The Pleasure Principle, released just five months after Replicas, was Numan's big breakthrough. I think Cars is one of those songs that everyone has heard. But, that track is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot of depth to this record with lots of great tunes. This is the first of his record to be released under his name, rather than Tubeway Army.
The Pleasure Principle was the first Gary Numan record I ever heard, and I owe that, oddly, to my weird brother. His usual choice of music was either things like John Denver, Barry Manilow, or Elvis and the disco queens. I still have no idea how he ended up buying this record, but I assume it was because of the track, Cars, which isn't even the best track on the LP (M.E., Metal, and Films are all better, if you ask me).
I am not dissing Cars. I think it has suffered from over-playing and I wish everyone could clear the slate and go back and listen to it for the first time. If we were able to do that, I think we would all agree that it is fabulous, even if the lyrics are not deep or groundbreaking.
Two things to note: Numan got a new drummer with this record and there are no guitars at all on the record, apart from the bass. I think he was trying to make a point, and he did it. This might well be his best record.
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