When the Machines Rock - part II

Review Score: (10/10)
Most of Numan's efforts in the last decade have been somewhat musically watered down. The typical observation was that there was maybe two outstanding tracks and the rest was fodder. Exile shows Gary Numan taking the advice "Be true to thine own self". I suspect that Gary needed some time to look critically at what he was doing and get back on track. The thing missing the most on those previous efforts (excepting Sacrifice) was the Numan sound. With others collaborating on his efforts, like the Wave Team programming synths that Gary had no idea how to program, and overbearing guitarists like Kipper all served to effectively water down Gary's sound. With these distracting elements out of the way, he gets down to some serious music writing. Gary plays almost all of the instruments on Exile and has produced, mixed, and engineered the album. The result is an album that is 100% Gary Numan in his best form. The album is descibed as a soundtrack to a horror story in which the concepts of Heaven and Hell, God and Satan, are one and the same. Pretty deep stuff. This album is very strong conceptually and musically, and possibly his best effort to date.

More Reviews:

• Drowning in it
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• The Failure of "Exile"
• Quite Possibly The Biggest Sleeper Album Ever
• Darkest well written musical soundscape you'll hear today.
• Gary Numan's still alive and kicking!
• Good, but Sacrifice is better..
• An Excellent Work.
• promising....
• Don't let the light shine on me
• EXILE
• A step forward for Gloomin' Numan
• Welcome to Numan Heaven
• A Step Down, But Powerful
• One of the better albums I own
• THE BEST CD EVER!!!
• Continuing the proud tradition of being ahead of the curve
• Compelling, Disturbing, and Evocative.
• Numan returns from "Exile"
• A return to greatness... (And to the spotlight?)
• Gary's best ever!
• Living proof that perfection can improve on itself.