Machine + Soul is the eleventh solo studio album by English 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.
Overview
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", 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. 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 peaked at No. 42 on the UK album charts. Three singles were released from the album: "Emotion", which did not chart; "The Skin Game", which peaked at No. 68; and the title track, which peaked at No. 72. Over a year after the album's release, Numan embarked on the 14-date "Dream Corrosion Tour" of October–November 1993, from which the live albumDream Corrosion was released. Recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo, London on 6 November 1993, and released in August 1994, Dream Corrosion reached only #86 on the UK Album charts, however, it has been cited as the template with which Numan relaunched his career, preparing him for his return-to-form album Sacrifice in 1994. With Sacrifice, Numan dispensed with the dance rhythms and female backing vocals, in favour of a back-to-basics approach, more introspective lyrics, and a darker musical sound. Three songs from Machine + Soul were included on the 1996 remix album, Techno Army featuring Gary Numan. Machine + Soul was reissued in 1998 in the US and 1999 in the UK. The album's original sleeve was discarded for both releases. Both editions featured entirely new covers, utilizing photographs from Numan's Metal Rhythm era.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Gary Numan except where noted. All timings are approximate and will vary slightly with different equipment.
