Peter Murphy "Silver Shade" (2025)

Silver Shade

udgivet: 9. maj 2025

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)

[vurdering: 3 / 5] [3,06]

producer: Youth (aka Martin Glover)

selskab: Metropolis - nationalitet: England, UK

Udvalgte numre: 1. "Swoon" - 3. "Sherpa" - 4. "Silver Shade" - 5. "The Artroom Wonder" - 8. "Cochita Is Lame" - 11. "The Sailmaker's Charm"

10. studioalbum fra Peter Murphy følger mere end et årti efter Lion (jun. 2014) - 11 år er gået og alligevel lander albummet her ret meget i samme nabolag som forgængeren. Produceren er den samme, og der er jo intet overraskende i, at Murphy har et praktisk behov for musikalsk støtte i formgivningen af sin musik, da han ikke selv behersker et instrument, og Youth søger på bedste beskub at efterligne tidligere tiders Murphy-udgivelser i pompøse arrangementer med lige dele melodiøs gotisk og industrial rock. Siden Lion udgav Murphy flere live-albums - det seneste er fra 2024, og i 2017 blev han angiveligt ramt af et hjertestop, som betød,  at han i en periode var ukampdygtig, men alligevel genoptog en afbrudt live tour, og efter det har han udgivet yderligere tre live-udgivelser.

Silver Shade er i bund og grund mest af alt et genhør - et fint produceret mix af meget af det materiale Murphy tidligere har excelleret i. Noget genoptager stilen fra Bauhaus, mens andet lyder mere som forbillederne Iggy Pop og David Bowie, og så er der de fine små glimt af crooneren Peter Murphy, der viser sin gennemprøvede sangstyrke, men essencen er ikke desto mindre, at Murphy ikke formår at bidrage med synderligt nyt. Jeg har til tider svært ved at adskille numrene fra andre albums, men kan samtidig glædes ved melodiernes styrke uden, at de sætter sig som noget, jeg føler, jeg bare må høre igen.

Fint genhør uden at imponere.

[ 👍UnderTheRadar 3 / 5, 😲Spill Magazine 4,5 / 5 stjerner ]

Peter Murphy "Lion" (2014)

Lion

release date: Jun. 2, 2014

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,86]

producer: Youth (aka Martin Glover)

label: Nettwerk - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Hang Up" - 3. "I'm on Your Side" - 5. "Compression" - 9. "Eliza"

9th studio album by Peter Murphy following three years after Ninth (Jun. 2011) and his second album on US label Nettwerk. To the typical procedure, Murphy has made the album with a new producer - this time with British producer and musician Youth (aka Martin Glover), who is perhaps best known for his part as bassist in post-punk and industrial rock act Killing Joke, although, he relatively early on also made a career as producer and basically of all genres and styles. All lyrics are as usual by Murphy, whereas all music is credited Murphy and Glover with the latter also filling the part as multi-instrumentalist. Some issues (CD and vinyl) include the ten track extra live material "Selections From the Mr. Moonlight Tour (35 Years of Bauhaus)".

Apparently, many of the compositions are studio improvs, and as a whole the album distances itself from Ninth by being stronger influenced by industrial rock. Also, Murphy generally sings in a more restrained and higher register on most of the songs. The soundscape is dominated by bass, drums, and synths, and basically doesn't fall far from a style, which has strong bonds to Glover's famous band Killing Joke and their music of the late 80s and early 90s.

Lion was possibly seen as a return to form, or at least some kind of test to his legacy within certain circles, and it also made it to the Billboard 200 as his only second album after Holy Smoke. I just don't find it a particular fascinating album. Murphy's singing style here is too extravagant and as if he tries hard to convince himself about his 'god-given' qualities while going through the motions, doing what he knows the best. Where Ninth actually showed us what he's capable of, Lion appears more like a sequel to Go Away White (2008), although, it's nevertheless a quite coherent release.

Not recommended.

