| Berserker | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Gary Numan |
| Cover: | Berserkernuman.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | [1] |
| Recorded: | 1984 |
| Studio: | Rock City Studios (Shepperton) |
| Genre: |
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| Length: | 45:36 |
| Label: | Numa |
| Producer: | Gary Numan |
| Prev Title: | The Plan |
| Prev Year: | 1984 |
| Next Title: | The Fury |
| Next Year: | 1985 |
Berserker is the sixth solo studio album by the English new wave musician Gary Numan, released on 9 November 1984, it was his first album to be released under Numan's own record label, Numa Records.
Gary Numan's recording contract with his previous record label Beggars Banquet had ended with the release of 1983's studio album, Warriors. Disillusioned with record companies, Numan decided to create his own record label, Numa Records, to give himself full control over his recordings, production and marketing. Numan was now free to take his music into a harder direction without interference.
Berserker presented a harder synth, hi-NRG-inspired rock sound than Numan's previous studio albums, with an abundant use of sampling and the distinctive sound of the PPG Wave synthesiser. It developed on the electro-funk sound of Warriors, marking a change from the prominent fretless bass on his previous three studio albums but retaining the female backing vocals and occasional saxophone.
Lyrically, the album has a haunting, dystopian theme:
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 heroin overdose. The track was also covered by the duo Tik and Tok on their studio album Intolerance (which featured Numan) the same year. The industrial undertones of the Berserker album would be more fully explored on Numan's next studio album, The Fury (1985).
Numan appeared on the cover (and throughout the subsequent tour) as a white-skinned, white-clad "Iceman" with blue makeup and hair. The album was named after a series of science-fiction novels by Fred Saberhagen, which Numan had read at school.[2]
The title track was released as a single in October 1984, but only made it to No. 32 on the UK Singles Chart; his lowest-charting single at that time, alongside "Sister Surprise" from the preceding studio album Warriors. The album was released one month later, but only managed No. 45 on the UK Albums Chart, making it Numan's first studio album to miss the UK top 30. In chart terms, Berserker was outperformed by The Plan, an archival compilation album of early Numan material released by his former record label Beggars Banquet in September 1984 that reached No. 29. "My Dying Machine" was released as the second and final single off Berserker in December of the same year and peaked at No. 66.
The album was originally released in two different-length versions in the UK. The CD and cassette releases featured longer versions of all tracks, while the LP features shorter mixes.[3]
Upon its release, the album received poor reviews in the British music press. Writing for Smash Hits, Vici Macdonald found that it "starts well enough", but "After 9 almost identical tracks, it's a relief when the album ends."
Numan's 19-date UK Berserker Tour of November–December 1984 featured a stylized "high-tech Roman temple" stage set to complement Numan's white leather jacket/white make-up/blue-hair look. The tour spawned a double-album, White Noise (1985), recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon in December 1984. The same concert was captured (albeit in edited form) on the video The Berserker Tour; both the album and the video were released in 1985. In early 2008, the video of the entire concert was released for the first time, on the DVD Cold Warning. The DVD contains, as an extra feature, a 2007 interview in which Numan discusses his recollections of the Berserker album and tour. Numan mentions that Berserker was influenced by Trevor Horn's production work with Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and claims that distribution problems and a lack of media airplay contributed to its disappointing sales.[4]
All songs written by Gary Numan.
All timings are approximate and will vary slightly with different equipment.
Credits are adapted from the Berserker liner notes.[8]
Musicians