Gary Numan - Jagged

Get Numan's 'Jagge Edge' Compilation instead

As the fifth gothic-industrial album released by Numan (including Hybrid), this one falls into an all-too-familiar atmosphere, with less of the motivation heard in his earlier pieces since developing into this genre. The songwriting, while occasionally lacking, is good but doesn't take us anywhere listeners haven't heard before from Numan and/or other industrialists.

But the production for these is what really stands out, I think. On the album each song begins with an eerie intro, which gets really old, really quickly; some tracks do well with this treatment, but an entire album that starts out the same just loses what it's trying too hard to get in the first place. Ade Fenton, the co-producer, isn't a bad musician, but he's a techno artist first and foremost, so it's weird to see him doing something like this. Ade's own debut album of this genre is pretty great, I think, but his first impression from his involvement in this album would seem otherwise.

Fortunately, as it turns out, the songs on this album have been in production with a number of other people, those mostly with Ade Fenton. Jagged Edge, a self-released compilation from the Jagged era, shows all the different versions co-produced with other people (Monti, Rob Holliday, Sulpher); it also includes a new instrumental: Edge, and a remix of In A Dark Place. This 2-disc set is well worth getting, even if you don't care much for the original Jagged, because most of the songs really are taken into very different directions (and they sound much less monotonous). I personally like having so many different versions of these songs; it proves that even while it took Numan many years to release Jagged he still manages to impress.

Jagged Edge is available only through Numan's own website (at least for now I think), and I'd much rather give my money directly to one of my all-time favorite artists than to somebody on Amazon.com or Best Buy for that matter. November 29, 2008

Response to previous reviews

I too was disappointed when I first heard this. Many listens later - it's problematic but it grows on you.
Many have commented that Numan has exhausted his "industrial goth" sound and should move on to something else. This seems to me to be a misdiagnosis. The problem isn't the genre itself - there's plenty of room for textural and harmonic diversity in gothic rock, even industrial goth. But Numan isn't a sufficiently versatile composer/arranger (and he's limited by his preference for working alone in the studio, or at best with one or two trusted collaborators).
His compositions here are often formulaic. This is nothing new, he's been writing to formulas all his life - whether due to his limited imagination or just his affection for conceptual suites. Long time fans will remember all the recycling of lyrics in the old days, all the "matching pairs" of two songs with the same hook. And the current formulas are - a) the whisper-then-shout songs (already grossly over-utilized, thankfully it only really happens once here) and b) "things that sound like Kashmir" (usually with vocals buried in unison-synth-riffing, an unusual device for someone who keeps telling us how he regrets burying his voice in backing vocals on the middle-period albums).
Fortunately, having said all that, this is stronger musicallly and conceptually than Pure. Conceptually - even if the "song-by-song analysis of a mental breakdown" idea has been used already by the likes of Pink Floyd and Van Der Graaf Generator, it's still an idea with a lot of potential, and musically - it's more diverse, less repetitive, than its severely overrated predecessor. There are the familiar string synths and fuzzed rhythm guitars, but they're given more to do here. And then there are a few unusual devices like clean-toned guitars and small moments of vocal harmony.
There's some truth in the suggestion that Numan has become stuck in a rut - but evidence suggests he may find a way out of it soon. April 25, 2008

This album was awesome.

I don't care what anyone says. This is some of Numan's best material. I understand it's nothing different from Pure, and that during the intros and versus his singing was a little iffy (just like Pure). However, if you liked Pure (which I did) then you'll be amazed at this album. I never liked old school Numan (carz lmao), and only got into him after hearing Pure I simply couldn't get enough. I found out he was working on it and purchased it almost directly after it came out. I am normally a bigger fan of old school industrial bands (such as Skinny Puppy or Velvet Acid Christ) simply because they paint a picture and take you into another dimension when you listen to them, but Numan managed to do the same thing. He may cite NIN as an influence, but Numan is better than NIN, and when he puts out a good track it's DAMN good. Best track by far is the title track "Jagged".
This album is one to sit and listen to while you're going to sleep (if you're the kind of person that can't listen to light happy sounding music when you're falling asleep), playing video games or driving. You can't just listen to one song, you have to listen to it all the way through to truly appreciate it. It's amazing and that's all there is to it. March 2, 2008

Gary Numan - Reborn

After wandering a bit musically, Gary Numan has really hit home with Jagged, a compelling CD full of gritty music layered on top of heavy lyrics, all tied up with his own haunting style. February 11, 2008

I absolutely love the music but....

I cannot listen to the CD on my PC which is a real bummer because I tend to listen to my CD's most often while I'm on my PC. The PC just won't read it. I'd like to know if this happened to anyone else. September 26, 2007

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