[ Pitchfork 7,5 / 10, allmusic.com, PopMatters, Exclaim! 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine 3 / 5 stars ]

Peter Murphy "Ninth" (2011)

Ninth
release date: Jun. 7, 2011
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: David Barron
label: Nettwerk - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Velocity Bird" - 2. "Seesaw Sway" (4 / 5) - 4. "I Spit Roses" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Never Fall Out" (4 / 5) - 6. "Memory Go" - 11. "Crème de la crème"

8th studio album by Peter Murphy - his 'ninth' solo album including the live album aLive Just for Love (2001) and hence the title - following full seven years after Unshattered from 2004. Since then, Murphy teamed up with the other former members of Bauhaus to reunite forces and reform the legendary band which resulted in the album Go Away White (Mar. 2008), and that only ended up by finally burying the idea of another Bauhaus era. The album here mainly features lyrics and music by Murphy and producer David Barron, while only track #5 was co-written with Murphy's former regular co-composer Paul Stratham, who most recently contributed to Cascade from '95.

Peter Murphy isn't known for releasing new studio albums once a year or even every other year, but when he finally does release an album, it's usually with a new variation of his stylistic expression as a counterbalance to his most recent album. If you have followed his career since he was the star of one of the very first and most important bands of gothic rock - a style that had sprung out of post-punk in the UK - it's nevertheless still clear that he appears stuck in his musical starting point from the Bauhaus period. At that time, the music was a new mix merging glam rock of the 70s and the so-called proto-punk - exemplified by David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Marc Bolan - with a more aggressive and simpler expression that grew out of punk rock in the shape of post-punk, where especially Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees were key style creators. Over the past three decades, Murphy has kept firmly to gothic rock as a stylistic staple with variations. His first solo album probably indicated his biggest leap in style towards an art pop arena, after which he tried a more polished pop / rock version of gothic rock, which then added variations of the early sources of inspiration, but also with a new element in his music in the form of Turkish music, which certainly has added new traits to his sound.

Ninth is a solid dark gothic rock and alt. rock album, which stands as a solid pillar for his vocal expression and temper. He has pretty much always been a stable provider in making at least one really good song on each of his solo albums over the past 27 years, since his solo debut Should the World Fail to Fall Apart (1986). And this album is one of his better. The track "I Spit Roses" is, according to Murphy himself, a song about how and why Bauhaus eventually dissolved as a band. Imho, Ninth is Murphy's third best solo album and as such a quite solid album and worth to know.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

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 ]

Peter Murphy "Unshattered" (2004)

Unshattered

release date: Oct. 19, 2004

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]

producer: Gardner Cole

label: Viastar - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Idle Flow" - 2. "Kiss Myself" - 3. "Piece of You" - 4. "Face the Moon" - 8. "Give What He's Got" - 9. "Blinded Like Saul"

7th studio album by Peter Murphy following 2½ years after Dust (Apr. 2002), which saw him experiment with world music and Turkish music tradition in particular. In that respect, Unshattered appears much more like a natural follow-up to Cascade (Oct. 1995), his final studio album on Beggars Banquet. For the new album, he has teamed up with American producer Gardner Cole, who previously has worked mostly in a dance and synthpop arena, which alone indicates a shift in sound. Former co-composer Paul Statham is back and has composed music on six of the album's eleven songs. The credit list of featuring musicians count several acclaimed names including two members of Porno for Pyros: guitarist Peter DiStefano (who also performed with Murphy on his 'aLive Just for Love tour') is composer of two songs, on which he also plays guitar, and drummer Stephen Perkins, credited on three songs. Former Wham! and George Michael bassist Deon Estus is featured on three tracks, American session musician Eric Avery is bassist on two tracks, and producer Cole is also bassist on three tracks aside from overall handling keyboards, guitar, piano, and percussion on several songs. American session guitarist Tim Pierce is here on most tracks, whereas none of the musicians nor technical personnel from Dust reappear, but then former Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins is heard on track #9. The album is Murphy's only on Viastar - in fact it seems to be only one in a total of three releases on this label, all released in 2004.

