Bauhaus "Go Away White" (2008)

Go Away White
release date: Mar. 10, 2008
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,64]
producer: Bauhaus
label: Cooking Vinyl - nationality: England, UK

5th and final studio album by Bauhaus released 25 years following Burning From the Inside (1983).

The style is not a return to the heydays of the 1980s but more of a combination of the styles Peter Murphy and Love and Rockets have been involved with in recent years, thus making it an alt. rock, neo-psychedelia release with gothic rock references. The album became a reality after several years with attempts of reuniting the band. The first reunion period took place in 1998 when they put together a "Resurrection Tour" and a new best of album Crackle was released by Beggars Banquet - the band also recorded a new song, included in the film soundtrack for the animated sci-fi movie "Heavy Metal 2000" (a follow-up sequel to the iconic "Heavy Metal" from 1981). However, both Murphy and Love and Rockets continued to concentrate on their separate projects, and it wasn't until late 2005 that they once again found time for new concerts, and a new unification came about. They had played several concerts together over a longer period of time, and in 2006 the quartet went as far as to begin writing new songs again with the intent to release a new album. But the monkey was back and what had split the band 25 years earlier, once again led to a final disbandment allegedly even before releasing the new album.
Go Away White isn't all bad, I just don't find it of great interest, and just think that Love and Rockets and Peter Murphy respectively both have made better and more interesting albums than this.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Mojo, Rolling Stone, Uncut 3 / 5 stars ]

Bauhaus "Swing the Heartache: The BBC Sessions (1989)

Swing the Heartache: The BBC Sessions (compilation)
release date: Jul. 18, 1989
format: vinyl 2 lp (BEGA 103) / cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]
producer: ['BBC Radio broadcast recordings']
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

A double compilation album by Bauhaus released six years after the band split in '83.

I never really played the album that much, as it contains no big surprises. Of course, being recordings for radio broadcasts, the tracks are different from the studio album releases but they don't add much new, nor tell another story. So basically, this is just a collector's item.

The cover art photo is by Tansy Spinks (photograph from Covent Garden, London).
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Bauhaus "Bauhaus 1979-1983" (1985)

org. vinyl issue

Bauhaus 1979-1983 (compilation)
release date: Nov. 1985
format: 2 cd (1986 cd-issue)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Bauhaus
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Compilation album by Bauhaus originally released as a double vinyl album containing 23 tracks. In 1986 the album was issued as two separate cd releases titled Bauhaus 1979-1983 - Volume One and Bauhaus 1979-1983 - Volume Two. The two cd discs are enhanced versions of the vinyl release and contain the same tracks with 3 and 5 bonus tracks respectively.
Two Beggars Banquet official best of albums exists: this and the single album release Crackle from 1998 released during the first time Bauhaus re-united. The '98 album may be seen as a reduced best of, as it contains 16 tracks that one will also find on this album. The only differences are the playing order and a decision to 'only' include the live-version of "Bela Lugosi's Dead" on 1979-1983, which has the single-version on the '98 album. But apart from that, I think this album is the best as it consequently enlists the songs in a chronological order, whereas Crackle has the tracks all mixed together, and that, I think generally speaking, is a crime when making 'best of' albums.
It's all right to have a two disc best of compilation with this band - my only objection is with regards to some of the tracks included, and I know, it's NOT called "Best of Bauhaus", because why would anyone include tracks like "Dancing", "Hair of the Dog", "Paranoia, Paranoia", "Swing the Heartache", and "Satori"??? Just because there's room for more tracks doesn't mean we want it all, which is why I would hand the original double vinyl version 4,5 / 5 stars and the cd issue 3,5 / 5 stars. It's not that the band didn't produce enough great songs it's more that there're simply just too many rarities on the two cd releases to make maintain the greatness.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

1986 CD issue,
Volume One

    

1986 CD issue,
Volume Two

Bauhaus "The Singles: 1981-1983" (1983)

The Singles: 1981-1983 (compilation)
release date: Oct. 1983
format: vinyl (Mini-album) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Bauhaus, Hugh Jones, John Sparrow
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "The Passion of Lovers" (4 / 5) - 2. "Kick in the Eye" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Spirit" (5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Ziggy Stardust" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Lagartija Nick" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "She's in Parties" 4,5 / 5)

A compilation ep or Mini-album released after Bauhaus split in mid-1983. In 1985 the double vinyl compilation album Bauhaus 1979–1983 was released containing all of these tracks and an additional 17 [!] tracks - in 1986 this was released on cd on two separate volumes.

