I, Assassin is the fourth solo studio album by English musician Gary Numan, released in September 1982 by Beggars Banquet. It peaked at No. 8 on the UK Album Chart. Three singles were released from the album: "Music for Chameleons", "We Take Mystery " and "White Boys and Heroes", all of which reached the UK Top 20.
Overview
Numan's previous album, Dance, was an experimental effort that explored and incorporated different musical elements such as jazz. I, Assassin operates in a similar vein. Although the fretless bass and some of the jazz elements of Dance are still in place, Numan went further with I, Assassin, exploring funk music and blending it together with heavier percussion and his own familiar electronic sound. Numan recalled that an important factor during the album's recording was the contribution made by fretless bassist Pino Palladino: At the time I, Assassin was released, Numan believed it was the best album he had made. Although it was unsurprisingly slated by the majority of the British music press, the album did garner some praise. Numan was given credit for changing his sound by shifting from synth-heavy music to a more bass-led, electro-dance approach. Numan argued that he wanted to shift away from a lot of electronic artists during this period because he felt they were stuck in an interchangeable and simplistic rut that they could never break. Numan wanted to be ahead of the pack and was interested in experimenting with other genres. For the album's cover sleeve, Numan retained the fedora hat from Dance, with the trench coat and alley background representing I, Assassin's 1930s gangster motif. The album cover of I, Assassin was influenced by that of Frank Sinatra's 1954 album Songs for Young Lovers. Before the release of I, Assassin, Numan left Britain to live as a tax exile in the United States. He supported the new album with an 18-date concert tour in America in October-November 1982. No official live albums or videos have been released from Numan's 1982 tour. Numan recorded a second video for "We Take Mystery " during his stay in Los Angeles, before heading to live in Jersey where he began writing the material for his next album, Warriors.
Releases
I, Assassin was originally released on vinyl album and cassette in 1982. It was eventually released on CD in 1993, as a double CD packaged with Numan's 1980 album Telekon. I, Assassin was released on CD by itself in 2002. Both CD releases contain seven bonus tracks.
Chart Performance
The album peaked at pos 08, spending 6 weeks on the uk charts, making it less successful than the previous albums.
Track listing
All songs are written by Gary Numan.
"White Boys and Heroes" – 6:23
"War Songs" – 5:05
"A Dream of Siam" – 6:13
"Music for Chameleons" – 6:06
"This Is My House" – 4:52
"I, Assassin" – 5:26
"The 1930's Rust" – 3:55
"We Take Mystery " – 6:10
CD bonus tracks
"War Games" – 3:55
"Glitter and Ash" – 4:42
"The Image Is" – 5:55
"This House Is Cold" – 5:27
"Noise Noise" – 3:49
"We Take Mystery " – 5:58
"Bridge? What Bridge?" – 4:22
Note
The track "Bridge? What Bridge?" was a B-side track for the 12" single of "Music for Chameleons" and is an improvisational piece which includes Mick Karn and Michelle Adams as backing vocalists, she also was the dancer in the "Music for Chameleons" and "White Boys and Heroes". Thereza Bazar and David Van Day, from the pop vocal duo Dollar, feature on the song "Noise Noise", which was also the B-side of "Music For Chameleons".
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the I, Assassin liner notes.
