• Record Label: BMG
  • Release Date: Sep 15, 2017
Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 11
  2. Negative: 0 out of 11
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  1. Mojo
    Sep 27, 2017
    80
    Like all of Numan's greatest work, Savage sounds timeless. [Nov 2017, p.100]
  2. Sep 20, 2017
    80
    Numan's appropriation of Arabic musical patterns, textures and instruments can make for mildly uncomfortable listening at first, but on repeated plays these are the moments that really stand out. His decision to directly incorporate these less familiar (to the western ear) musical mores into his already alien-sounding style pays off.
  3. Sep 19, 2017
    80
    Savage is a compelling cautionary tale of what may happen if we’re too complacent to give a damn about future generations. It’s also a stunningly sharp and diverse collection of songs from a living legend.
  4. Sep 18, 2017
    80
    That Numan can still juggle melodrama and musicality with such effortlessness is impressive, to say the least, but that he can make it so compelling is what sets him apart from his old guard new wave contemporaries.
  5. 75
    There’s a reason he's thought of as one of the pioneers of electronic music; he manages to create more than just simple sounds--instead, there’s an idea that the big picture is far bigger than you’d ever care to realise.
  6. Uncut
    Sep 22, 2017
    70
    The industrial-inflected sound Numan has explored since Sacrifice remains a bedrock, but "Bed Of Thorns" and "Pray For The Pain You Serve" realise the concept neatly, blending crunchy synth riffs and brooding choruses with fragments of Arabic melody. [Nov 2017, p.35]
  7. Magnet
    Sep 18, 2017
    70
    Call it the musical equivalent of Cormac McCarthy's similarly brutal The Road. [No. 146, p.59]
  8. Nov 29, 2017
    60
    Numan allows his compositions some room to breathe by occasionally slowing the tempo while the mood morphs from murky to majestic as he lets his Berlin-era Bowie influence seep in. His glassy futuristic voice is as crystalline as ever and fits snuggly within the slick production.
  9. Oct 11, 2017
    60
    There’s much to admire about Savage, but it’s definitely one that you have to be in a particular mood to enjoy.
  10. Q Magazine
    Sep 18, 2017
    60
    Numan and collaborator Ade Fenton complement the narrative with a sand-blown, Eastern gothic mood, featuring use of Arabic scales, which evoke a desert within the human soul as much as any hypothetical desert Earth. [Oct 2017, p.107]
  11. Sep 18, 2017
    60
    Tunefulness permeates the intensity like rays of sunshine.
User Score
7.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 11 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 11
  3. Negative: 2 out of 11
  1. Oct 1, 2017
    9
    Numan has been mining this particular industrial vein since 2000's "Pure". You'd think after seventeen years the guy would have either run outNuman has been mining this particular industrial vein since 2000's "Pure". You'd think after seventeen years the guy would have either run out of ideas entirely or branched out into other tangents. That this album is as menacing, profound, and vital as this is mind-boggling. While my favorite all-time Numan is still "Sacrifice", which was much more varied than this musically, this keeps me hooked from start to finish, despite the irony of an album named "Savage" having a much higher ballad-to-slammer ratio than I would have expected. The thread running through it all is atmosphere, and Numan is the master. I admit the stereotypical font on the cover was puzzling, and Gary could use some new input re album titles (both this and his previous "Splinter" could do without the parenthetical subtitles). Even some image consulting might help; Numan has clearly always been a big Bowie fan, but where Bowie changed entire personas, Numan lately just changes outfits. But enough about fashion - the music redeems any such trifle and then some. Full Review »
  2. Sep 27, 2017
    9
    I've been a fan of Numan from the beginning, from his days with his breakout band Tubeway Army, through to his time in the wilderness when heI've been a fan of Numan from the beginning, from his days with his breakout band Tubeway Army, through to his time in the wilderness when he dabbled in American Techno-pop. Savage: Songs from a Broken World has to be his best album in the last 20 years, and probably his greatest work since Replicas. It's haunting themes at times raise the hairs on the back of your neck.

    Intricately crafted tunes of a dystopian future, purposefully discordant, evoking visions of where humanity could be heading if we collectively don't get our act together.

    Savage: Songs from a Broken World is a must-have for any Numan fan.
    Full Review »