release date: Oct. 19, 1982
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: [non-produced]
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 2. "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores" - 5. "Bela Lugo's Dead"
3rd album release by Bauhaus is a collection of eleven live compositions from three concerts held in London and Liverpool in 1981 and '82. Six tracks were recorded at The Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, Oct. 31, 1981. One track is from a concert at Hammersmith Palais, London, Nov. 9, 1981, and four tracks are taken from a concert at The Old Vic, London, Feb. 24, 1982. A remastered version with an additional six tracks was released in 1988 (like most of the band's releases had new remastered bonus tracks editions), five of which were recorded Dec. 3, 1981, Le Rose Bon Bon, Paris.
The best thing about the album are the highlighted two compositions, which were previously unreleased: the band's very first single "Bela Lugosi's Dead" (running for more than 9 minutes) - a song the band was always expected to play live - and the cover song "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores" by John Cale, and a song the band almost made its own.
The album is a fine document of a band, who was fully capable of maintaining its unique sound and by adding dimensions to that when playing live, as their inert tone was of theatrical nature and simply contained that something quite suitable for the stage.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5 stars ]
