Gary Numan: Dead Son Rising (Deluxe Edition) (4CD)

"Dead Son Rising" (2011) is Gary Numan's sixteenth solo studio album; it was created in collaboration with his longtime partner Ade Fenton, who was involved in both the songwriting and production. Both critics and fans widely regard the album as one of his strongest, most cohesive, and most atmospheric releases of the 21st century. The concept for the album evolved from a series of demos that Numan had recorded for earlier projects but had not released. Speaking about the album’s creation, he said: “The original ideas that sparked these songs are barely recognizable today. It evolved into something completely different, something more experimental.” “Dead Son Rising” is powerful, dark, and imbued with a deep cinematic atmosphere—a blend of industrial rock and electronic goth-synth sounds. Due to the powerful synthesizer lines, distorted guitars, and oppressive production, critics compared the album to Nine Inch Nails (a band that significantly influenced Numan and with whom he also toured). Many of the tracks are very personal and deal with difficult relationships and emotional betrayal. Songs like “We Are The Lost” and the title track “Dead Son Rising,” on the other hand, are based on a science-fiction fantasy novel Numan was working on at the time. “Dead Moon Falling” (2011) is the accompanying remix album to “Dead Son Rising.” The mixes, curated by Numan, feature a diverse selection of artists, including Tim Burgess (Charlatans), Alec Empire (Atari Teenage Riot), Gazelle Twin, and Sonoio (NIN). The albums mentioned are included in this reissue; the 4-CD set also features bonus tracks as well as the accompanying live album “Big Noise Transmission.”