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Sacrifice is the twelfth solo studio album by English musician Gary Numan, released in October 1994 by Numa Records. Its release is often cited as marking the start of a critical and artistic rejuvenation for Numan. The album was released in the US in 1997 with a different title, Dawn, based on the comic book character Dawn. It also carried cover art by Joseph Michael Linsner.

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Sacrifice
Studio album by Gary Numan
Released	24 October 1994[1]
Recorded	1994
Studio	Outland, London
Genre	Rock
Length	45:03
Label	Numa
Producer	Gary Numan
Gary Numan chronology
Machine + Soul (1992) Sacrifice (1994) Human (1995)
Alternative cover
Cover of 1997 U.S. Dawn release
Singles from Sacrifice
"A Question of Faith" Released: October 1994

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]

A number of tracks displayed an antipathy towards religion, a stance that had been noted in isolated songs from early in Numan's career but which became more pronounced on this album and its successors, Exile (1997) and Pure (2000).[3] Numan later stated that whilst Exile was a fictional story, "Sacrifice looks at my actual beliefs".[4]

In a 2000 interview, Numan described his approach to the recording. Prior to Sacrifice, "I spent quite a few years just trying to write songs that would get me back on the radio". For the new album, "I just went right back to the way I was when I was a teenager, first time writing songs, with all the enthusiasm for it".[5] The resultant music, whilst not a commercial success, garnered Numan his best notices in years and coincided with the beginnings of a critical reassessment of his career and acknowledgment of his influence on such artists as Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters, Marilyn Manson, The Magnetic Fields, The Prodigy and Afrika Bambaataa.

An 'Extended' version of Sacrifice, approximately twice as long again as the original, was released in 1995. The same year, most of the tracks appeared on Dark Light, Numan's live recording from the Sacrifice tour.

In 1999 the album was reissued with bonus tracks in the UK (Eagle Records) and US (Cleopatra Records). As with other reissues of albums originally released on Numa Records, the US version had a somewhat different selection of bonus tracks as well as altered artwork.

Re-recording

On 21 July 2021, Vaughn George announced that Sacrifice (1994), Exile (1997) and Pure (2000) would be re-produced with modern production standards.[6]

Track listing

All tracks written by Gary Numan.

1994 Numa CD release (NUMACD 1011)

1. "Pray" – 3:55
2. "Deadliner" – 4:29
3. "A Question of Faith" – 4:52
4. "Desire" – 3:47
5. "Scar" – 3:25
6. "Love and Napalm" – 5:08
7. "You Walk in My Soul" – 4:39
8. "Magic" – 4:42
9. "Bleed" – 6:10
10. "The Seed of a Lie" – 5:25

1994 Numa 'Extended' CD release (NUMACDX 1011)

1. "Pray" – 5:57
2. "Deadliner" – 8:45
3. "A Question of Faith" – 8:43
4. "Desire" – 5:33
5. "Scar" – 5:25
6. "Love and Napalm" – 8:26
7. "You Walk in My Soul" – 6:54
8. "Magic" – 6:29
9. "Bleed" – 7:41
10. "The Seed of a Lie" – 7:07

1999 Cleopatra U.S. CD reissue (CLP 0336-2)

1. "Pray" – 3:55
2. "Deadliner" – 4:29
3. "A Question of Faith" – 4:52
4. "Desire" – 3:47
5. "Scar" – 3:25
6. "Love and Napalm" – 5:08
7. "You Walk in My Soul" – 4:39
8. "Magic" – 4:42
9. "Bleed" – 6:10
10. "The Seed of a Lie" – 5:25
11. "A Question of Faith" (Extended) – 8:43
12. "Love and Napalm" (Extended) – 8:26
13. "Metal Beat" – 3:10 (*)
14. "Play Like God" – 7:01

1999 Eagle Records UK CD reissue (EAMCD076)

1. "Pray" – 3:55
2. "Deadliner" – 4:29
3. "A Question of Faith" – 4:52
4. "Desire" – 3:47
5. "Scar" – 3:25
6. "Love And Napalm" – 5:08
7. "You Walk in My Soul" – 4:39
8. "Magic" – 4:42
9. "Bleed" – 6:10
10. "The Seed of a Lie" – 5:25
11. "Play Like God" – 7:01
12. "Whisper of Truth" – 4:21
13. "Metal Beat" – 3:10 (*)
14. "Absolution" – 4:37

Notes

• (*) "Metal Beat" was in fact from early sessions for the album and intended to be the title track, "Vicious". However, after working with Machine & Soul producer Kipper and then other producers, "Metal Beat" (and possibly other tracks) were dropped and Numan instead adopted tracks from the 1994 soundtrack he had recorded, The Radial Pair: Video Soundtrack, and the album became Sacrifice.

Personnel

• Gary Numan – all instruments and vocals, production, arrangements
• Kipper – additional guitar on "Scar", synth bass on "Love and Napalm"
• TJ Davis – backing vocals on "Scar"

Notes

References

• Paul Goodwin (2004). Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan.

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