 1983 at Rock City Studios, Shepperton | |||
| Genre | New wave, experimental music, funk, jazz fusion, industrial rock, synthpop | |||
| Label | Beggars Banquet | |||
| Producer | Gary Numan, Bill Nelson (uncredited) | |||
| Gary Numan chronology | ||||
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| Alternative Cover | ||||
2002 Rerelease cover
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| Singles from Warriors | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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| Smash Hits | 2/10 |
Warriors is the seventh studio album, and fifth under his own name, by the British musician Gary Numan, released in September 1983. It was his last studio album released on Beggars Banquet Records.
Gary Numan returned to England in May 1983 to record the album. He had written most of the album's material in late 1982-early 1983, while he was living in Jersey, Channel Islands (after spending a few months in Los Angeles, California as a Tax exile). While Numan was working on the early Warriors material, Beggars Banquet suggested that, for the first time during his career, he should use a co-producer instead of producing the album entirely by himself (this was initially suggested by the label for Numan's previous album I, Assassin, a suggestion Numan refused at the time). Numan was not keen at first, but WEA managing director Mike Heap promised him "a virtually unlimited promotional budget" on the album if he signed up a producer. Numan eventually decided to recruit guitarist Bill Nelson for the job, as he was an admirer of Nelson's band, Be-Bop Deluxe. Numan claimed that Nelson was his "favourite guitar player, bar none." Unfortunately for Numan, Mike Heap was fired and the record company was no longer willing to cover all the costs for Numan's album. It was stated sometime after the release of the album WEA had, in fact, told Numan that he was reaching sales of 60,000 units, and that was satisfactory to them. Numan later remarked, "When the new people came in, I was as far from a priority act as it was possible to be. I felt as though they'd cut me down at the knees and it was the last time I got excited about a promise in the music business."
Numan later claimed that Warriors pointed the way for his artistic decline throughout the 80s:
For the recording of the album, Numan retained drummer Cedric Sharpley, keyboardist Chris Payne, and guitarist Russell Bell, all of whom had played on Numan's albums and tours since 1979. Pino Palladino, the bassist on Numan's previous album I, Assassin (1982), was unable to return for Warriors. At Palladino's suggestion, Numan recruited Joe Hubbard as a replacement. Bill Nelson played guitars during the recording of Warriors, giving them more prominence than they had been allowed on I, Assassin. Numan asked Dick Morrissey to be the saxophone player on the album, as he admired his work on the Blade Runner film score. Numan later described Morrissey as "brilliant, a musical genius. First take, perfect, not a single note wrong." Ultimately, Morrissey would contribute to five Numan albums, from 1983 to 1991. Female backing vocals were also introduced to the Numan sound on Warriors, provided by Tracey Ackerman.
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