Gary Numan - Berserker

  by Eoghan Lyng

published: 8 / 7 / 2025

Label: Select Label
Format: N/A

intro

Eoghan Lyng praises Gary Numan’s 1984 album ‘Berserker’, which has kust been released in an expanded edition.

"If I had one wish, I'd wish to talk with you," Gary Numan sings on 'A Child With The Ghost'. "I have some questions, things only you could know." He could have been singing to the audience as easily as he could be singing to a paramour, but such was the power of the record, it was open to the listener's interpretation. 1984's ‘Berserker’ sounded so confident precisely because it was: six albums into his career, he was ready to push his work as he felt best. And the result was a kinetic, occasionally cinematic, work immersed in the lexicon of pop. Despite the ominous title, 'My Dying Machine' ripples with funk fusion, a bass beat undulating beneath the helium vocals. And then there's the bass heavy 'This Is New Love', a choppy rocker interspersed with funky, quasi-Chicesque guitars. 'Pump It Up', meanwhile, features a wall of vocals, as if recognising 10cc's production style from 'I'm Not In Love’, to a frenetic backbeat. 'The God Film' hints at an alternative future where Ian Curtis survived and continued his tenure with Joy Division; the title track is an absolute beast of a listening experience! Typical Numan, the recordings were ominous. "I choose not to write about the mountains, the blue sky and the palm trees,” he conceded in 2013."I don’t find that very interesting from a songwriter’s point of view. It’s a lovely thing to live in. I genuinely think that the creative part of my brain is tucked away in a little dark corner, and the only things that reach it are dark things." 'She Cries' may be the scariest part of the remaster; tucked in the bonus section, the slow waltz consumes the listener with glistening keyboards and robotic drums. The odd time signature of 'This Ship Comes Apart' anticipates the electronic movement of the 1990s, complete with an oscillating female guest vocalist. An extended version of 'Cold Warning' opens with Indian musicians rattling around, depicting a warring drama that is to unfold. This remaster comes complete with a live rendition of 'Berserker', which in this context sounds like something out of Ridley Scott's ‘Blade Runner’/. The vocal melody is inherently endearing, capturing a rawness he rarely delivered on a studio album. Behind the grand facade comes a singer who polished his vocals in his bedroom. Soulful yearning is attached to the stage renditions of 'The Iceman Comes' and 'Cars' , exhibiting a clarity across the idiosyncratic instrumentation. Both in a studio booth, and a stadium, Numan knew how to captivate the audience. Fittingly, the boxset closes with a rousing rendition of 'Are Friends Electric?', a staple of the ‘White Noise Live’ section . Playing much of the keyboard content, Numan, and indeed ‘Berserker’, benefitted from Russell Bell's riveting guitar playing. Bell brought bluesier cadences to the symphonic pop tunes, aiding the fusion as he did so. It was difficult to categorise Numan's work: too cryptic to be pop, too intense to be rock, too electronic for metal audiences, the impact of ‘Berserker’stemmed from the fact that it was so novel. Richly produced, and performed with intense love, the 1984 product has more than earned its place in his reputation in Numan's library. When it comes to producing high calibre music, Numan is still capable of writing bangers, but like most artists, his core fanbase clamours for the past glories. And with this ensemble Numan has packaged a must buy, a Christmas present of sorts for those who like their rock that is a little bit more cerebral. There's batty, there's weird, and then, ladies and gentlemen, we have the one and only Gary Numan.

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