Gary Numan Jagged CD

Personnel: Gary Numan (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Gary Numan; Steve Harris , Steve Harris (guitar); Kimberlee McCarrick (violin); Martin McCarrick (cello); Gordon Young (keyboards, programming); Jerome Dillon (drums); Ade Fenton (keyboards, drums, programming); Andy Gray (keyboards, programming); Richard Beasley (drums).
Audio Mixer: Gary Numan.
Photographer: Steve Gullick.
On 2006's JAGGED, influential synth-pop artist Gary Numan is firmly entrenched in the dark side. This ominous studio outing finds the British singer/multi-instrumentalist focused on atmosphere more than catchy hooks (a la his lone hit "Cars"), seemingly picking up where David Bowie left off on 1995's OUTSIDE (minus that disc's busy narrative conceit). Numan is clearly committed to weighty industrial arrangements on this album, as best evidenced on the heavy, brooding "Halo," which washes listeners in a wave of distorted guitar lines and pounding rhythms. Perhaps more than any other Numan release, this disc will appeal to metal and Goth fans, revealing that the veteran performer remains both relevant and creatively restless nearly 30 years into his recording career.
The sprawling and dark Jagged finds Gary Numan continuing his love affair with all things gothic and industrial, and while many of the tracks are rich, layered, and downright creepy, the album as a whole is tough going, with too many songs sounding the same. The soft-loud-soft-even-louder technique that Nine Inch Nails often employ is beaten to death here and long, eerie intros are the norm. Numan's lyric writing is inspired, mostly by betrayal and heartbreak, and his teaming with multi-instrumentalist Ade Fenton has brought on a new sound for the veteran synth-man, one with landscapes that are sinister and vast. It's mesmerizing for a track or two, then three or for more, and the listener is begging for a melody or something sharp to cut through the muck. Taken in small doses, Jagged works better, if not extremely well, but only the hardcore need to check this wandering and bleak album. ~ David JeffriesMojo (Publisher) (p.p.90) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t is supremely confident and the innovator of the late '70s never sounds like he's having to play catch-up."