Replicas - Definition and Overview

Replicas is an LP by Gary Numan and the Tubeway Army, released in 1979. This is a transitional record for Numan. The synthesizer became more prominent from the first, self-titled, Tubeway Army release, which comprised the young man's songs he'd written in his late teens. Like the first, Numan is on electric guitar and keyboards, his uncle, Jess Lidyard is on drums and Paul Gardner is on electric bass. It's transitional in that it is more Science Fiction than Punk and the first release, it could be said, was the inverse of that.

Replicas, which is a concept album, based on a book Numan hoped to complete someday, scored a #1 hit in Britain, with the Philip K. Dick-inspired Are 'Friends' Electric?. This track, which has no chorus, made waves throughout Europe and across the Atlantic to the U.S..