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| 2014 remaster |
release date: Sep. 5, 1988
format: cd (2014 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Siouxsie and the Banshees, Mike Hedges
label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Peek-a-boo" - 2. "The Killing Jar" (4 / 5) - 5. "Burn-Up" - 9. "The Last Beat of My Heart" (4 / 5) - 10. "Rhapsody" - *13. "The Last Beat of My Heart (Live)"
*Bonus track on 2014 remaster
9th studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees following some 18 months after the covers album Through the Looking Glass (Mar. 1987) and is like that a Hedges / Banshees production. Shortly after the release of the predecessor, for a period the band was reduced to a trio, but it didn't take long before they expanded again. For the recordings here, the band has grown to a quintet, which now count the three permanent members: vocalist Siouxsie Sioux, bassist Steven Severin, and drummer Budgie. To that core two new members have entered: guitarist Jon Klein and multi-instrumentalist Martin McCarrick (on cello, keyboards, accordion), with the latter also contributing on the '87 album without yet being included as band member. On that, he played cello, keyboards and managed the string arrangements.
Musically, a lot has happened since their last two albums - or you could say that the band has carried new styles with them from the covers album, which appears more homogenous in a style that includes darkwave as a direct link to the band's gothic rock and post-punk past, while Peepshow here seems more detached from the darker side - for the first time showing the band embracing pure art pop with synthpop electronics. The guitar is still found as omnipresent background, but it's now usually other instruments that control the tracks and dominate the soundscape. Compared to previous albums, which have almost all had a relatively simple sound, this has here become more complex with strings and keyboards slipping refinedly in and out of a strict structure, which also stands in contrast to the bombastic wall of sound you met on Hyaena (1984). It seems clear that McCarrick has been allowed to add new structures to help draw the sound on yet another original outing from a band who just sticks to its hallmark of keep innovating without losing its distinctive traits.
As usual, the album was met by positive reviews - nationally, by even very positive reactions without landing a top-10 position on the British albums chart. The album peaked a little further down at a respectable number #20, although it became the band's worst charting album, and the critically acclaimed first single "Peek-a-boo" landed at number #16 in the UK but cruised in at number #1 on the US Alternative Airplay list. "The Killing Jar" and finally "The Last Beat of My Heart" followed as selected single releases without resulting in more than a 41st and 44th place on the singles chart, nationally, however, the second single ("The Killing Jar") also landed a second spot on the American Alternative Airplay list.
The album is not an immediate favourite, but it certainly has its qualities as a quite strong and independent release, which with its meticulous production sounds more like music released after the turn of the Millennium. The band also manages to stick to its musical distinctiveness with recognisable drums, bass, and vocals, and at the same time carry the music into a more modern output.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Record Mirror 4,5 / 5, 👎Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]
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| original cover |
