Overview
Musically, Outland continues the synth-pop/dance-funk style of Numan's previous albums, which would continue until the artist's 1994 industrial album Sacrifice. The electro-jazz stylings of Outland are reminiscent of Numan's 1989 collaboration album with Bill Sharpe, Automatic, although its dystopian lyrics are more typical of Numan's solo work. Outland could almost be described as a concept album, as its songs share common themes and (in the case of the tracks "Confession" and "From Russia Infected") common musical and lyrical motifs. Indeed, Outland features more overt references to science-fiction than any other album Numan has released. The album features many vocal samples from notable sci-fi/action movies of the 1980s, including Blade Runner, The Terminator, Aliens and Predator (the title of Outland itself may be a reference to the 1981 science fiction film of the same name). The instrumental interludes on Outland add to the album's cinematic atmosphere. Of the album, Numan recalled:
| “ | The American producers Jam and Lewis were a big influence on Outland. I thought their grooves were extremely clever...Perhaps I should've taken the percussion thing and added something else to it, but my songwriting followed the black funk/dance/rock style as well. It wasn't entirely what my fans had been hoping for, although some thought it was one of my best albums. Being so involved, and responsible, for virtually every aspect of it, from writing to production to engineering, I felt it was a very personal record. By mastering the technology I was able to get closer to the sounds in my head. | ” |
Numan's "Outland Tour" was originally scheduled for September 1990, but a lightning storm caused damage to Numan's recording studio, delaying the album and postponing the 14-date tour until March 1991. Due to the delay, the planned WORLD tour and budget for the stage set didn't materialise from the label, with inner Turmoil and artists been dropped from the label by the time the UK tour commenced. In September-October 1991, Numan embarked on the 19-date "Emotion Tour" (the first show was performed in Belgium; the rest were in the UK). To date, no official live albums or videos have been released from Numan's 1991 tours.
There are rumored to be three versions of the album completed, as Numan struggled to have a musical relationship with IRS who were at this time constantly trying to influence their input into his musical direction. The original album was to feature a PRINCE cover "1999", which was a compromise with the label, this was eventually dropped for a new track, "Soul Protection".
Numan was disappointed by the lack of effort IRS put into promoting Outland. After the album's commercial failure Numan was dropped by the label and shortly after went back to his own label Numa Records (through which Numan had released three studio albums between 1984 and 1986). He quickly followed this up with a single Emotion and a tour followed then Numan released two more studio albums through Numa, which were Machine + Soul in 1992 and Sacrifice in 1994, before shutting down the label again (this time permanently).
Read more about this topic: Outland (Gary Numan Album)