Gary Numan

Released in 1979, Replicas was where Numan began to fully develop his robotic, disconnected stance. The drum-driven tracks are augmented by quavering synthlines that still sound otherworldly, albeit more retro-futuristic than futuristic. "Are 'Friends' Electric?" was one of the best tracks to come out of the New Wave explosion, and it still sounds incredible.

Resistant as I am to the new strain of synthesizer punk now reaching us from England, I didn't connect to this for months--not until I listened to the singing. Numan's lyrics abound with aliens and policemen and pickups in what sounds at first like the worst sort of received decadence, but his monotone is too sweet and vulnerable for that impression to stick. To you it may be sordid sex and middlebrow sci-fi; to him it's romance and horror. The debut (Tubeway Army, Beggar's Banquet import) is faster, more pointed, and includes no instrumentals. This is catchier, more haunted, and includes two. (Grade - B+)