Bauhaus "4AD" (1983) (ep)

4AD, ep (compilation)
release date: Oct. 1, 1983
format: vinyl (BAD 312) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Bauhaus
label: 4AD Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1: "Dark Entries" - 2. "Terror Couple Kill Colonel" - 3. "Telegram Sam" - - B) 1. "Terror Couple Kill Colonel (version)" - 2. "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores" - 3. "Crowds"

An ep compilation released after Bauhaus split in mid-1983, and an album that I always fancied a little bit more than most of their releases. Actually, the tracks are very different but I think, they all show the energy in the dark gothic rock, which sometimes tend to be sinister and 'emo'-like, but this is held up on pure energy. It also contains two fine cover-versions: The glam rock tribute "Telegram Sam" (written by Marc Bolan), and a fabulous live version of "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores" (written by John Cale). Also, the end-track "Crowds" is a fine slowcore-like track filled with beautiful desperation.
The cover art photo "Masks" by the French photographer Emmanuel Sougez dated 1930s has always fascinated me. It has a wonderful disturbing feel - like masks still containing some emotions from the person(s) who wore them.

Bauhaus "Burning From the Inside" (1983)

Burning From the Inside
release date: Jul. 1983
format: vinyl (BEGA 45) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,02]
producer: Bauhaus
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "She's in Parties" (4,5 / 5) (official video) - 2. "Antonin Artaud" (4 / 5) - 5. "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight" (4 / 5) - 6. "Slice of Life" - 7. "Honeymoon Croon" - 8. "Kingdom's Coming" - 9. "Burning From the Inside" - 10. "Hope"

4th and final studio album release by Bauhaus..., or so it appeaared to be at the time, but the band eventually regrouped and released the album Go Away White in 2008.

Some consider this their most polished and their most pop-styled album, whereas others regard it their most experimental release.

It took me some time getting used to it. Initially, I really loved "She's in Parties", and I was ready for a journey into more pop-styled songs in the dark gothic rock universe, and probably found that closer to e.g. The Cure's recent releases, but the album is much more than mainstream, and contains really experimental stuff. The great angry punk rock tracks "Antonin Artaud", "Slice of Life", and "Honeymoon Croon" are the one part giving new life to their otherwise more gloomy sentiments, only represented in the title track, and then the album also contains some tracks that point in a completely new direction. "King Volcano", "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight", "Kingdom's Coming", and "Hope", are all tracks that have more in common with what was later released by Love and Rockets, a band consisting of all but one member of Bauhaus. After the disbandment, Peter Murphy (lead vocalist) initiated his solo career, and the remainders founded the band Love and Rockets, a band that continued the experimental side of Bauhaus but who also took the style far away from the dark and glam rock-inspired post-punk and gothic rock. After the disbandment in 1983, the band's status has only grown. Bauhaus re-united briefly in 1998 for a concert tour, and again in 2005 continuing throughout 2006 - this time for a longer period, which eventually brought them back in the studio to record new material and the album Go Away White was released in 2008 only to see the band 'finally' split after the release. I think, Burning From the Inside is a better album than the likewise experimental The Sky's Gone Out from 1982. Although, the band incorporate many styles, it remains a whole with the more experimental tracks scattered in between more melodic tracks like small breaks. Initially, I didn't like it, and I would probably only have handed it 2,5 / 5. Nowadays, I consider it one of the band's major albums.

The front cover artwork is by (Daniel Ash' art school friend) Glenn Campling.

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Bauhaus "She's in Parties" (1983) (single)

She's in Parties, 12'' single
release date: Apr. 1983
format: digital
[single rate: 4 / 5]

Tracklist: A) "She's in Parties" (4,5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Here's the Dub (Special Effects by Loonatik B. Drinks)" - 2. "Departure"

A single release by Bauhaus. The title track is from the forthcoming and final studio album Burning From the Inside (Jul. 1983), and it was another of my favourite tracks of the early 1980s gothic rock.

Bauhaus "Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape" (1982) (live)

Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape (live)
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 ]

Bauhaus "The Sky's Gone Out" (1982)

The Sky's Gone Out
release date: Oct. 5, 1982
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Bauhaus
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Silent Hedges" (4 / 5) - "In the Night" - 5. "Spirit" - 8. "The Three Shadows Part 3" - 9. "All We Ever Wanted Was Everything" ( 4 / 5)

3rd studio album by Bauhaus following one year after Mask is a more experimental album pointing in several directions. The band plays with punk rock, art rock, reggae, and something that should later be labeled industrial, as well as applying acoustic instruments. The track "Spirit" comes in two very different versions, and this (the album version) is not my preferred version of the song. A more pop-mixed edition can be found on the single release "Spirit" (Jun. '82), which is also issued on "The Singles: 1981-1983" (Oct. '83).

The album is fine but not on level with the band's previous two albums. Its biggest flaw is the many styles and directions it points to. It's like an album of disorientation: "Look, we have so many ideas, so where to go from here?"

Once again the front cover is a painting by guitarist Daniel Ash.

[ allmusic.com, Record Collector 3 / 5 ]

Bauhaus "Ziggy Stardust (1982) (single)

Ziggy Stardust, 7'' single
release date: Sep. 1982
format: digital
[single rate: 4 / 5]

Tracklist: A) "Ziggy Stardust" (4,5 / 5) - - B) "Third Uncle"

A single release by Bauhaus. The title track is a cover of a track by David Bowie (originally released on his great glam rock album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, from 1972). The original track is great but this is likewise a great cover and a much more electrified version. The B-side track is also a cover originally by Brian Eno (from his art rock album Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), from 1974). I actually prefer the Bauhaus-version to the fine original.

