Living Ornaments 1979 (Live at Hammersmith Odeon 28th September 1979) - Gary Numan

Advantages: Some stunning tracks, it's an incredible effort considering where he came from
Disadvantages: A few dull moments, but I still can't wait for the next one

...OK, you should have all finished doing double takes now. Yes, this is a Gary Numan album and yes it is in the hard rock category (Or at least it should be!!!). It’s all a bit convoluted but basically Gary Numan has transformed himself from the strange little man of electro pop he used to be into a Trent Reznor like electro rock behemoth. And yet who was it who inspired Trent Reznor (Amongst others) to pick up a synth and create what we know now as Nine Inch Nails? Gary Numan of course. So the mentor having duly mentored the pupil has now changed into the image of the former pupil. Very deep, very Zen – very verging on the Karate Kid. The music that Gary NuNuman has created owes a very big debt to Nine Inch Nails, it’s definitely been created from a similar mind set as it mixes dark electronic synth work with fuzzed... Read review

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Advantages: Online multiplayer, priviledges downloads
Disadvantages: Price a little daunting at first, additional hardware required, PS3 online is free

...What is Xbox Live: Xbox Live is the online service for players of the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. Xbox Live Silver is free to all users and gives some limited facilities. With a Silver account you can accumulate a reputation by achieving goals within games. These are own on your Gamercard and allow other users to see how experienced a gamer you are. With a Silver account, you can also download game demos, trailers, and event videos. Some games have the ability to upload performance based stats like lap times etc. to online leaderboards. Xbox Live Gold is a pay-for subscription, approx £35 to £40 pound a year. Gold gives you all the benefits of Silver, however you have access to marketplace items days, and sometimes weeks before the rest. The biggest benefit of purchasing a Gold subscription is that it opens up the full... Read review

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Advantages: Big and Bassy
Disadvantages: the font is awful

...At around 1999, Gary Numan said that he was going to make a series of 'dark' albums and he has delivered on that promise, Sacrifice, Exile, Pure, Jagged. Each album got progressivly darker each time. In many cases, Numan likes to write an album like a story, the first lyrics are "Here is my small black box..." which is a good indication what is going to happen, dark moody bass lines and the drum machine in the background. He has kept elements from previous albums for example, the bit of quiet singing and then plenty of loud harsh rhythm kicking in for a short while. But somehow he has made this album quite a unique sound with the help of Ade Fenton. One slight down side is that nearly every song has a atmospheric intro which, to the new Numan fan amongst you, might like but does makes all the songs sound very familiar to each... Read review

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