In April 1979, 47 years ago, Tubeway Army, the first band of and led by singer frontman Gary Numan released their second and final album 'Replicas' on the British label Beggars Banquet Records. It was recorded at the Gooseberry Studios (London) during December 1978 and January 1979.
It followed their self-titled debut which was released one year before, in 1978. After this release, Gary Numan would continue to release records under his own name, though the musicians in Tubeway Army would continue to work with him for some time. Replicas was the first album of what Numan later termed the "machine" phase of his career, preceding The Pleasure Principle and Telekon, a collection linked by common themes of a dystopian science fiction future and transmutation of man/machine, coupled with an androgynous image and a synthetic rock sound.
Fuelled by a surprise No. 1 hit single, "Are 'Friends' Electric?", the album also reached No. 1 in the UK charts in July 1979 and was certified Gold by the BPI for sales in excess of 100,000 copies.
Replicas was based on a dystopian book Numan hoped to complete someday, set in a not-too-distant future metropolis where Machmen (androids with cloned human skin) and other machines keep the general public cowed on orders from the Grey Men (shadowy officials).
The recording was a development of the sound of the first Tubeway Army album. While the tracks "The Machman", "You Are in My Vision" and "It Must Have Been Years" recalled the earlier album’s guitar-oriented rock, the rest were built solidly around an analog synthesizer, the Minimoog.
Along with "Are 'Friends' Electric?", this included "Me! I Disconnect from You", the atmospheric "Down in the Park" (released as a single prior to the album and acquiring cult status though not commercial success), the multi-layered title track and the closing instrumentals "When the Machines Rock" and "I Nearly Married a Human", the latter featuring Numan's first use of a primitive drum machine.
Replicas' synthesizer sound and occasionally nihilistic lyrics had a major impact on the industrial acts that came to prominence in the mid-1990s such as Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails, both of whom covered Numan's songs on record.
The album was reissued several times, some including bonus tracks, like three single B-sides. "We Are So Fragile" (from "Are 'Friends' Electric?"), and "Do You Need the Service?" and "I Nearly Married a Human" (from "Down in the Park").
Replicas (1979 Beggars Banquet LP tracklist)
A1. Me! I Disconnect from You – 3:23
A2. Are 'Friends' Electric? – 5:25
A3. The Machman" – 3:08
A4. Praying to the Aliens – 4:00
A5. Down in the Park" – 4:24
B1.You Are in My Vision – 3:15
B2. Replicas – 5:01
B3. It Must Have Been Years – 4:02
B4. When the Machines Rock – 3:15
B5. I Nearly Married a Human – 6:31
In the early 1980s, when electronic music still felt like a dangerous experiment and not yet a global language, the release of the 7" single “King of the Flies” arrived like a cold light flickering on in a dark room. It did not ask for attention with glamour or promise easy comfort. Instead, it stood quietly, humming with tension, waiting for listeners willing to lean closer.
Released as a standalone 7" on April 1st, 1982, that's 0 years agao, the single felt like a quiet milestone—one of those small but meaningful markers in the slow evolution of electronic music. Yet its story begins earlier, in a more fragile and fleeting form. Months before the official single appeared, the song had already surfaced on a flexi-disc released September 11th, 1981, shared with an "emerging band" on the same label (Depenche Mode!). That early version felt almost like a whisper passed between insiders: thin, immediate, and raw. When the proper single finally arrived in 1982, it carried the weight of intention and refinement. The two versions differ noticeably—less a simple remix than a transformation, as though the song had grown darker and more confident in the months between.
Fad Gadget — the performance alias of Frank Tovey — had already begun carving a path that felt starkly different from the pop optimism of the era. Where others polished synthesizers into shine, he stripped them down to exposed wires and buzzing circuits. “King of the Flies” embodied this philosophy perfectly. Pressed onto a small vinyl disc, the track carried a world of anxiety and confession within its grooves.
