The Pleasure Principle - Gary Numan - 7.5/10

Freud thought human beings were 3 things, ego, superego and id (not like the festival id is a teeny word to mean all the hidden parts of our personalities).  The pleasure principle is a phrase he came up with to describe human need to chase pleasure over pain. Our id drives us to seek out pleasurable things always. I don’t understand any of this but my id is very satisfied that I sought out The Pleasure Principle by Gary Numan.

Mr. Numan pioneered the use of the minimoog on this CD and you can hear the human voice preset on nearly every track. “Observer”, “Conversation” and “Cars” all sound vaguely reminiscent of the other and I don’t know if this is intentional like a refrain in the majestic synthpop opera that is The Pleasure Principle.

“M.E.” was a delight to rewind and relisten to! “Cars” is the standout track of course and sadly what made many at the time to regard his one-hit wonder:[ “Random” makes full use of the moog synthesiser to conjure what I now feel is a “typical” synth-pop track. I dont know if I can say it feels nostalgic but the soaring synthesised violins and programmed drum machines neatly packages the 70s and 80s.  

Reminds me of:-

IAMX