Gary Numan’s ‘Dead Son Rising’ turns 15 on 15 September
Gary Numan released “Dead Son Rising” on 15 September 2011 through Mortal Records, produced with Ade Fenton and featuring 11 tracks.
Gary Numan released his sixteenth solo studio album, “Dead Son Rising”, on 15 September 2011 through Mortal Records. The album turns 15 this year. Numan co-wrote and co-produced the record with Ade Fenton, his collaborator on the 2006 album “Jagged”, and recorded it in London.
“Dead Son Rising” grew out of demos left over from earlier sessions. Numan described the source material as barely recognizable by the time the album took shape: “The original ideas that sparked off these songs are now barely visible. It’s grown into another animal, something more experimental.”
What is on Gary Numan’s ‘Dead Son Rising’
The album runs 11 tracks and 52:50: “Resurrection”, “Big Noise Transmission”, “Dead Sun Rising”, “When the Sky Bleeds, He Will Come”, “For the Rest of My Life”, “Not the Love We Dream Of”, “The Fall”, “We Are the Lost”, “For the Rest of My Life (Reprise)”, “Into Battle” and “Not the Love We Dream Of (Piano Version)”. A digital-only bonus track, “Dead Sun Rising (Early Version)”, also appeared. “Resurrection” and “Into Battle” are instrumentals, described by Numan and Fenton as soundtrack-style material.
Several songs reworked earlier, unreleased material. “Dead Sun Rising” rebuilt “What Have I Become” from the 2006 “Jagged” sessions. “For the Rest of My Life” and “The Fall” both trace back to the 2000 album “Pure”, reworking the tracks “Always” and “Look” respectively; both had circulated in earlier mixes on Numan’s live “Purified” tour audio programme. “We Are the Lost” reworked “Mercy” from the “Jagged” sessions. “We Are the Lost” and “Dead Sun Rising” also carry elements of a science-fiction story Numan had been writing over the preceding years.
Numan sang and played keyboards. Fenton produced, played keyboards and piano, and handled programming. Tim Muddiman played guitar and bass, Steve Harris played guitar, and Nathan Boddy played keyboard.
The label issued the album across three formats: a standard CD, a CD/DVD/vinyl edition with “The Fall” promo video, behind-the-scenes footage, an exclusive interview and a gallery, and a limited numbered box set with a 48-page art book, a signed print, a gatefold vinyl pressing and an exclusive 12-inch of remixes of “The Fall” by Motor and South Central.
“The Fall” served as lead single, previewed in a promo edit on Numan’s official site on 28 August 2011. “Dead Sun Rising” had already surfaced as a radio edit via The Quietus on 12 August 2011, ahead of the album. “Dead Son Rising” entered the UK Albums Chart at number 87 for a single week and reached number 5 on the German alternative albums chart.
About Gary Numan
Gary Numan was born Gary Anthony James Webb in Hammersmith, London, in 1958. He formed Tubeway Army in 1977 and switched from guitar to synthesizer after finding a Minimoog left behind in a studio during the sessions for the band’s 1978 self-titled debut. Tubeway Army’s second album, “Replicas”, topped the UK chart in 1979 behind the single “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?”, also a UK number 1. Numan then dropped the group name and released “The Pleasure Principle” later that year, a second consecutive UK chart-topper, followed by “Telekon” in 1980, a third.
His commercial standing in Britain declined through the mid-to-late 1980s even as the catalogue’s influence spread through electronic and industrial music. Numan began working with producer Ade Fenton on the 2006 album “Jagged”, a partnership that continued into “Dead Son Rising” in 2011 and has run through most of his output since.
Numan and Fenton followed “Dead Son Rising” with “Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind)” in 2013, covered here in Gary Numan announces new ‘Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind)’ album and tour – listen to first track!, and “Savage (Songs from a Broken World)” in 2017, reported in Gary Numan to release new ‘Savage (Songs from a Broken World)’ album on double vinyl (with 2 bonus tracks). He discussed his studio approach in Gary Numan – ‘After doing this for over 35 years I still get excited about what’s around the corner’ – Tech-Talk with DJ Wildhoney.
Numan has also worked outside his solo catalogue during this period, collaborating with John Foxx on the release covered in John Foxx and Gary Numan collaborate on ’21st Century: a Man, a Woman and a City’ album – out in 2 physical versions, joining Jean-Michel Jarre’s “Electronica” project, and touring North America in 2023 in direct support of Ministry, as reported in Ministry announces 2023 headline tour dates with direct support from Gary Numan & Front Line Assembly.
Fifteen years on, “Dead Son Rising” marks the album where the Numan-Fenton partnership moved past its “Jagged” starting point into the denser, soundtrack-inflected sound that carried through “Splinter” and “Savage”.
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