Dance is the third solo studio album by the English new wave musician Gary Numan, released on 4 September 1981 by Beggars Banquet Records.[4] It was the first studio album Numan released after his "Farewell Concerts" staged at Wembley Arena (although Numan would return to performing live shows in 1982).
Dance features the UK Top 10 single "She's Got Claws". The album itself reached No. 3 on the UK charts.
Overview
Dance was Numan's most experimental album to date with a minimalistic approach featuring sparse electronic sounds and prolific use of drum machines and percussion. With synth-pop music in the mainstream by 1981, Numan made a conscious effort to explore new musical areas. Influenced by Brian Eno, Kraftwerk and Japan, Numan hired Japan's bassist Mick Karn to play on the album.[5]
Lyrically the songs were inspired by the imagery of authors William S. Burroughs and J. G. Ballard and features Numan's own personal experiences, particularly a relationship that had turned bitter.[5]
Critical reception
Reaction to the album was mixed, some critics applauding what they saw as a less commercial career move and others viewing the change of pace with cynicism.[5] A positive review appeared in Smash Hits magazine which gave the album a 9 out of 10 rating, describing the music as "timeless".[5] Writing for NME, Paul Morley argued that the album elevated Numan above many synthesizer contemporaries: "Dance does prove that when judged against his proper peers he can come out well... It's a thoughtful response to the new competition: Numan self-controlled and sophisticated. He can filter and exploit past noises as sensibly, even surprisingly, as anyone", but Morley felt that the music lacked other things: "Dance is Numan's neatest, cleanest and most responsible homage to Brian Eno. The elements of Eno's meditative adjustments and slippy neology are used well, but Another Green World's breathtaking personality, intimacy, grace and irony is missing."[5]
A few years after Dance's release Numan conceded, "if I was supposed to be a pop star doing music for the masses, it probably wasn't the right thing to do", but he praised the standard of playing on it.[6] "She's Got Claws" was the album's sole single release, making number 6 in the UK charts, whilst the album itself peaked at number 3. It was Numan's first album to miss the number 1 spot since Tubeway Army's debut studio album in 1978, dropping out of the charts after 8 weeks.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Gary Numan, except "Night Talk" and "Stormtrooper in Drag", co-written with Paul Gardiner
Previous CD releases of Dance (Japan in 1990, and the UK in 1993) included "Love Needs No Disguise", Numan's 1981 single with Dramatis, as a bonus track. The track was subsequently replaced by its B-side, "Face to Face", for the subsequent edition of Dance, although "Love Needs No Disguise" would be included on the 1996 Numan compilation, The Premier Hits.
On 19 January 2018, Beggars Arkive released Dance as a vinyl double-album, with the following track listing:
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Slowcar to China"
9:05
2.
"Night Talk"
4:26
3.
"A Subway Called 'You'"
4:36
4.
"Cry, the Clock Said"
9:54
5.
"She's Got Claws"
4:59
6.
"Crash"
3:35
7.
"Boys Like Me"
4:14
8.
"Stories"
3:09
9.
"My Brother's Time"
4:35
10.
"You Are, You Are"
4:00
11.
"Moral" (extended version, previously unreleased)
5:41
12.
"Stormtrooper in Drag"
4:57
13.
"Face to Face"
3:45
14.
"Dance"
2:46
15.
"Exhibition"
4:26
16.
"I Sing Rain"
2:29
The only previously-unreleased track in the 2018 edition of Dance is the extended version of "Moral," which is over a minute longer than the version in the original album. The 2018 edition of Dance otherwise replicates the track listing of the standard CD edition.
