Dance (album)
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Dance is the title of a 1981 album by electropop artist Gary Numan. It was the first album released after his announced retirement from touring (about which he would soon change his mind).
The album's sound consists of extremely spare, almost minimalist electronics, with some noteworthy session work by guitarist Rob Dean and bassist Mick Karn, both of Japan. Critics have noted a primary influence seems to have been Brian Eno's seminal Another Green World. Dance’s title is also ironic, as virtually none of its tracks are danceable.
The songs' lyrics deal largely with tragic sexual relationships, examined in a manner similar to the often bleak and alienating relationships between people and technology that informed earlier songs such as "Cars" and "Are 'Friends' Electric?". "Slowcar to China" is a nine-minute opus about a prostitute. "Night Talk" is about a man dealing with a lover who is a drug addict. "Cry the Clock Said" is a nearly ten-minute ballad about a breakup widely considered one of Numan's most beautiful songs. And the salsa-flavored "She's Got Claws" is about a predatory woman.
Interestingly, the song titled "Dance" does not appear on the album, and was only released years later as a CD bonus track.
The cover art shows Numan wearing a Trilby hat pulled low over his brow. This was to hide stitches and scar tissue from hair transplant surgery.
Numan very rarely performs any music from this album in concert.
Track listing
- Slowcar to China
- Night Talk
- A Subway Called "You"
- Cry the Clock Said
- She's Got Claws
- Crash
- Boys Like Me
- Stories
- My Brother's Time
- You Are, You Are
- Moral
- Stormtrooper in Drag*
- Face to Face*
- Dance*
- Exhibition*
- I Sing Rain*
CD bonus tracks marked with asterisk