After leaving Ultravox, lead singer John Foxx debuted his solo career with Metamatic. It generally occupies the same space as Ultravox's Systems of Romance, perhaps a bit more sparse and unfeeling. In many ways, this is stylistically similar to Gary Numan's The Pleasure Principle, released months before Metamatic, but Numan has admitted his debt to Foxx and 'Vox.
I think when it comes to synth pop, I need a bit more emotion than these guys want to conjure up. They're more in the meat-locker cold, Kraftwerk aesthetic with JG Ballard-inspired lyrics. Also, just way too repetitive. Come up with a song title and just repeat it a lot, huh.
Which isn't to say this is a terrible album; it's just not something I ever really want to listen to unless it's winter, much like Magazine's Secondhand Daylight.
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