CD: BBL40CD
RELEASED: 2003
LABEL: Beggars

01. White Boys and Heroes
02. War Songs
03. Dream of Siam
04. Music for Chameleons
05. This Is My House
06. I, Assassin
07. 1930's Rust
08. We Take Mystery to Bed
09. War Games [*]
10. Glitter and Ash [*]
11. Image Is [*]
12. This House Is Cold [*]
13. Noise Noise [*]
14. We Take Mystery [Early Version][*]
15. Bridge? What Bridge? [*]

Remastered reissue of 1982 album with expanded artwork and 7 bonustracks. Originally released in 1982, 'I, Assassin' continues on themes Numan began the previous year with his 'Dance' album. Fashionably, Numan was still dressing like a 1930s gangster, while musically, the rhythm section is easily mistakable for the lineup on the prior year's 'Dance, ' which featured Japan's Mick Karn on bass and Queen's Roger Taylor on drums. I Assassin also represented a move away from the trademark synthesizer-heavy sound that characterized such songs as 'Car' to a more bass-heavy, electro-dance sound. The synthesizer is still a prominent instrument here but it shares the stage with Pino Palladino's excellent fretless bass playing. This lends a warmer more human sound to the songs, despite the subject matter, in contrast to the colder, more machine-like feel of his prior records. While this top 10 UK album was preceeded by three UK top-twenty singles, "White Boys and Heroes, " "Music for Chameleons, " and "We Take Mystery To Bed, " the most timeless songs have got to be the side two openers, "This is My House, " with a simple yet hauntingly famous synth melody blanketing the fretless bass guitar mastery, driving drums and Numan's neurotic vocals, and the catchy title track. Perhaps it's because these are the only songs on the original eight-song album which are -not- littered with the electronic drum sound. Seven bonus tracks grace the reissue, including both early versions and B-sides.

Influences / Similar Artists:
Krafwerk, David Bowie, Japan, Simple Minds, Roxy Music