Unshattered is return to his usual style of dark alt. rock with bonds to gothic rock. Sometimes he revists the darker corners of the style reminding us of Bauhaus, at other times he croons in lighter spheres, although, his vocal always seems to be returning to the shadows.

To his usual standard, the album contains fine moments and adds to the list of Peter Murphy staples, although, as a full-length studio album, it's simply too incoherent with too much filling to be considered one of his better outings.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Peter Murphy "Dust" (2002)

Dust
release date: Apr. 23, 2002
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]
producer: Peter Murphy, Mercan Dede
label: Metropolis Records - nationality: England, UK

6th studio album by Peter Murphy released seven years after Cascade (Oct. 1995) after which he released his so far only live album aLive Just for Love (2001). This is not only co-produced by a Turkish producer - the whole album is made with assistance of primarily Turkish musicians, which is clearly heard throughout an album where Murphy combines western popular music, the gothic rock, and even progressive rock in a mix with more traditional Turkish folk. Privately, Murphy married Turkish dance-director Ayhan Murphy in '92 and has since then lived primarily in Turkey. There's also a synthpop or electronic influence present on this album and it's really hard to label an overall style, as it's a rather huge blend of influences, and you might even call it world music. The album is Murphy's first studio album after parting with Beggars Banquet and this new album should perhaps also be seen in the light of being forced to rethink his musical career, and again, with his Turkish daily life in mind, it would be a natural consequence of living life with other influences.
The album was met by positive reviews, some found it an artistic achievement, whereas others, in search of a more traditional album and without luck in finding stand-out tracks, saw it as something lesser. I will not say that it doesn't work but I don't find it a strong nor very interesting album as such. It has an intense and warm feel but it doesn't appeal much to me.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Q Magazine 3 / 5 stars ]

Peter Murphy "aLive Just for Love" (2001)

aLive Just for Love (live)

release date: Jul. 24, 2001

format: digital (18 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,58]

producer: Peter Murphy

label: Metropolis Records - nationality: England, UK

Live album by Peter Murphy as follow-up to his most recent studio album Cascade (Oct. 1995) is a comprehensive 18 tracks album with a total running length of almost 1½ hour with all songs recorded live at a single performance at the El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, Nov. 2000.

It's a bit of a long performance - mostly for die-hard fans 'cause the arrangements are to say it politely, extremely scarse. Fact is, Murphy mostly performs only backed by guitarist Peter DiStefano (of Porno for Pyros), at times supported by violinist Hugh Marsh, and by bassist David J on three extra tracks.

The album release, some six years after his most recent studio album may seem odd. And it's most likely not 'just' to fill in the gap in between more regular albums, but more seems manufactured in response to another album: Wild Birds 1985-1995 (2000), a compilation album, which had been released by Murphy's former record company, Beggars Banquet.

The idea of a live album is not that bad but it's a bit on the narrow side to 'just' listen to Murphy's dark vocal with not much else. The song selection is fine as is his performance, but after a few songs, I really yearn for additional instrumentation, which never comes.

Not really recommended.

Peter Murphy "Wild Birds 1985-1995" (2000)

Wild Birds 1985-1995 (compilation)

release date: Feb. 22, 2000

format: cd

[album rate: 4 / 5]

producer: diverse

label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Compilation by Peter Murphy released on Beggars Banquet after he had left the label with which he had been associated since the first release with Bauhaus in 1980, and it's Murphy's first compilation album.

As the subtitle indicates, it's not necessarily a best of album, but instead a selection of songs from his solo career spanning five studio albums over a decade with a total of sixteen compositions and a total running time at just under 75 minutes.

