AMG Review of Random, Vol. 2: A Gary Numan Tribute

Greg Prato
All Music Guide

With many major alternative artists of the late '90s praising the work of Gary Numan (Marilyn Manson, Trent Reznor, etc.), it would make sense for a Numan tribute album to surface. Random, Vol. 2: Gary Numan Tribute is the closest to a tribute album as you can get without it actually being one -- 11 dance/techno/house remixers deconstruct and rework a number of classic Numan numbers, updating them with '90s sounds, samples, and beats. You'll find radically different remixes of "Are 'Friends' Electric?" (by Liberator DJ's), "I Die, You Die" (Greenhaus), "Metal" (Robert Armani), and two versions of Numan's global hit "Cars" (the first by Mike Dearborn, the second by Dave Clarke). Although some Numan purists have complained that these remixes have lost the original's feel and approach, and there is some truth to this, Random, Vol. 2: Gary Numan Tribute serves as an introduction to the genius of Gary Numan for club fans of the '90s, who wouldn't have discovered these tunes otherwise.