Gary Numan - Jagged Live

Synth legend grabs at relevance, misses

There would be something unseemly about a man of a certain age lunging about a gloomy red-lit stage so lasciviously if he weren’t so scary. You really wouldn’t want to meet Gary ‘Mad Eyes’ Numan down in the park at midnight. Safely behind the small screen on this live performance of 2006’s Jagged at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire, though, he’s compelling viewing. The gig is beautifully shot and atmospheric, but ultimately shows up the weaknesses of its parent album.

As Gazza himself worries in a lengthy interview extra (complete with black cat familiar) Jagged “maybe should have had a bit more variation in it”. The songs are built around anthemic quiet-loud structures so predictable you could cue “…and CHORUS” on first listen. The industrial-goth riffs are undeniably heavy, dynamic and powerful, but this is stuff Garbage, Manson and Nine Inch Nails were doing in the late 90s. The doomy posturing also verges on the ridiculous at times: anyone over the age of 15 will surely struggle with a lyric such as “Sometimes I wonder if God laughs at me… sometimes I wonder does an angel die.” It’s a shame, given his recent critical rehabilitation, to find a former pioneer of the modern sounding so sadly dated.

2 stars 2 stars

Dash Productions | MORTAL DVD 001

Reviewed by Emily Mackay
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