The single felt intimate, almost uncomfortably so. The drum machines sounded like mechanical heartbeats in an empty room. The synthesizers seemed less like instruments and more like distant alarms echoing through concrete corridors. Over it all, Tovey’s voice delivered its narrative with a calm that made the darkness sharper. It was not theatrical despair. It was something quieter, closer, and more human.
For listeners who discovered it at the time, the 7" was more than a song—it was an artifact of a moment when electronic music still felt underground and uncertain. Independent labels were experimenting, audiences were searching for new forms of expression, and artists like Tovey stood at the edge of a sound that would soon reshape popular music.
The release of the “King of the Flies” 7" remains a small but enduring monument to artistic risk—an echo of a time when vulnerability could live inside machines, and when even the smallest piece of vinyl could carry the weight of an entire atmosphere.
Fad Gadget - King Of The Flies (7"- MUTE 021- 1982)
A. King Of The Flies 3:03
B. Plain Clothes 3:26
DISCOGS
On this day, 29 years ago, Rammstein released the single ‘Engel’ (01.04.1997). It was the first preliminary single taken from upcoming second Rammstein album Sehnsucht (August 1997).
The almost angel-like vocal chorus of the song was sung by Christiane "Bobo" Hebold of German pop band Bobo in White Wooden Houses. On some occasions she joined Rammstein to sing her parts live from inside a flaming cage.
Engel (The video)
The videoclip for Engel was inspired by the horror movie ‘From Dusk Till Down’ (1996), directed by Robert Rodriguez. The whole band appears in the video although, while Lindemann, Schneider and Flake can be seen in the audience, the other band members can be seen performing as a band. However not playing their usual rol/instruments. Norbert Heitker, the director of the video, was awarded the Echo for this music video in the Best National Video category in 1998.
The MTV Boycot
The aesthetic elements of the video (Nudity, zombie children in cages, phallic imagery, foot fetishism and guitars as flamethrowers) made MTV refuse to broadcast the video stating “the Engel's video does not match MTV's on-air look”.
Allegedly Rammstein protested against this boycott MTV by tying an MTV manager to a chair in their backstage at the 1997 Hurricane Festival in Scheeßel and tying a smoke bomb to his leg. The action of the band was seen as a tasteless one but proved to be a successful promotion for the album Sehnsucht, which appeared shortly thereafter. In April 1998, guitarist Paul Landers told a magazine that the action was not a protest against the video boycot but was an action against the bullying behavior of the affected MTV manager, who made the work of several musicians difficult with his methods. The manager then prosecuted the band for assault.
Gold!
The single entered the official German weekly charts (Offizielle Charts Germany) on 14 April 1997 and reached the 3rd position by June 1997, staying there for 4 weeks. It entered the single charts at Number 12. A month later the single has sold more than 250,000 copies.
An Fan-edition with a different tracklist was released in May that celebrated the original release’s ’Gold’ status in Germany.
It ended up on the 11th position in the OCD 1997 year-end charts.
Engel (tracklist original CDS release)
1 Engel - 04:24
2 Sehnsucht - 04:04
3 Rammstein (Eskimos & Egypt Radio Edit) - 03:40
4 Rammstein (Eskimos & Egypt Instrumental Edit) - 03:32
5 Rammstein - 04:25
Engel (tracklist fan CDS release)
1 Engel (Extended Version) - 04:34
2 Feuerräder (Live Demo Version 1994) - 04:47
3 Wilder Wein (Demo Version 1994) - 05:41
4 Rammstein (Eskimos & Egypt Instrumental) - 03:27
Engel (Lyrics)
Wer zu Leb-zeit gut auf Erden
Wird nach dem Tod ein Engel werden
Den Blick gen Himmel fragst du dann
Warum man sie nicht sehen kann
Erst wenn die Wolken schlafen gehen
Kann man uns am Himmel sehn
Wir haben Angst und sind allein
Gott weiß ich will kein Engel sein
Sie leben hinterm Sonnenschein
Getrennt von uns unendlich weit
Sie müssen sich an Sterne krallen
(Ganz fest)
Damit sie nicht vom Himmel fallen
Erst wenn die Wolken schlafen gehen
Kann man uns am Himmel sehn
Wir haben Angst und sind allein
Gott weiß ich will kein Engel sein
Erst wenn die Wolken schlafen gehen
Kann man uns am Himmel sehn
Wir haben Angst und sind allein
Gott weiß ich will kein Engel sein
Gott weiß ich will kein Engel sein
Gott weiß ich will kein Engel sein
Gott weiß ich will kein Engel sein
Gott weiß ich will kein Engel sein
On this day, 37 years ago, Front Line Assembly released Gashed Senses & Crossfire!
