Information AboutMetamatic |
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''Metamatic'' is an album by John Foxx , released in 1980. It was his first solo album following his split with Ultravox the previous year. A departure from the richly-textured mix of Synthesizer s and conventional instruments on '' Systems Of Romance '', his last album with the band, ''Metamatic'''s hard-edged Electronica was more akin to Kraftwerk 's '' The Man-Machine '' (1978), Gary Numan 's '' The Pleasure Principle '' (1979), and early Human League . The name 'Metamatic' comes from a painting machine by Kinetic Art ist Jean Tinguely , first exhibited at the Paris Biennial in 1959. PRODUCTION AND STYLE Recorded in what the composer described as "an eight-track cupboard in , ''Metamatic'' used only electronic instruments apart from some Bass Guitar . Foxx's equipment included ARP Odyssey and Minimoog Synthesizer s, an Elka 'String Machine' and a Roland CR-78 Drum Machine . Foxx's keyboard skills were rudimentary at the time, and the majority of the synth parts were played for him by John Barker. Regarding the album's air of clinical artiness, Foxx later confessed to "reading too much touches that would increasingly recur in his 1980s work. Foxx had performed "He's a Liquid" and "Touch and Go" live with Ultravox before leaving the band in 1979. Drummer Warren Cann , for one, appeared to consider them to be Ultravox, rather than John Foxx, numbers and noted that the band did not receive any credit for them on ''Metamatic''.Warren Cann & Jonas Warstad (1997). "Ultravox: The Story - Warren Cann interviewed by Jonas Warstad" : p.41 Notwithstanding, when Ultravox adapted the tune from "Touch and Go" for the song "Mr X" on ''Vienna'' (1980), their first album following Foxx's departure, Foxx was not credited. RELEASE AND AFTERMATH ''Metamatic'' spent seven weeks in the UK charts, peaking at #18. Though Foxx was accused in some quarters at the time of imitating Gary Numan – ironically in light of the inspiration Numan publicly admitted to taking from the Foxx-led Ultravox – the album was generally well-received by critics and is still cited as his most influential solo release. ''The Argus'' ( 2 August 2006 ) "Underpass" was released as a single a week before the album, making #35 in the UK charts and appearing on a number of electropop compilations of the time. Its B-side was a non-album instrumental, "Film One". In March 1980 a remix of "No-One Driving" was released with three other non-album tracks, "Glimmer", "This City" and "Mr No", reaching #32. In June 1980, Foxx released a single with new songs on both sides, " Burning Car " b/w "20th Century", making #35. He issued one more single-only release in October 1980, the transitional " Miles Away " b/w "A Long Time", which provided a foretaste of the more fully-produced sound of his next album, '' The Garden '' (1981). All these non-album tracks have appeared on various John Foxx compilations and reissues of ''Metamatic''; the 1993 CD version of the album also included "Young Love", a previously-unreleased track recorded in 1979. For many years ''Metamatic'''s stark electronic sound made it something of an aberration in the John Foxx catalogue. However Foxx's recent material with Louis Gordon, ''Shifting City'', ''Pleasures of Electricity'' and ''Crash and Burn'', bear more resemblance to the album than to his subsequent 1980s releases. Foxx's record label and his official website are also named Metamatic. TRACK LISTING All songs written by John Foxx . # "Plaza" – 3:52 # "He's a Liquid" – 2:59 # "Underpass" – 3:53 # "Metal Beat" – 2:59 # "No-One Driving" – 3:45 # "A New Kind of Man" – 3:38 # "Blurred Girl" – 4:16 # "030" – 3:15 # "Tidal Wave" – 4:14 # "Touch and Go" – 5:33 1993 reissue bonus tracks # "Young Love" – 3:10 # "Film One" – 3:58 # "20th Century" – 3:06 # " Miles Away " – 3:17 # "A Long Time" – 3:49 # "Swimmer 1" – 4:06
2001 reissue bonus tracks # "Film One" – 3:58 # "Glimmer" – 3:33 # "Mr. No" – 3:14 # "This City" – 3:03 # "20th Century" – 3:06 # " Burning Car " – 3:12 # "Miles Away" – 3:17 PERSONNEL
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