For those who are interested in listening to late ’70s London punk, synthrock and are fans of Gary Numan’s music should definitely check out Tubeway Army’s eponymous titled album. It’s definitely recommended!
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BAND: Tubeway Army
ALBUM: Tubeway Army
YEAR: 1979
DURATION: 25 Songs, 1 hour and 18 Minutes
LABEL: Beggars Banquet
1. “Listen to the Sirens” – 3:06
2. “My Shadow in Vain” – 2:59
3. “The Life Machine” – 2:45
4. “Friends” – 2:30
5. “Something’s in the House” – 4:14
6. “Everyday I Die” – 2:24
7. “Steel and You” – 4:44
8. “My Love Is a Liquid” – 3:33
9. “Are You Real?” – 3:25
10. “The Dream Police” – 3:38
11. “Jo the Waiter” – 2:41
12. “Zero Bars (Mr. Smith)” – 3:12
CD bonus tracks
13. “Positive Thinking” (live) – 2:56
14. “Boys” (live) – 2:13
15. “Blue Eyes” (live) – 2:03
16. “You Don’t Know Me” (live) – 2:28
17. “My Shadow in Vain” (live) – 4:13
18. “Me My Head” (live) – 4:10
19. “That’s Too Bad” (live) – 3:26
20. “Basic J” (live) – 3:03
21. “Do Your Best” (live) – 2:40
22. “Oh! Didn’t I Say” (live) – 2:31
23. “I’m a Poseur” (live) – 2:30
24. “White Light/White Heat” (live) – 2:49
25. “Kill St. Joy” (live) – 3:46
Years before musician Gary Numan created hits like “Cars”, “Are Friends’ Electric?”, “Complex”, “This Wreckage”, he was the lead vocalist of the London-based new wave band, Tubeway Army.
With punk music super popular in 1977, Tubeway Army began with a punk sound but then evolved to an electronic band.
Originally created by Gary Webb (the man who would later adopt the name “Gary Numan”, a pseudonym inspired from the local Yellow Pages where a plumber Arthur Neumann was listed) who fronted the London band Mean Street in 1976, Webb would become the guitarist of another band called The Lasers.
Webb teamed up with bassist Paul Gardiner and the Lasers would become Tubeway Army. Webb’s uncle Jess Lidyard would join on drums and the band performed at gigs and would be signed to the music label, Beggars Banquet.
While the music didn’t chart in the ’80s and the group having conflict with members Webb and Gardiner, who wanted to move away from punk rock as Webb was unhappy with the violent London punk scene.
So, Webb now going by the name of Gary Numan discovered a Minimoog synthesizer that come upon accidentally at the recording studio and needless to say, Numan was intrigued by it.
And while creating the music, Numan wanted to drop the Tubeway Army name but his label, Beggars Banquet rejected it and so, the finalized tracks were included on the November 1978 blue vinyl release with the eponymous title “Tubeway Army”.
There were no singles from the album and there was an initial pressing of 5,000 copies which sold out.
But the luck of Tubeway Army would change with their follow-up album “Replicas” (which I will review in the near future). But the success of the second album would lead to a re-issue of the first album in 1979 and with a stylized photo of Gary Numan, the re-released charted at No. 14 on the UK charts.
It’s important to note that I am reviewing the digital version. So, there will be no mention of physical release contents in my review.
So, “Tubeway Army” is a punk album with an emphasis on guitars and Webb/Numan’s vocals. But also the writing. For those familiar with Gary Numan’s writing for his music, his fascination from books would lead him to write songs inspired by either sci-fi or something fascinating or interesting. And this continues with his music today. It’s quite thematic and entertaining.
For example, the opening track “Listen to the Sirens” would feature the opening line from Philip K. Dock’s novel “Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said”, “The Life Machine” is a track about a comatose man on life support who wants to die but his loved ones won’t let him go, “Steel and You” would be about androids (which is a punk rock track with screeching metal at the beginning and about having a steel friend), “Friends” would be a track about male prostitution, the acoustic/electronic track “Everyday I Die” is about teenage masturbation, “Jo the Waiter” is an acoustic track referencing to drug addiction.
So, if you ever come across Tubeway Army or Gary Numan songs, pay attention to the lyrics, because that’s one of the cool things about enjoying Numan’s music is his storytelling through his lyrics.
Now, the version I am reviewing is a newer version and this may be the 1998 reissue that has the bonus tracks which include the live concert from a bootleg called “Live at the Roxy”, which was later retitled to “Living Ornaments ’78”.
So after the main album tracks, you get 13 live tracks which include early versions of “My Shadow in Vain”, “Friends” (“Do Your Best”) and a cover of Velvet Underground’s “White Light, White Heat”.
As with many live recordings from clubs during that era, the audio is not the greatest but it’s also not the worst. You do hear some crackle and pops, nothing too distracting for the listener. But considering that these were once released as bootlegs and considering the era and the nature of the technology and recording at the time, I’m just grateful that these were added for this album. But I do like to hear Numan and bandmates rocking out and hearing the crowd get into the music.
But you do hear the David Bowie, Brian Eno and Velvet Underground influences in this album. But most importantly, you start to hear the influence that electronics had with Gary Numan and where he would take things for the next album, “Replicas”.
It’s rather fascinating for me to hear of punk bands who became New Wave groups or artists but also the competition that was going on in the music industry and who has had staying power and are still involved in music today.
While Tubeway Army the name is no longer around, Gary Numan the founder and musical genius is still releasing very cool music today. So, I look at this album as a historical musical imprint in history that would become instrumental in the rise of Gary Numan during the early ’80s.
For those who are interested in listening to late ’70s London punk, synthrock and are fans of Gary Numan’s music should definitely check out Tubeway Army’s eponymous titled album. It’s an entertaining album and the inclusion of the live performance during that era is the icing on the cake. It’s definitely recommended!
