Join Hands
release date: Sep. 7, 1979
format: cd (2006 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Nils Stevenson, Mike Stavrou
label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights:
2. "Regal Zone" -
3. "Placebo Effect" -
5. "Premature Burial" -
6. "Playground Twist" (4,5 / 5) -
8. "The Lords Prayer" - *9. "Love in a Void" (7'' single) (live)
*Bonus track on 2006 remaster
2nd studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees follows 10 months after the debut and it features two new co-producers and a band that stays to the same line-up but who was already a split unit during the recording sessions, and the inevitable split occured as soon as the album had been released.
Compared to The Scream, the album continues the style, but the sound has become darker and more sinister, and it's basically already a gothic rock album, although the term is not yet fully accepted.
The album was received in positive ways and also fared well peaking as number #13 on the British albums chart list. The only song from the album to be issued for single release was "Playground Twist" reaching #28 on singles list - the song was, however, a must in any live concerts from hereon. That single was issued with the non-album composition "Pulled to Bits" (also on the '83 live album Nocturne) as B-side, and that became nearly as iconic for the band.
Personally, the album has never been on my favourites' list but it undoubtedly paved way for many other artists, and it stands as one of the purest and first of the style of gothic rock. Also, songs like "Regal Zone", "Placebo Effect", "Premature Burial" and "The Lord's Prayer" - none of which are great but which all contain an immense sensation of coldness and dark aggressiveness that would stick with the band almost throughout its time, something different but at the same time a quality that charachterizes Siouxsie and the Banshees as an original exponent of change, which also links the band with The Sex Pistols, Killing Joke and early The Clash - bands that inspired to rebel.
Join Hands is not full of strong compositions - it contains one of the band's best known songs - and it still showcases a highly original and vital band struggling in its very existence, which seems ironic given the title of the album 'cause that's exactly what they were incapable of. Internal conflicts within the band prevents the group from performing at a productive level, and the album comes to stand below better end products.
The split of the band happened as the upcoming tour started, when both guitarist John McKay and drummer Kevin Morris decided to leave the band, and Robert Smith saved the tour with his assistance on guitar (for two live concerts) before John McGeoch became new staple guitarist, and Budgie of The Slits joined on drums to finalise a new strong version of the band.
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5, Sounds 4,5 / 5 stars ]