On this day 37 years ago Front Line Assembly released their seventh album Gashed Senses & Crossfire (1 April 1989). Two singles were taken from this album: Digital Tension Dementia being the first and released prior to the album in November 1988 and No Limit which was released later in August.
Digital Tension Dementia became FLA’s first Billboard appearance in the U.S. reaching nr. 45 in the 1988 Dance Club Songs.
All tracks were written by Bill Leeb and Michael Balch.
Gashed Senses & Crossfire - Tracklist
01. No Limit 4:53
02. Antisocial 4:41
03. Hypocrisy" 3:48
04. Shutdown 5:24
05. Prayer 3:29
06. Digital Tension Dementia 4:46
07. Big Money 4:15
08. Bloodsport 5:55
09. Foolsgame 3:36
10. Sedation 3:56
******************************************************NEDERLANDS***********************************************************
Vandaag precies 37 jaar geleden verscheen Gashed Senses & Crossfire (1 April 1989), het zevende album van Front Line Assembly. Er werden 2 singles van dit album uitgebracht: Digital Tension Dementia, dat als eerste en reeds vóór het verschijnen van het album in november 1988 werd uitgebracht en No Limit dat later in augustus verscheen.
Digital Tension Dementia werd de eerste single van FLA die in de Verenigde Staten op Billboard verscheen, met als hoogste notering nr. 45 in de 1988 Dance Club Songs.
Alle tracks werden geschreven door Bill Leeb en Michael Balch.
Gashed Senses & Crossfire - Tracklist
01. No Limit 4:53
02. Antisocial 4:41
03. Hypocrisy" 3:48
04. Shutdown 5:24
05. Prayer 3:29
06. Digital Tension Dementia 4:46
07. Big Money 4:15
08. Bloodsport 5:55
09. Foolsgame 3:36
10. Sedation 3:56
THE FAIR ATTEMPTS Examines A Dystopian Society With Their New Album, ‘Null Guide’
Finnish darkwave/industrial band, THE FAIR ATTEMPTS have unveiled their long-awaited new album, Null Guide.
With Null Guide, THE FAIR ATTEMPTS deliver a stark portrait of a civilization drifting toward erosion. Rooted in industrial rock and EBM, the album gradually dissolves into introspective nihilism.
At the core of Null Guide lies a fundamental principle: civilization exists only as long as the strong are prevented from preying on the weak. Every time that boundary is violated, be it politically, socially, or culturally, the fabric holding society together frays. The result is not progress, but regression: a descent into barbaric chaos ruled by the most ruthless and violent exploiters of others.
This album inhabits the dystopian society emerging from that erosion. Each track tells a story from within it. Null Guide lives inside it, documenting the emotional and psychological cost of existing in a world where meaning is constantly drowned out.
Musically, Null Guide is relentless and physical. As it unfolds, aggression gives way to disillusionment and a quiet but profound nihilism. This is not humankind versus machine. It is meaning versus noise.
“Today’s struggle isn’t about technology,” the band explains. “It’s about focus. It's about filtering out the constant noise and reclaiming a state of mind where creation still has purpose, and perhaps more importantly, where you can recognize which thoughts are your own.” Null Guide is available now on all major digital platforms including Spotify and Bandcamp.
