Berserker (Gary Numan album)
| Berserker | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Gary Numan | ||||
| Released | 9 November 1984 | |||
| Recorded | 1984 at Rock City Studios, Shepperton, England | |||
| Genre | Electronic rock, industrial rock, new wave, funk rock, synthpop, hard rock | |||
| Length | 45:36 | |||
| Label | Numa Records | |||
| Producer | Gary Numan | |||
| Gary Numan chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Singles from Berserker | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
  |
Berserker is the eighth studio album, and sixth under his own name, by musician Gary Numan, released in 1984. It was his first album to be released under Numan's own record label, Numa Records.
Numan's contract with his previous record label Beggars Banquet had ended with the release of Warriors, and disillusioned with record companies, Numan decided to create his own record label, Numa Records, in order to give himself full control over his recordings, production work and marketing.
Freed from demands of an outside record company, Numan could take the music on his new album into a new and harder direction. The album was named after a series of science-fiction novels by Fred Saberhagen, which Numan had read at school. For the album itself, Numan was concerned with creating a distinct atmosphere:
Berserker was far removed from the electro-funk stylings of Warriors (and, indeed, the fluid, fretless bass stylings of Numan's previous three albums), instead presenting a more hard rock-like sound, combined with an abundant use of sampling. Heavy-metal-like riffs and guitar sounds were a lot more aggressive than on the preceding albums, and the electric bass contrasted with the heavy guitar sound. Numan also decided to use sound as a percussion, in lieu of conventional percussive instruments. The distinctive sound of the PPG Wave synthesiser was introduced on this album, developing memorable synth riffs; the dream-like female backing vocals were still fully embraced from Warriors. Saxophones were infrequently used on the album, along with the viola that had last been featured on Telekon. Lyrically, the album has a haunting, oppressive theme with several references to God throughout. The poignant track "A Child with the Ghost" was Numan's tribute to his friend and former bassist Paul Gardiner, who died in February 1984 from a deliberate heroin overdose. The track was also covered by the duo Tik and Tok on their Intolerance album (which featured Numan) the same year. The Industrial undertones of the Berserker album would be more fully explored on Numan's next album, The Fury (1985).
...
Wikipedia