Gary Numan – “Berserker” (Reissue) Album Review

People always put artists, specifically musicians, into genre pigeonholes and to be fair, it’s understandable. You can try to distinguish bands through compartmentalisation, but, when you’ve got THIS style evolving into THAT style, branching off into THIS style, some bands try to INVENT styles, tongue in cheek or not, it doesn’t matter, eventually becoming increasingly moot.  

Despite genres these days feeling torn between being a rabbit hole and a convoluted flow chart of meaningless nuances, we have to go back and appreciate true pioneers. Separate the craftsmen from the caricatures. With that being said, let’s talk about GARY NUMAN.  

Without a complete history lesson here, Gary started off with TUBEWAY ARMY in the late 70’s as a punk-inspired band originally, before they dabbled and divulged in electronic, new romantic synth-wave stylistics. He found chart success both in the UK and the USA, before incorporating more jazz, industrial and a darker means of his song writing style, winning him over with a more Gothic audience as well as a solo artist.  

He’s inspired everyone from TRENT REZNOR to MARILYN MANSON, while being inspired by them themselves in his later career, coming full circle, as well as DAVID BOWIE, DEPECHE MODE and ULTRAVOX, and has even found himself being an inspiration for SUGABABES. Not to mention starting his own label in the 80’s, NUMA RECORDS. Never mind six degrees of Kevin Bacon, who can we tie Numan to? Here in 2025, we revisit Numa Records, for the first physically released remastering of 1984’s “Berserker”, his first release for the label, and see just how well this has stood the test of time. Let’s dye our hair blue and go a bit berserk, shall we?  

We begin with the title track and it’s the first descent into a fictional post-apocalyptic dystopia, where Numan has created this sonic landscape of uncertainty. Sci-Fi in essence but rooted in aspects of Numan’s reality. He’s evolving personally and creatively, and here he’s simultaneously warning you of the journey ahead but still inviting you along. There’s a deep level of discomfort hidden with the bassy synths, wailing guitars and rhythmic percussion, aided by the almost ghostly backing vocals. It’s hauntingly hypnotic stuff while retaining the catchy synth-pop elements of the era. We’re off to a solid start here. 

We follow this up with “This Is New Love” and its quite unsettling truth be told. Take away the very PRINCE inspired funk-laced instrumentation that surrounds the tracks core. Take away the incredibly 80’s rich jazzy saxophone segments, strip back everything that is undeniably fun and appealing here, and you’ve got this incredibly dark piece of song writing. It’s a very culturally transitional piece, helped only by the fictional artistic narrative of the album. Lyrics like “These boys of passion will rule the world, put their fingers in a dyke, well you know it’s what she needed”, scream of a toxic interpretation of masculinity. It’s a nod to societal issues and Numan here acknowledges hedonistic misogyny, objectification and arrogance. “Picture the man when his heartbeat stops”…he is a cold-blooded animal, and this has damning lyricism. 

Tracks like “My Dying Machine” continue along the vein of using synthetic percussive layers and rich electronica for another slab of lightly industrialised pop. The dystopian qualities shine bright blue here as Numan essentially asks, even begs, what’s the point? He’s highlighting the pedantry escalating in the world around him through a nihilistic mindset. The machine; whichever way you want to interpret it, be it morality, society, the status quo, is malfunctioning. He’s embracing his punk roots here. 

“Cold Warning” showcases Numan’s willingness to explore creative ideas by including a sense of middle eastern string instrumentation to bolster the heavily regimented, already familiar alt. pop aesthetics. “The God Film” returns to a slightly deeper, slower core piece of electronica with vocal distortion, and at times you can hear where artists like GOST (No, not GHOST) may have gotten ideas from, despite the funky joviality of the track. “The Hunter” then incorporates a more guitar-driven delivery for an edgier, rockier piece which instrumentally, honestly sounds like something JIM JOHNSTON would pen for a golden era WWF(E) wrestler or promotional package. It’s easy to imagine Vince McMahon thunder-throating his way through a Survivor Series card with this playing in the background, with Hulk Hogan flexing his pythons, Jim Duggan swinging his wood around, Rick Martel spraying his arrogance everywhere…wrestling isn’t homo-erotic I promise…Gary is now reading this completely befuddled.  

Returning to a more serious note, the album rounds up with slower, sombre offerings like “Rumour” and “Empty Bed, Empty Heart”, and the primarily instrumental “This Ship Comes Apart”, plateauing but not strictly stagnating, that would be overly harsh. The album hasn’t necessarily aged brilliantly in terms of sound, but there’s enough post-retro nostalgia within mainstream charts AND alternative music today to get an idea of where inspirations come from. Don’t get me wrong the 80’s was a hot bed for synth-laden, neon pop, mass-producing new-wave artists left, right and centre, and many got more recognition. Gary Numan, however, has always been a little more of a darker soul when it comes to his creativity, and while he had peers, few of them were as pioneering at the time. He just didn’t get the CREDIT at the time.  

With his last two albums both reaching a very fucking respectable number two in the album charts, and being booked for this year’s Glastonbury, it’s safe to say that over 40 years on, Numan’s legacy speaks for itself, and with more Numa Records releases expected to get this same treatment, a lot of younger generations can discover Gary Numan for themselves, and appreciate how bold and unabashed he was and is as an artist.  

This special physical remaster does come with extended versions of the original album, which I must stress, some songs already top 5+ minutes, and a live album, so it’s certainly one for the long-time fans and collectors, but all in all, while not a spellbinding album, “Berserker” showcased a confidence and an evolution, for frankly one of alternative pop’s most underrated names. This isn’t new love, that would get us cancelled in this day and age, but it’s a rekindled relationship with an original new-romantic, and I suggest to anyone into indie, dark pop, electronica and synth-wave to really go back, and listen to one of the finest to ever do it. Now…how long will this blue hair dye last? 4 to 8 weeks? Fuck… 

Score: 6/10

Track List

1. Berserker

2. This Is New Love

3. The Secret

4. My Dying Machine

5. Cold Warning

6. Pump It Up

7. The God Film

8. A Child With The Ghost

9. The Hunter

10. Empty Bed, Empty Heart

11. Here Am I

12. She Cries

13. Rumour

14. This Ship Comes Apart

15. Berserker Extended Version

16. This Is New Love Extended Version

17. The Secret Extended Version

18. My Dying Machine Extended Version

19. Cold Warning Extended Version

20. The Hunter Extended Version

21. Intro (White Noise Live)

22. Berserker (White Noise Live)

23. Metal (White Noise Live)

24. Me, I disconnect from You (White Noise Live)

25. Remind Me to Smile (White Noise Live)

26. Sister Surprise (White Noise Live)

27. Music for Chameleons (White Noise Live)

28. The Iceman Comes (White Noise Live)

29. Cold Warning (White Noise Live)

30. Down in the Park (White Noise Live)

31. This Prison Moon (White Noise Live)

32. I Die: You Die (White Noise Live)

33. My Dying Machine (White Noise Live)

34. Cars (White Noise Live)

35. We Take Mystery (to Bed) (White Noise Live)

36. We Are Glass (White Noise Live)

37. This Is New Love (White Noise Live)

38. My Shadow In Vain (White Noise Live)

39. Are ‘Friends’ Electric? (White Noise Live)

Release Date: April 25th
Record Label: BMG

For all things Gary Numan, click HERE and to purchase the album, click HERE