Exile (Gary Numan Album)
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''Exile'' is the thirteenth solo
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by English musician
Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the New wave music, new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two st ...
, released in October 1997 by
Eagle Records Eagle Records is a British record label, a division of Eagle Rock Entertainment, itself a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. In the United Kingdom, the label's managing director is Lindsay Brown, former manager of Van Halen, while in the ...
. Its release continued a critical upswing in Numan's career which began three years earlier with the release of ''
Sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...
'', and which had been boosted by the release of the ''
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'' tribute album earlier in 1997.


Overview

The album followed a loose concept namely that, rather than being opposites,
God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
and the
Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...
were two sides of the same coin. Each track reflected some aspect of this premise. Unlike ''Sacrifice'', Numan's theme in ''Exile'' was not so much
atheistic Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
as
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; it did not deny the existence of God but, instead, his proclaimed goodness. Shortly after the album's release, Numan explained: "Personally, I don't believe in God at all, but if I'm wrong and there is a God, what kind of god would it be who would give us the world we live in?" The opening number and single, "Dominion Day", set the album's gothic/ industrial rock tone, describing how a man's nightmare becomes reality as
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returns to Earth in scenes suggestive of the
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. The tale was set against a wall of
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s, drum loops and distorted
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
s. "Dark", which further explored what the composer saw as an incestuous relationship between God and the Devil, became a favourite for movie trailers before being used on the soundtrack of
Alex Proyas Alexander Proyas ( ; born 23 September 1963) is an Australian film director. He is known for directing the films ''The Crow (1994 film), The Crow'' (1994), ''Dark City (1998 film), Dark City'' (1998), ''I, Robot (film), I, Robot'' (2004) and '' ...
’ film '' Dark City''. "Dead Heaven" turned various
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conceits on their head (
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is ravaged, rather than revered, by the
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) while "Absolution", a re-recording of a 1995 single, was a bitter reflection on the consequences of unquestioning faith; it had been covered by
Amanda Ghost Amanda Louisa Gosein-Cameron (born 10 July 1974), known professionally as Amanda Ghost, is a British entertainment executive, songwriter and singer. She was the president of Epic Records from 2009 until 2010. Ghost is a three-time Ivor Novello A ...
on the ''
Random In common usage, randomness is the apparent or actual lack of definite pattern or predictability in information. A random sequence of events, symbols or steps often has no order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. ...
'' tribute album. Though not a big chart success ''Exile'' scored almost universally positive reviews, a contrast to the situation in Numan's early years when he had many hits but was generally condemned by critics. However it further alienated some fans who had been put off by ''Sacrifices anti-religious undertones. The website www.remindmetosmile.com changed from a tribute page to one openly critical of Numan for being "so bold that he feels he can mock God and feel good about it". Numan's response was: :"This sort of reaction always amazes me. Here you have people that genuinely believe that God created this entire bloody universe in just six days, without anybody's help, and yet they seem to think that He needs their help to deal with little me. If God was bothered about me, He would deal with me". The US edition of ''Exile'' included one extra track, a live recording of " Down in the Park", previously released on the double album ''Ghost'' (1987); Numan, who did not approve its inclusion, presumed that his record label did it to link him to
Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...
and other artists who had recently covered the song. An extended version of ''Exile'', twenty six minutes longer than the original, was released in 1998. Numan toured the UK and US in support of the album to largely sell-out crowds, a concert recording from this period called ''Live at Shepherd’s Bush Empire'' (US title ''Live in London'') eventually being released in 2004.


Re-recording

On 21 July 2021, Vaughn George announced on his YouTube channel after his interviews with Gary Numan and his present album producer Ade Fenton that ''
Sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...
'', ''Exile'' and '' Pure'' would be re-produced from the ground up to the current production standards of more current albums produced by Fenton such as ''
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'' and ''
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''. At the time of the video, ''Sacrifice'' and ''Pure'' had been fully recorded, while production of ''Exile'' had been put on hold due to the release of ''Intruder''. There has been no announcement for the release date.


Track listings


Personnel

*
Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the New wave music, new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two st ...
– vocals, producer, keyboards, guitar, engineer, mixing *Mike Smith – keyboards * Rob Harris – guitar ;Technical *Simon Shazell – mastering *
John Burns John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...
– re-mastering *Gemma Webb – assistant engineer, artwork *Chris Poel – artwork *Cürt Evans – design *NuFederation – design *
Joseph Cultice Joseph Cultice is an American photographer. Cultice began his photography career in Phoenix, Arizona, where he was inspired by his love of rock 'n' roll and pop icons like KISS and David Bowie. His first photo shoot was with rock band The Meat Pu ...
– photography *
Perou perou by frances 2000, right Ralph John Perou (born May 1970), known professionally as Perou and @mrperou on social media, is a British fashion, portrait and music photographer who has also appeared as a judge on '' Make Me a Supermodel UK'' ...
– photography


Notes


References

* Paul Goodwin (2004). ''Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan''. {{Authority control Gary Numan albums 1997 albums Eagle Records albums