Bauhaus "Spirit" (1982) (single)

Spirit, 7'' single
release date: Jun. 1982
format: vinyl (picture disc, Beg 79P)
[single rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Hugh Jones
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "Spirit" (4,5 / 5) (official video) (live 1999) - - B) "Terror Couple Kill Colonel (Recorded Live in Paris)"

A single release by Bauhaus. The A-track single is from the forthcoming album The Sky's Gone Out but here it's released in a rather different version, which was one of my favourite tracks of the early 1980s gothic rock. It contains both the gothic and post-punk dark style and with the addition of a more pop-styled version of the band's music, as it also appears on "She's in Parties".
The picture disc edition was a limited issue, and the cover art is a replica of Oscar Schlemmer's Bauhaus logo from 1922 for the German art and design school.

[ collectors' item ]

     

A side

B side

<  Oscar Schlemmer's artwork >

Original Bauhaus logo by Oscar Schlemmer

Bauhaus "Mask" (1981)

Mask
release date: Oct. 1981
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,12]
producer: Bauhaus
label: Beggars Banquet - nationailty: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "The Passion of Lovers" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Dancing" - 5. "Hollow Hills" (4 / 5) - 6. "Kick in the Eye" - 7. "In Fear of Fear" - 10. "Mask" (4,5 / 5)

2nd studio album by Bauhaus following one year after In the Flat Field is once again a release entirely produced by the band. They may appear to have changed record label but 4AD, who released the debut album as well as some of the band's early eps and singles, was a sublabel to Beggars Banquet as the mother company's 'testing ground' for upcoming artists, and as the debut had been met by critical acclaim, Bauhaus was moved to the mother company.
Mask is yet another strong and intense release of dark and sinister sounding gothic rock. What felt like a reminiscence of Joy Division on the debut is here completely gone, and the band has taken a rather original theatrical or: melodramatic step into darkness and depravity, and in some ways threads on paths that Marilyn Manson should much later investigate. This is an even stronger and more intense collection of songs than is heard on In the Flat Field, and it stands as one of the absolute best albums of gothic rock. The abum is the only Bauhaus album to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". The track "Passion of Lovers" was the first song I ever listened to by the band. I recorded it on tape from a radio programme, and I was absolutely fascinated by its intensity - demonstrating an originality in tension and atmosphere, which sounds fresh - even from a modern perspective.
The front cover of the album is a drawing by Daniel Ash.
Highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com, Record Collector, Drowned in Sound 4 / 5 stars ]

Bauhaus "In the Flat Field" (1980)

In the Flat Field [debut]
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 ]

Bauhaus

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l-r: Kevin, David, Peter, Daniel

Bauhaus: is a British gothic rock and post-punk band formed in Northampton in 1978. The band split in 1983 after its fourth studio album release, and re-united shortly in 1998, and again in 2006-08 for primarily live concerts, although, a second final album was released in 2008. Members: Peter Murphy (aka Peter John Murphy [birth name], vocals, occasional instruments), Daniel Ash (aka Daniel Gaston Ash [birth name], guitar), and the brothers Haskins: Kevin (drums), and David J (aka David John Haskins [birth name], bass). Initially, the band was called Bauhaus 1919 with reference to the German art school. The band is one of the pioneers of gothic rock, a musical style developed from post-punk played by British bands like Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and The Cure. Bauhaus became exponent of a darker, gloomier, and more theatrical gothic rock, which also have sources in music by artists like David Bowie, Marc Bolan, The Velvet Underground, Iggy & The Stooges, The Doors, etc., i.e. bands and artists who also inspired in shaping punk rock and post-punk. After the disbandment in 1983, Peter Murphy launched a solo career into art rock alt. rock with elements of gothic rock, and the remainders of the band formed Love and Rockets (with Ash on vocals), a successful band playing an original combo of alt. rock, neo-psychedelia and pop / rock, and who became pioneers of college rock and the alternative rock scene of the 1990s. Bauhaus briefly re-united in 1998 for a live tour, and again in 2005, which followed a longer period of live concerts and tours throughout 2006, and the band began writing new material. They worked in the studio on a new album, released in 2008 but without a promotional tour, and once again, they ultimately split up. I first heard of the band when it was played on a late-night program on the national radio, dedicated to punk rock post-punk and all the new styles of the early 1980s. The first song I heard was "The Passion of Lovers", and I remember recording it on cassette, and I really enjoyed that track but didn't get hold of the band's name until weeks later. A couple of years later, I had found and bought a vhs-tape of a Bauhaus live concert film in a small music store with lots of import, and that video just made my day, and soon my teenage room had the b/w Bauhaus poster "Bela Lugosi's Dead" next to one featuring Elvis Costello.

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poster