It's quite a fine selection - mainly songs written together with Murphy's regular composer (from his second album and onwards) guitarist Paul Stratham, and which generally shows his somewhat narrow musical style where music always contains elements from gothic rock with various hints of art pop and glam rock. The biggest stylistic detours are probably his influence from Turkish music, which is particularly evident on his most recent two albums: Holy Smoke from '92 and Cascade from '95.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Peter Murphy "Cascade" (1995)

Cascade
release date: Oct. 10, 1995
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Pascal Gabriel
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Mirror to My Woman's Mind" - 2. "Subway" - 3. "Gliding Like a Whale" - 6. "I'll Fall With Your Knife" (4,5 / 5) (live session) - 7. "The Scarlet Thing in You" - 8. "Wild Birds Flock to Me"

5th studio album by Peter Murphy following 3½ years after Holy Smoke (Apr. 1992), which saw him attempt more up-tempo and at times more mainstream compositions. Here, I think, producer Pascal Gabriel, who previously worked with Kitchens of Distinction (and later on productions for Goldfrapp, Marina and the Diamonds, and Bebel Gilberto), helps by adding a certain lightness and clearness to the album without losing the sense of alternative rock of it. Once again, but also for the last time in a decade, Paul Statham has co-written most of the songs with Murphy, who has made a slight turn towards deeper and more thoughtful compositions, which often works well with his dark and gloomy vocal. The album also stands as Murphy's final on the Beggars Banquet label.
The end result is a collection of songs that sound emotionally sincere without distinct post-punk and more low key gothic rock references. The album contains some really fine tracks and also a few mediocre ones with "I'll Fall With Your Knife" as a stand out and one of his absolute best songs ever. The fine "The Scarlet Thing in You" was chosen as single release.
All in all, I think this betters his '92 album and basically lands as his so far third best solo since his fine Love Hysteria and the fascinating debut..
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Peter Murphy "Holy Smoke" (1992)

Holy Smoke

release date: Apr. 14, 1992

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]

producer: Mike Thorne, Peter Murphy

label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Keep Me From Harm" - 3. "You're so Close" (4 / 5) - 4. "The Sweetest Drop" - 5. "Low Room" - 8. "Dream Gone By"

4th studio album by Peter Murphy follows a little more than two years after Deep (Dec. 1989) and sees Murphy and 'old' post-punk producer Mike Hedges co-produce this collection of ten new songs with one half written and composed by Murphy and keyboardist and composer Paul Statham. Murphy is exclusively credited tracks #2, #6, and #7. The album feature former UK Decay bassist Eddie Branch (aka Twiggy) and guitarist Peter Bonas (of Locust and Zen Attack), Mike Thorn on keyboards, and with drummer Terl Bryant.

Holy Smoke is generally mostly a bit of a revisit to a stronger gothic rock influence with bits of glam and equal parts of pop scattered here and there. Some songs are with distinct guitar riffs filling the foundation as more obvious electric rockers ("You're so Close", "Low Room", "Dream Gone By"), and then others take on a more polished tone with a certain influence from funk rock. Again, an influence from Iggy Pop is evident on a few tracks, I especially hear this on "Low Room". Two songs exclusively credited Murphy, mostly sound like outtakes from other albums - "Let Me Love You" could have been included on the final album by Bauhaus and "Secret Garden" share some of the more experimental traits as the songs on his debut. I'm not quite sure what to think of Murphy's "Kill the Hate" (track #2), as he's not a skilled instrumentalist, then how do you compose music with distinct guitar riffs, bass, keyboard, and drums, which all sound unmistakably as an Iggy Pop-paraphrase?

Holy Smoke is not a poor fourth, although critics didn't welcome it as a great new outing. The album was promoted with the following text: “You can’t pin down HOLY SMOKE, it curls and eddies in white and blue swirls, drawing a series of patterns on the brain, but just when an image begins to come into focus, the music mutates into something hypnotically new” [taken from the original press release, source: Peter Murphy's bandcamp site], and that's probably not far from the truth, as it sometimes takes you this way, and when you think you know where it goes, it has jumped in another direction! Some would claim it's incoherent, and it's not his best, but also, not his worst. A few songs definitely lift the album but it's also an uneven journey with several fillers. So, all in all, I'd say 'a decent one, Mr. Murphy. Perhaps, try just a little harder'. Front cover is credited Anton Corbijn.

