It started with Machina. Like Gary Numan Billy seems to be focused on a future that is cold, bleak, and nightmarish. He has created a futuristic universe for himself to live in.

Billy seemed to place himself in this world as savior or a messiah during Machina. Gary Numan placed himself in the same context but as an observer.

Originally posted by Catherine Wheel
It started with Machina. Like Gary Numan Billy seems to be focused on a future that is cold, bleak, and nightmarish. He has created a futuristic universe for himself to live in.

Billy seemed to place himself in this world as savior or a messiah during Machina. Gary Numan placed himself in the same context but as an observer.
One of the side effects of too much tylenol intake..

I've struggled for a while with not replying to these lame threads. But here it goes:

Can we please get all of catherine wheel's threads put into one thread titled "Obsessed with Billy Corgan" because it's evident that this person is either a troll, or someone with limited grasp on reality and feels the need to think about billy corgan in abstract ways.

Don't get me wrong, Billy Corgan has become a douche, but seriously, i don't need some pseudo-intellectual bullshit to realise that.

Stop posting.

The Panda has spoken.

dude shutup

"Billy is obsessed with dystopian societies"

or...

"Catherine Wheel is obsessed with trying to analyze Billy Corgan"

this thread is dumb

...and so are we spidrr!

Originally posted by Jackbox


The Panda has spoken.

this is actually a fairly interesting topic.

but how did Gary Numan 'observe' this dystopian society through his art?


and, ohhh BTW:

the future will have to be bleak for some time because the transformation necessary (and inevitable) is like a pedals fall from a rose, only that its a barrel of oil.

Originally posted by The Omega Concern
this is actually a fairly interesting topic.

but how did Gary Numan 'observe' this dystopian society through his art?


and, ohhh BTW:

the future will have to be bleak for some time because the transformation necessary (and inevitable) is like a pedals fall from a rose, only that its a barrel of oil.

i believe Gary's friends were predominantly electric.

and your last sentence makes no sense

Originally posted by Izzle


and your last sentence makes no sense

sure it does. its a run-on sentence with no point, but I still understand it.

I'd be so happy if pedals fell from roses. Ordering them from the internet is so much hassle.

This lame joke is brought to you by the sleep in my eyes.

Originally posted by The Omega Concern
but how did Gary Numan 'observe' this dystopian society through his art?

I'd agree it's valid to read this into Numan's early works, thinking right away of "Down in the Park" and "The Pleasure Principle" album. In that music and his live performances, he presented himself more as a passive and detached observer vs. a messianic figure. He borrowed from Bowie's Ziggy (especially in stage mannerisms) for sure, but avoided the stance of creating himself into a mythic hero type character.

Also feel like it was pretty common in the early New Wave music that was coming out around the same time that Numan entered the mainstream with "Cars"...a romance with futuristic fashion and technology, with lots of experimenting in a sort of Jetsons meets Brave New World aesthetic.

:) Another example from the same period... the man who "came from outer space to save the human race:"

http://www.coolidge.org/newimage/m_nomi.jpg

It seemed like Numan's lyrics were more from the perspective of an automaton, and not a human being.

Originally posted by ZackZ
It seemed like Numan's lyrics were more from the perspective of an automaton, and not a human being.

I could see how you'd interpret him this way. Wonder how much of his stage persona evolved kinda naturally from him having Asperger's Syndrome? My reference for this (a pretty interesting bio and review of Numan) is here:

http://www.answers.com/topic/gary-numan

Originally posted by The Omega Concern
this is actually a fairly interesting topic.

but how did Gary Numan 'observe' this dystopian society through his art?

He was gonna use guitars on his album, but when he went in to record it he found a room full of keyboards, and he was like 'what are these?' and tried one and he was all 'WOW WE GOTTA USE THESE THINGS' and that's about it

Originally posted by Marquee Moon


I could see how you'd interpret him this way. Wonder how much of his stage persona evolved kinda naturally from him having Asperger's Syndrome? My reference for this (a pretty interesting bio and review of Numan) is here:

http://www.answers.com/topic/gary-numan

i think i've got aspergers (or am i an automaton? - i forget) for entering into another one of these threads.

Are you gemma perchance, Numan's Mrs? and is this why you think Billy has aspergers? or was that catherinewheel?

I agree on one thing though... can we please have a separate board for all the fruit loops and their theories around here and save the rest of us our sanity?

Originally posted by lou
Are you gemma perchance, Numan's Mrs? and is this why you think Billy has aspergers? or was that catherinewheel?[/B]

I didn't say I thought Billy had Asperger's. I said Gary has it, and Gary himself says he has it here:

The thing is, how can I put this, I have a personality disorder called Asperger's disorder, which makes it very difficult to work with people side-by-side. It's an inability to interact socially or work-wise. I'm not good at interacting with people. This interview is ok, because I know where I am and I know what to talk about. If I were to meet you outside now you'd find me really difficult to talk to, because I wouldn't know what to say next. You'd be making all the conversation. I'd appear to be quite standoffish, possibly arrogant because it would appear that I wasn't interested, but it's not that at all.

http://www.soundgenerator.com/news/index.cfm?articleid=2124&page=2

Based on what he describes, I think it could have played into the development of his early stage persona and the themes of alienation present in his music...and so it's relevent to the idea that initiated this thread and Omega Concern's followup question.