release date: Jun. 8, 1984
format: vinyl (SHE HP1) / cd (2009 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: Mike Hedges, Siouxsie and the Banshees
label: Polydor / Wonderland - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Dazzle" (officiel video) - 2. "We Hunger" - 3. "Take Me Back" - 4. "Belladonna" (4 / 5) - 5. "Swimming Horses" (4 / 5) - 6. "Bring Me the Head of the Preacher Man" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "Running Town" - 9. "Blow the House Down"
6th studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees (SATB) is the first and only of its kind to feature Robert Smith (of The Cure) on lead guitar. Former guitarist John McGeoch was dismissed from the band shortly after A Kiss in the Dreamhouse (1982). Already as early as after the band's second album Join Hands (1979), the band was left without a guitarist as John McKay left just prior to a tour with The Cure as a warm-up band was about to take off - Robert Smith therefore jumped in to help the band complete the first two shows before John McGeoch then took over as new permanent guitarist while Smith stayed with The Cure. When McGeoch was hospitalised in '82, the band again Smith again if he would step in as temporarily replacement, and when McGeoch then eventually was sacked from the band, Robert Smith officially accepted the role as their new guitarist, although he was still the main force in The Cure. Together with bassist Steve Severin, Smith simultaneously established the short-lived project-duo The Glove in '83, under which name they released Blue Sunshine (Aug. '83). Also, Siouxsie Sioux and drummer (and husband to be) Budgie began their (long-running) duo, The Creatures, and they released their acclaimed debut Feast in May '83. After breaking up with SATB in '83, McGeoch became a member of the band The Armoury Show and he cintributes to the band's only (and fine) Waiting for the Floods (1985).
Musically, Hyaena (stylized: 'Hyæna') is something quite different compared to the band's previous releases, although the same may be said of all their albums. The '82 album was clearly experimental and full of strings, and unlike that, Hyaena is a multi-layered synthesiser mix, blending art pop, post-punk, gothic rock with distinct traits from neo-psychedelia.
If you happen to be familiar with The Top (1984) by The Cure (and therefore Robert Smith), Blue Sunshine (1983) by The Glove (Robert Smith & Steven Severin), then you'll perhaps notice a similar soundscape of Hyaena, which is very much in line with exactly those two albums by exhibiting some of the same stylistic traits. There is an almost wild and absurd willingness to throw in all sorts of instrumentation as extra layers on top of all the existing layers of both acoustic and electronic instruments while miraculously still managing to maintain a distinct musical direction through musical signatures created by the use of guitars, bass, and drums - as a common feature on all three albums. Some may point out that precisely this should be credited Robert Smith's creative abilities. However, the music is credited to the band, and Budgie and Severin have also played fundamental parts in the creation of the sound that characterised SATB. Sioux contributes especially with her characteristic vocal and she is also credited almost all lyrics, except for three tracks with lyrics by Severin. Although he naturally slipped in as one of the band's many fine guitarists, Robert Smith left the band again shortly before the release of the album as he ended up suffering from symptoms of physical strain and mental breakdown, most probably as the result of having been full-time involved in three concurrent projects. Smith was subsequently replaced by John Valentine Carruthers, who was to prove to be another distinctive guitarist in SATB.
Hyaena is yet another dazzling album from a band who seem to quite simply (re-)invent musical styles and simultaneously be able to reinvent themselves over and over again.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]
