Gary Numan’s fourth album was a big step in the right direction back to some liveliness and variety in song pacing and construction. Guitars were back and not a moment too soon. Most of his best albums heavily feature them. “This Wreckage” is another slow, long song but unlike “Conversation” on his previous album, this one maintains one’s interest. “Remind Me To Smile” has a great arrangement full of hooks and by gar, should have been a hit single! The call and response outro is massively catchy.
The non-LP single “We Are Glass” is one of Numan’s finest hit singles – I never tire of it! Its inclusion into the album flow on CD is most welcome. Having the almost as good “I’m An Agent” follow it is a gift of sequencing! This sleek number also had single written all over it. (only “This Wreckage” was released as a single from the album) “I Dream Of Wires” is another strong song, originally written for Robert Palmer’s “Clues” album. Both versions are good but Numan’s is less funky – imagine that!
Two delicate synth ballads follow and then the tasty “Joy Circuit” wraps up the album. The memorable “I Die: You Die” was another non-LP single that was released during this period. Another happy little Numan ditty for the fans! Two other bonus tracks are exemplary. The “Piano Version” of his classic “Down In The Park” is a great take on the classic song. And his cover of Erik Satie’s “Trois Gymnopidies” is a beautifully delicate version with piano and synths blended together in an almost mocha kind of swirl, if you’ll have it.
This album is a high water mark of the Polymoog period of Numan’s career. His next one would be an abrupt change of direction, and one I admire greatly, but one is left with the thought that this is the album that “The Pleasure Principal” should have been; engaging synth rock with both the ability to rock and the desire to expand beyond that limitation.
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Post-Punk Monk 
Telekon was (and is) a huge influence on my musical tastes and I still love the album so very much. I believe it to be the finest electronic rock- (for want of a better term!) -album that has ever been made, I never tire of it. There is such beauty and power in the album that certain parts have the ability to make me weep ie “The Aircrash Bureau” “The Joy Circuit” etc. I was lucky enough to see the man on the Teletour at Southampton Gaumont in 1980, I was 13 years old and it was the highlight of my youth! I’ve got to go and listen to the album now, thanks for the reminder of its brilliance!
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Joe Christ – Welcome to the comments! “Telekon” was in immense album for early 1980 for my friends and I. Of course, we bought the very different US edition with the singles added to it, and the EP lacking. That was playing on a loop all year in my friend Dave’s home whenever I’d visit. I only saw Numan in ’98 in a small club in Central Florida, but better late than never. Numan’s sense of melody was never more powerful or sophisticated than on “Telekon.” That one was a keeper. I need to write proper reviews of the Beggars Banquet run for Numan. I can’t do a Rock G.P.A. because my collection ended with “Exile.”
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Why did your collection end at Exile?
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Joe Christ – Not a fan of Metal Numan. I thought that “Sacrifice” was a breakthrough for him! But I thought that “Exile” was a watered down “Sacrifice.” Then “Pure” was watered down “Exile.” After that, he was just too metal for me. I hate NIN so that so did not work for me. When I watched the “Machine Man” DVD I had to skip the second half of disc one! Also, an atheist repeatedly moaning about god is the definition of tedium to me. It gives the mythic being far too much currency for my taste,
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Yeah! I hear a lot of people say that they don’t like Metal Numan as much as the earlier works, I certainly don’t prefer his Metal/Industrial albums over the classics which for me is the whole Beggars period and up to and including The Fury, but I do like them especially Savage which is a real grower!
I agree with you about NIN and I also would like to see him write more interesting lyrics other than banging on about God which does indeed (I agree again) get tedious.
There is so much new and frightening technology around these days that I would love to see Numan songs about those aspects of how we now live with tech being such a huge part of our lives.
Back when Telekon came out to have a VCR in your house was considered very high end technology and now you can’t give them away, even the charity shops in England have stopped accepting VHS as donations, ha ha!
Thanks again for the great Telekon review.
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Joe Christ – I almost can’t decide if I like “The Fury” or “Strange Charm” more. The crucial Numan for me? “Replicas,” “Telekon,” “Dance,” “The Fury,” “Strange Charm,” + “Sacrifice.” I didn’t say I had to pick just five!
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They’re quite different albums to my ears, I do like Strange Charm but The Fury has the edge for me, I think it’s also because of where I was in life at the time those albums were released, I had lost interest in him to some degree by the time Strange Charm came out as I’d started living with a lot of vegetarian hippies in various squats and got into Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Led Zep and Frank Zappa, I kind of left my youth behind for a number of years, but now I listen to more music from the Post Punk era than anything else and hardly ever listen to the hippie bands, I do still have a soft spot for Hawkwind though especially the Calvert era!
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Hi, thanks for the reply! I bought Telekon as soon as it came out, mine had a poster in it with a cool picture of Numan holding the light rod and enshrouded in mist, it went straight up on my wall and stayed there for a good few years. I look forward to reading some more reviews of his Beggars albums. This is a great site you have here!
p.s. I bought my ticket the other day to go and see him on the 40th Anniversary (R)evolution UK tour in October this year, apparently he’s going to do a song from every album he’s released, I can’t wait!
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