Gary Numan- M.E. REACTION & REVIEW 

There are no guitars on this album. That is viola being plucked. This song was sampled for the song Where's Your Head At by Basement Jaxx.

For the longest time I only knew the sample in 'Where's Your Head At' (2001) by Basement Jaxx - it has one of the most disturbing yet funny music videos I can think of.

I bought the album when it came out because of "Cars". However, even though I love the whole album, "M.E." is my absolute favourite. I just LOVE this song!!!

I saw Numan live right after this came out and was NOT prepared for it. When his productions are played loud they get THICKER, richer. I remember his band were in a set that kinda looked like Hollywood squares, multi levels with each musician in their own station, drums in the middle unusually elevated.

This album, intended or not, is a collection of songs about alienation (or isolation), forced upon or desired. Wanting to be part of humanity (Metal) or feeling left of out of society while hidden away doing the work (engineers) feeling that life is just like a film (films) or that life is something to observe from a distance(Observer), wanting to hide in your car (cars) and fans (Complex) and wanting to switch places with another person (Tracks). Maybe Numan was feeling disassociation or something. Also note the palette he used: the limited sounds, lack of guitar, the lack of real choruses and one word song titles, to produce a uniform sound and look

Gary Numan is not just a musician he is a composer !! Listen to some of his new stuff and see what he can do layers wise with the technology available these days.

I knew you were going to love this piece, justin! And indeed, it is one of the highlights of the album, but anyway, The Pleasure Principle is a masterpiece.🔺😉

The plucked sound is synth/violinist Chris Payne plucking the strings on his violin.

Gary Numan is such a cool rabbit hole to go down.

I would like to recommend Gary Numan's album "Living Ornaments '79'. All those wonderfull tracks when performed during concert sound like larger than life. No one can match sound of Numan's analog synths.

This is an amazing album! Equally amazing is the fact that it doesn’t need a bunch of lyrics to hold it aloft; the melodies and beat are the main driving force. Lyrics tend to have more impact when few words are used. 👍🏻👍🏻

Try Living Ornaments 79 Live, M.E sounds great live as does most of Noman's songs, they have more power and his voice is also a lot better. 79 and 80 Living Ornaments are my favourite Numan Albums by far.

Mechanical Engineering aka M.E. is quite something and completely robotic-sounding which is intended because the song is about a Robot's despair because it's the last machine working. When I saw Gary on stage in 1979 he was very alien looking and so those of us who liked Sci-Fi thought he was from another world! We are now 44 years later and I guess by now Justin you have explored Gary's ouvre, particularly his latest album 'Intruder'. Sure it doesn't sound like the 'Pleasure Principle' (a Freudian term) but Gary has still got in with his voice, his lyrics and the industrial-sounding music he creates, which is a little more sophisticated these days. I hope you explore him further.

I’d imagine it’s now clear how Numan inspired Reznor.

If you haven't already heard them I suggest you check out M.E. and Cars, Gary Numan live with NIN. Awesome!

This was the first album I ever bought. I've been playing it to death for over 40 years!❤

Fantastic album, fantastic song and fantitastc artist. And in love your reactions! Can‘t wait for 30000 subcribers. Greetings from Germany😊

It's a plucked violin, either that or a viola.

Video posted a year ago...suspect this incredible song is still stuck in your head... A masterpiece.

Excellent and, like many of Numan's synth riffs, ripe for sampling 20 years later. My memory of this time is that Numan made the mistake of voicing his support for the Conservative UK government at a time when the (then very influential) music press (particularly the NME) were fiercely against it so his groundbreaking work was either ignored or vilified - an early victim of cancel culture if you will. Had his work been treated fairly, I suspect he would have been an even bigger star. He now refuses to discuss politics.