1978 Synth / Pop LP Repressed on Blue Vinyl - Beggars Arkive reissue of the self-titled debut album by Tubeway Army. The audio was mastered at Abbey Road from analogue tape. Tubeway Army was the name of Gary Numan’s band, formed in 1977, their self-titled debut album was released at the tail end of 1978. This album truly paved the way for Gary Numan to become an electronic pioneer. It was during the sessions for this album that he came across a minimoog synthesizer by accident in the recording studio, and the rest is history.
The album was a segue from the punk-leaning sounds of their early singles, to the pioneering electronic music that Gary Numan became known for. The phrase “garagey sci-fi rock” was used in reference to this album. This album truly paved the way for Gary Numan to become an electronic pioneer.
Shortly after this album’s release, Tubeway Army recorded their follow-up, Replicas, which contained “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?”, which became the first synthesizer-based number 1 hit of the electronic era in 1979. After its release, Numan opted to drop the Tubeway Army name and release music under his own name, retaining the musicians from Tubeway Army as his backing band.
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MP3
a1
Listen To The Sirens
a2
My Shadow In Vain
a3
The Life Machine
a4
Friends
a5
Something's In The House
a6
Everyday I Die
b1
Steel And You
b2
My Love Is A Liquid
b3
Are You Real?
b4
The Dream Police
b5
Jo The Waiter
b6
Zero Bars (Mr. Smith)
Last FM Information on Tubeway Army
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Tubeway Army's main claim to fame is that Gary Webb (aka Gary Numan) first came to the public's attention here. The band was formed in London, UK in 1977 by Gary Numan and the late Paul Gardiner. What started as a British punk band would evolve into something quite different. During the recording of their self-titled first album ("Tubeway Army") in 1978, Numan came across a Minimoog synthesizer accidentally left in the studio which would end up being used in several of the album's songs. The change in sound served well for the band as their first album would go on to sell out its small initial pressing despite not charting.
The release of their second album "Replicas" in 1979 finally gave Numan the success he had been trying to achieve from the start with the single "Are Friends Electric?", the song topping the British charts for four weeks. The band's cold electronic take on minimalistic pop took a little while to catch on with the music audience at large, but proved to be of lasting influence. Combining the artistic and poetic tendencies of David Bowie (especially the Berlin years) with sequenced synthesizers along the lines of Kraftwerk presaged the whole genre of techno-pop in the 1980s.
In late 1979, after the success of "Replicas", Numan dropped Tubeway Army and went on to record as a solo artist.
It's also worthy of note that during 1979, while his band "Ultravox" were on hiatus, Billy Currie collaborated with Gary on material for both "Replicas" and Gary's first solo album "The Pleasure Principle".
The official website can be found here: www.garynuman.co.uk
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