[ 👎allmusic.com 2,5 / 5 stars ]

Peter Murphy "Deep" (1989)

Deep
release date: Dec. 19, 1989
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Simon Rogers
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Deep Ocean Vast Sea" - 3. "Crystal Wrists" - 5. "Seven Veils" - 7. "Cuts You Up" (4,5 / 5)

3rd solo album by Peter Murphy following nearly two years after Love Hysteria (Mar. 1988). Here Murphy crawls back in a more 'safe place' and makes his own pop / rock version of gothic rock. Murphy has often been compared to David Bowie but on this, he sounds more like another influential icon of his: Iggy Pop, and frankly, it doesn't really make things any better. It's nice to have sources of inspiration, it's not bad at all, that is, when you are able to point them out, and remember their personal traits, but it's not really original when an artist copies another as Murphy blatantly does here. As had been the case on Love Hysteria (1988), most tracks are co-written with guitarist and keyboardist, Paul Statham including one of Murphy's best songs ever: Cuts You Up. The remaining songs are not really near that level, and it's almost a mediocre attempt of doing justice to his most recent album, and if one had hoped to see / hear Murphy re-connect with what worked on his debut, it's not to be found on this one.
Only recommended for "Cuts You Up".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 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) (gatefold) / cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
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 ]

Peter Murphy "Love Hysteria" (1988)

Love Hysteria
release date: Mar. 1988
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Simon Rogers
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "All Night Long" - 3. "Dragnet Drag" - 5. "Indigo Eyes" - 6. "Time Has Got Nothing to Do With It" - 7. "Blind Sublime" - 8. "My Last Two Weeks"

2nd studio album by Peter Murphy following his acclaimed debut Should the World Fail to Fall Apart (1986) after the disbandment of Bauhaus. Where the debut consisted mainly of music written by multi-instrumentalist Howard Hughes, Love Hysteria is an album where Murphy has teamed up with another established composer in the form of guitarist and composer Paul Stratham (of B-Movie) with whom Murphy has written most of the tracks, and together with Simon Rogers from The Fall and a new backing band called The Hundred Men, the album marks quite naturally a change of sound. The album includes a cover of "Funtime" by Bowie and Iggy Pop, originally included on the 77 album The Idiot by Iggy Pop.

The dominant art pop touch Murphy demonstrated his interest for with the project Dalis Car as well as on his solo debut, has stepped into the background for a style, which instead combines Murphy's taste for melodrama rooted in the gothic rock scene, which characterised the Bauhaus period and older styles based on his obvious fascination and inspiration in glam rock, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and with hints of Tom Verlaine, which also had been a component of the Bauhaus era. On the one hand, you'll find hints of a continuation of a will to explore bright pop-melody structures as found on his debut, but more layers appear on this one, both containing a darker tone but also points in new stylistic directions.

With Love Hysteria, Murphy aims his solo career for an audience with a taste for the darker sides of Bauhaus as opposed to complex rhythms and art pop, as he demonstrated on the otherwise fine Should the World Fail to Fall Apart (1986). The new album garnered quite positive reviews, where it was noted that Murphy partly continues to show his influence from Bowie, but also that he has made his so far most solid release since leaving Bauhaus. My initial verdict was experienced as a disappointment because he hadn't continued in his new-found style of the debut, but that sensation wore off after a while, and when comparing with his later releases, there's no doubt that this very album stands stronger than what his more detached and impersonal debut turned out to be.

Putting Murphy's Bowie-imitating style aside, Love Hysteria is quite a solid and distinctive album that stands the test of time and actually may be his very best.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Peter Murphy "Should the World Fail to Fall Apart" (1986)

Should the World Fail to Fall Apart [debut]
release date: Jul. 1986
format: vinyl (BEGA 69 - gatefold) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: Ivo Watts-Russell, Peter Murphy, Howard Hughes, Gerry Kitchingham
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Canvas Beauty (Romance Version)" (4 / 5) - 2. "The Light Pours Out of Me" - 3. "Confessions" - 4. "Should the World Fail to Fall Apart" (4 / 5) - 6. "God Sends" (4 / 5) - 9. "Final Solution" - 10. "Jemal"

