Tubeway Army is the debut album by Gary Numan and his band Tubeway Army, re… Read Full Bio ↴Tubeway Army is the debut album by Gary Numan and his band Tubeway Army, released in 1978. Its initial limited-edition run of 5000 (known unofficially as the Blue Album due to its coloured vinyl and cover) sold out but did not chart. When reissued in mid-1979, following the success of the follow-up Replicas (1979), the more commonly-known cover art featuring a stylised portrait of Numan was introduced. This release made number 14 in the UK album charts.
Although only the band's debut, Tubeway Army has been seen as a transitional record, linking the punk flavour of early singles "That's Too Bad" and "Bombers" with the electronic music and science fiction imagery of Replicas. The lead-in track, “Listen to the Sirens”, borrows its opening line from the Philip K. Dick novel Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, whilst "Steel and You" contains references to androids ("Just my steel friend and me / I stand brave by his side"). These and a number of other tracks feature primitive synthesizer effects, the legacy of Numan chancing upon a Minimoog in the recording studio one day.
Elsewhere the album’s lyrics generally inhabit a seedy world that has been compared to William Burroughs, an author whose influence Numan has acknowledged. "Friends" concerns male prostitution. "Every Day I Die" is about teenage masturbation. "Jo the Waiter" references drug addiction. "The Life Machine" is told from the perspective of a comatose man on life support who can only "watch from somewhere as the loved ones come and go".
Sonically the album ranges from hard rock with punk overtones, such as "My Shadow in Vain", "Friends" and "Are You Real?", through the post-punk of "Listen to the Sirens" and "The Dream Police", to the predominantly acoustic "Every Day I Die" and "Jo the Waiter".
While the song "Steel and You" is a spirited re-write of "Return to Zanzibar" from the 1977 debut album by San Francisco sci-fi obsessives Chrome, other major influences cited for this album's overall sound include David Bowie (both 'Ziggy' and 'Berlin' eras), early Roxy Music and Brian Eno, Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground, and early Ultravox.
Gary Numan has regularly performed tracks from this album since early on in his career, including "My Shadow in Vain", "Something's in the House", "Every Day I Die" and "The Dream Police". Others that have made their way into his live repertoire in recent years include "Listen to the Sirens", "Friends" and "Jo the Waiter".
Although only the band's debut, Tubeway Army has been seen as a transitional record, linking the punk flavour of early singles "That's Too Bad" and "Bombers" with the electronic music and science fiction imagery of Replicas. The lead-in track, “Listen to the Sirens”, borrows its opening line from the Philip K. Dick novel Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, whilst "Steel and You" contains references to androids ("Just my steel friend and me / I stand brave by his side"). These and a number of other tracks feature primitive synthesizer effects, the legacy of Numan chancing upon a Minimoog in the recording studio one day.
Elsewhere the album’s lyrics generally inhabit a seedy world that has been compared to William Burroughs, an author whose influence Numan has acknowledged. "Friends" concerns male prostitution. "Every Day I Die" is about teenage masturbation. "Jo the Waiter" references drug addiction. "The Life Machine" is told from the perspective of a comatose man on life support who can only "watch from somewhere as the loved ones come and go".
Sonically the album ranges from hard rock with punk overtones, such as "My Shadow in Vain", "Friends" and "Are You Real?", through the post-punk of "Listen to the Sirens" and "The Dream Police", to the predominantly acoustic "Every Day I Die" and "Jo the Waiter".
While the song "Steel and You" is a spirited re-write of "Return to Zanzibar" from the 1977 debut album by San Francisco sci-fi obsessives Chrome, other major influences cited for this album's overall sound include David Bowie (both 'Ziggy' and 'Berlin' eras), early Roxy Music and Brian Eno, Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground, and early Ultravox.
Gary Numan has regularly performed tracks from this album since early on in his career, including "My Shadow in Vain", "Something's in the House", "Every Day I Die" and "The Dream Police". Others that have made their way into his live repertoire in recent years include "Listen to the Sirens", "Friends" and "Jo the Waiter".
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Tubeway Army
Tubeway Army Lyrics
Are You Real? No one's alive You could almost be me What do you mean "O…
Everyday I Die The problems of need I need you Obscene dreams in Rusty beds…
Friends See the strange boy keeping to the shadows He's a very…
Jo the Waiter Jo the waiter worked for me Serving wine in basement bars …
Listen to the Sirens "Flow my tears" the new police song The slogan of peace…
My Love Is a Liquid can you see her little eyes can you see her little…
My Shadow in Vain Stroll to the café my God how time flies And I…
Something's in the House Memories lost in faded films of my life And a friend…
Steel and You It's so quiet and dark And I shouldn't be here This machine…
The Dream Police The dream police Slogan: "What is on your mind?2 The airwave…
The Life Machine Me I've just died But some machine keeps on humming I'm just…