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Savage (Songs from a Broken World)
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Savage (Songs from a Broken World) Image
Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 11 Ratings

  • Summary: The 21st full-length studio release from the British electronic/industrial artist is a concept album about a post-apocalyptic world where much of it has become a desert.
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Top Track

My Name Is Ruin
When they called me broken, I knew When they called me evil, I knew When they called me ruin, I knew I would always find my way to you When I begged... See the rest of the song lyrics
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Mojo
    Sep 27, 2017
    80
    Like all of Numan's greatest work, Savage sounds timeless. [Nov 2017, p.100]
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  2. PopMatters
    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.
  3. The Quietus
    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.
  4. Magnet
    Sep 18, 2017
    70
    Call it the musical equivalent of Cormac McCarthy's similarly brutal The Road. [No. 146, p.59]
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  5. 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]
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  6. The Guardian
    Sep 18, 2017
    60
    Tunefulness permeates the intensity like rays of sunshine.
  7. Under The Radar
    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.

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User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. almajcen
    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.    … Expand
  2. StevenX
    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.… Collapse

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