These cuts were all recorded at various sessions in 1979, the most important phase of Gary Numan's career. Around this time Numan was shedding his punk beginnings and embracing a Bowie-influenced brand of synthesizer rock that was hugely influential to such British techno-poppers as Depeche Mode and the Human League. A couple of years down the road, electronic post-punk would be the milieu of anyone with a synthesizer and a skinny tie, but in 1979 Numan was an innovator with few peers.Many of these BBC live-in-the-studio cuts are perhaps even more striking than their album counterparts; there's a leaner, more urgent feel, the electronic timbres are punchier, the rhythms sometimes approach funkiness, and the lack of overdubs casts Numan's songs of futuristic alienation in a starkly minimalist light. Amid the angular synth lines and repetitive rhythms, his palely anguished voice occasionally betrays real human emotion, as on "Conversation," where he confesses, "we are only boys" (Numan was just 21 at the time). This is that rare BBC SESSION that functions equally well as fan fodder or novice's entry point.