Living Ornaments '81

Living Ornaments '81
Live album by Gary Numan
Released January 1998
Recorded Wembley Arena, London, 28 April 1981
Genre New wave, synthpop
Length 121:28
Label Beggars Banquet Records
Producer Gary Numan
Gary Numan chronology
Exile
(1997)		 Living Ornaments '81
(1998)		 The Mix
(1998)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Living Ornaments '81 is a live album recorded at a 1981 concert by British musician Gary Numan. It was released as a double CD in 1998. The show on 28 April 1981 was the third and last of Numan's 'Farewell Concerts' staged at Wembley Arena (although he would return to performing live shows the following year). It was filmed and released on VHS as Micromusic in April 1982; Living Ornaments '81 is essentially an audio release of the video.

Track listing

Disc one

  1. "Intro/This Wreckage" – 7:40
  2. "Remind Me to Smile" – 3:22
  3. "Metal" – 3:14
  4. "Me! I Disconnect from You" – 3:03
  5. "Complex" – 3:10
  6. "The Aircrash Bureau" – 5:24
  7. "Airlane" – 3:24
  8. "M.E." – 4:32
  9. "Everyday I Die" – 4:38
  10. "Films" – 5:47
  11. "Remember I Was Vapour" – 4:34
  12. "Trois Gymnopedies (First Movement)" – 3:04
  13. "Conversation" – 7:39

Disc two

  1. "She's Got Claws" – 4:51
  2. "Cars" – 3:39
  3. "I Dream of Wires" – 4:37
  4. "I'm an Agent" – 3:57
  5. "The Joy Circuit" – 5:56
  6. "I Die: You Die" – 3:43
  7. "Cry the Clock Said" – 5:26
  8. "Tracks" – 2:19
  9. "Down in the Park" – 5:59
  10. "My Shadow in Vain" – 2:38
  11. "Please Push No More" – 5:29
  12. "Are 'Friends' Electric?" – 5:40
  13. "We Are Glass/Outro" – 7:43

Although the third track on disc one is listed as "Metal" (a song from Numan's 1979 album The Pleasure Principle), its actual lyrics identify it as the song "Moral" (a reworking of "Metal" which was recorded for Numan's then-forthcoming 1981 album Dance).[2]

The song "Conversation", included at the end of disc one, is a bonus track. It was played at the first two Wembley shows but replaced by "Complex" for the 28 April show. The version included on the Living Ornaments '81 set is from the 26 April show, and is a mono mix of noticeably poor audio quality.[3]

The theme to Numan's song "Replicas" is used a total of three times throughout the concert, once as the intro (similarly to Living Ornaments '79) and once as the outro. Oddly, the track "Films" also features a part of the theme as a pseudo-intro. Despite the extensive use of its theme, the actual track of "Replicas" is not featured in this recording.

Micromusic VHS/DVD

Originally released in April 1982, the Micromusic video cassette features the same listing as the subsequent Living Ornaments '81 CD, with the exception of the track "Conversation." Soon after its video release, the show was broadcast on British television, albeit in an edited, highlights-only version featuring the following tracks: "Intro," "This Wreckage," "Airlane," "M.E.," "She's Got Claws," "Cars," "I'm an Agent," "The Joy Circuit," "I Die: You Die," "Tracks," "Down in the Park," "Are "Friends" Electric?," "We Are Glass," and "Outro." Both the full version and the edited version of the concert have been released on VHS.[4] The full version of Micromusic was released on DVD in April 2010, and features an hour-long 2006 interview with Numan as a bonus feature.

Notes

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Paul Goodwin (2004). Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan: p.220.
  3. ↑ Paul Goodwin (2004). Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan: pp.62-63.
  4. ↑ Paul Goodwin (2004). Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan: p.220.
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