release date: Oct. 1, 1980
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Bauhaus
label: 4AD Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Double Dare" - 2. "In the Flat Field" - 3. "God in an Alcove" - 7. "St. Vitus Dance" - 8. "Stigmata Martyr"
Studio album debut by British gothic rock and post-punk band Bauhaus consisting of vocalist Peter Murphy, guitarist Daniel Ash, and the two brothers Haskins: bassist David J [aka David John Haskins], and (younger brother) drummer Kevin.
It's a very promising release with a highly original sound, which on the one hand appears to be inspired by post-punk forerunners like Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure, as well as by former artists of proto-punk and psychedelic rock, and in this fusion of their own darker style, which places the band as one of the very first to be referred to as playing gothic rock.
The album is by many critics considered the first gothic rock album. The album cover is by American photographer Duane Michals titled "Homage to Puvis de Chavannes".
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Drowned in Sound 4,5 / 5 ]