Solo studio album debut by Peter Murphy, former lead vocalist in Bauhaus following three years after the band's breakup. Murphy was not the musical composer behind the music in Bauhaus and nor did he play an instrument, and therefore most of the songs here were written in collaboration with co-producer Howard Hughes (aka Stephen Betts), former keyboardist in The Associates from 1984 to 1990. However, Murphy is credited several contributions in the album's rather long credit list. His parts include: guitar, keyboards, mixing, producer, rhythm arrangements, and rhythm programming. In the big picture, the album has obviously been created with help of a large number of studio musicians. Previous collaboration with Japan bassist Mick Karn on their short-lived joint project Dalis Car, has clearly had an effect on the outcome of the rhythm section. A list of acclaimed guitarists doen't lack - Magazine and Siouxsie and the Banshees' John McGeoch is on the list, as is multi-instrumentalist Martin McCarrick, who has worked as studio musician for The Glove, This Mortail Coil, he has featured on Bryan Ferry's Boys and Girls and became a stable member of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Also Bauhaus guitarist Daniel Ash features on an album that also includes two covers: "The Light Pours Out of Me" by Magazine, and "Final Solution" by Pere Ubu.

I remember purchasing the album when it came out, really hoping to find some of the spirit from Bauhaus, and while there's basically none of that, aside from Murphy's unique and easy recognisable vocal, the album was nonetheless a positive acquisition. In terms of style, nowadays you would call it alt. rock, but as that category wasn't really established yet, you would label it as something on the edge of gothic rock, and more precisely, you'd probably see it as a variantion of art pop, since the music isn't dark and gloomy, but is kept in a bright and positive tone with quite complex rhythms and something that almost makes it chamber pop with a bold use of strings. Without working with anyone other than Mick Karn from Japan, there is nevertheless an almost natural link to (or something similar in spirit to), David Sylvian's fine solo album Secrets of the Beehive, which came out the following year.

Only the composition "Never Man" may contain stronger reminiscents of the Bauhaus era, which also means that this song stands somewhat alone here. It's a strong debut, but apart from the fine reviews it wasn't a major commercial success, and Murphy and the album remained somewhat overlooked in 1986.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 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

Dalis Car "The Judgement Is the Mirror (1984) (single)

The Judgement Is the Mirror, single
release date: 1984
format: digital
[single rate: 3 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "The Judgement Is the Mirror" - 2. "High Places" - 3. "Lifelong Moment"

Single release by Dalis Car. Only the title track is included on the album The Waking Hour.

Dalis Car "The Waking Hour" (1984)

The Waking Hour [debut]
release date: Nov. 1984
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Dalis Car, Steve Churchyard
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Dalis Car" - 2. "His Box" - 4. "Artemis" - 6. "Moonlife" - 7. "The Judgement Is the Mirror"
[ full album ]

Studio album debut and only full album by the music project Dalis Car consisting of Peter Murphy on vocals, Mick Karn on bass and with Paul Vincent Lawford on percussion and drums. The band was established in the aftermath of the split of two major British bands: Japan with Mick Karn disbanded in 1982, leaving Karn free to release his first solo album and to work on different projects, and Bauhaus with Peter Murphy disbanded in 1983. The two then established the co-work for the new project, and later on invited Lawford to join.
The style is highly experimental and basically closer to the music by Japan. Karn's fretless bass signature is all over the album and Murphy's characteristic vocal adds a sinister tone to the generally light and ethereal, almost meditative compositions. I don't consider this a great work of art but it's highly original, unlike anything else, and works rather nicely as background noise.
The front cover is the painting, "Daybreak" by Maxfield Parrish. The band never released a follow-up as both Murphy and Karn were involved in solo projects. Japan re-united shortly as Rain Tree Crow and Bauhaus likewise had a period of re-union. In late 2010 Murphy and Karn finally got together again and began work on what was to be the second album by Dalis Car. They made managed to play a few sessions together but Karn who had recently been diagnosed with cancer, died in 2011. The 5-track ep InGladAloneness (excerpt) was released posthumously in 2012.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

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 ]