Everything up to the "Song From the Edge Of The World" 12" has much merit.
Not too familiar with their output post - "Peek A Boo"
― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Sunday, 22 May 2005 20:40 (nineteen years ago) link
They had some problems with lyrics, for example this one from Arabian Knights:
Whilst you conquer more orificesOf boys, goats and things
(oh 'things' - that'll do)
but the texture of their music is fantastic.
― Bob Six (bobbysix), Sunday, 22 May 2005 21:07 (nineteen years ago) link
― Orbit (Orbit), Sunday, 22 May 2005 21:48 (nineteen years ago) link
you have to forgive them for 'things' since the previous line uses Whilst and orifices. I always like how often SATB use the word 'Whilst'
― Pete Baumann, Tuesday, 28 June 2005 14:09 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Silent Disco of Glastonbury (Bimble...), Wednesday, 29 June 2005 21:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ian Riese-Moraine has been xeroxed into a conduit! (Eastern Mantra), Thursday, 30 June 2005 13:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― Pete Baumann, Thursday, 30 June 2005 18:20 (nineteen years ago) link
"Waiting FOOOOOOR a sign..."
Listening to a okay-enough sounding recording from Southampton on the Juju tour in 1981 right now. Such a great band.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 8 July 2008 03:00 (sixteen years ago) link
From 1983 until 1986 the only (then) new music i bothered with was the Banshees.
Nothing else seemed even vaguely interesting, although there was much hilarity.
― i, grey, Wednesday, 9 July 2008 04:27 (sixteen years ago) link
I was just thinking of Siouxsie the other day -- I saw the 4CD box set used the other day, wondered if i shouldn't go ahead and pick it up. i have all but maybe two of the studio albums. is this worth my money?
― stephen, Wednesday, 9 July 2008 20:23 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah, I think it's well worth it. It's got a lot of totally classic b-sides I remember, sprinkled with plenty of other stuff that wasn't quite as good but almost always interesting. It's also got a lot less of the earliest punk-style stuff than I suspected, which I was glad about.
I was thinking of them just the other day too! Some lyric came into my head..."you're not seeing/what meant to believe in/your non-excuse for a human being..." I think that was it.
― Bimble, Wednesday, 9 July 2008 20:35 (sixteen years ago) link
i wonder if the rest of the remasters will ever come out.
― akm, Wednesday, 9 July 2008 21:25 (sixteen years ago) link
Hah, I was thinking that the other day.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 9 July 2008 21:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Box set is totally worth it for the B-sides.
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 10 July 2008 00:22 (sixteen years ago) link
Given that I've just really started getting into Siouxsie and The Banshees recently I thought I'd ressurect this thread.
I had 'Hyena' for a while which I'd bought because of the Robert Smith collection. I recently picked up 'Nocturne' on the basis of Ned's recommendation. Since then I've been super hooked. Bought "Kaleidoscope", "Juju" and "A Kiss in the Dreamhouse" which are all great as well. Will pick up "The Scream" and "Join Hands" this weekend. Given that I've started with live stuff I'm thinking about getting the BBC box when I get paid. What about the remaining albums? What should I prioritise?
― AnotherDeadHero, Wednesday, 17 February 2010 12:08 (fourteen years ago) link
I quite like the b-sides boxset: full of oddities and "experiments", but it is great great fun.
― Marco Damiani, Wednesday, 17 February 2010 13:01 (fourteen years ago) link
I'd pick up the remainder as they get reissued.
― sheryl crow but with a very long butt (HI DERE), Wednesday, 17 February 2010 14:26 (fourteen years ago) link
I think Severin confirmed somewhere that the rest of the reissues have been cancelled.
― akm, Wednesday, 17 February 2010 19:41 (fourteen years ago) link
WAHT
oh that is BULLSHIT
― sheryl crow but with a very long butt (HI DERE), Wednesday, 17 February 2010 19:42 (fourteen years ago) link
http://stevenseverin.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=557&sid=e7a3abfd7462317614a72f1d472f348e
― akm, Wednesday, 17 February 2010 19:49 (fourteen years ago) link
Unacceptable.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 17 February 2010 20:13 (fourteen years ago) link
this sucks a lot
― sheryl crow but with a very long butt (HI DERE), Wednesday, 17 February 2010 20:14 (fourteen years ago) link
Siouxsie and the Banshees Benched Reissues-ees?
― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Wednesday, 17 February 2010 20:16 (fourteen years ago) link
i'm not sure those records really need to be remastered. they sound fine. it would be nice to have a full set of the whole catalogue and some other bonus tracks, but I think the critical albums were done. whether you like the mastering job on them is another thing entirely I suppose.
― akm, Wednesday, 17 February 2010 20:37 (fourteen years ago) link
I was using the reissues as an excuse to build up my Banshee catalogue; before now, I had cassette copies of Hyaena, Tinderbox and Peepshow and a copy of Superstition on CD. Now I have them all up through Kiss in the Dreamhouse.
― sheryl crow but with a very long butt (HI DERE), Wednesday, 17 February 2010 20:41 (fourteen years ago) link
Just buy the damn things, Dan, they are super cheap used at a ton of stores.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_i_0?rh=i%3Apopular%2Ck%3Asiouxsie&keywords=siouxsie&ie=UTF8&qid=1266439875
http://www.secondspin.com/search.jsp?page=1&type=music.keyword.buy&query=siouxsie
― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Wednesday, 17 February 2010 20:51 (fourteen years ago) link
Through The Looking Glass... great covers album or the greatest covers album?
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 23 August 2010 01:49 (fourteen years ago) link
It's the covers album that, when I was 14, turned me on to lots of bands by virtue of making me look for them. Back before the internet, that took a certain amount of work...and they didn't make it easy, not listing the original artists in the liner notes and all.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 23 August 2010 01:51 (fourteen years ago) link
it was years before I knew that "wheel's on fire" was a cover. siouxsie's still sounds like the right one to me.
― akm, Monday, 23 August 2010 03:57 (fourteen years ago) link
Hello. So a few weeks back there was that photo of Siouxsie, Steve Severin and Marc Almond at the _Hannibal_ season premiere event in the UK, and that was cool and all. Apparently it's just been announced that's there's a whole new Siouxsie and the Banshees track for the season finale!
https://twitter.com/TVKevLance/status/620028442172481536
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 12 July 2015 00:39 (nine years ago) link
I would certainly be up for some new Siouxsie with Banshees in tow!
― TheSkysGoneOut (Jason Pitzl-Waters), Sunday, 12 July 2015 23:45 (nine years ago) link
Been playing a lot of Siouxsie lately. I don't know why this stuff never really clicked for me sixteen or seventeen years ago when I was really getting into the Cure for the first time. I certainly gave them a chance around that time — guess I just kind of glossed it all over. I was possibly wanting more of a melodic sound similar to the Cure. But, the guitar work has revealed itself on those early records to be, yes a bit more atonal, but ultimately just fantastic throughout.
And such a solid run up through and including Peepshow.
― Austin, Saturday, 30 April 2016 17:06 (eight years ago) link
Think my fav banshees atm is a kiss in the dreamhouse
― real orgone kid (NickB), Saturday, 30 April 2016 17:54 (eight years ago) link
That one has some truly great material on it ('Cascade', 'Painted Bird' and especially 'Slowdive'), but it kind of feels second tier to me when surrounded by Juju and Hyæna.
― Austin, Saturday, 30 April 2016 18:53 (eight years ago) link
Curiously, I too admire them more now than I did then. A top twenty-five.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 16 February 2017 02:27 (seven years ago) link
Awesome list! Cool to see "Dazzle" on here - particularly like the "Baby Piano" version
― Everything Moves Towards The Sun (Ross), Thursday, 16 February 2017 02:32 (seven years ago) link
yes!
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 16 February 2017 03:29 (seven years ago) link
Good summary. Their best overlooked song is "Fireworks". And "The Thorn EP" is their hidden gem.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 16 February 2017 03:34 (seven years ago) link
<3 "Slowdive", it really is a disorienting listen. Agreed about the peak 3 albums, they were a big deal to me in the 80's.
― a Radiohead album stamping on a human face, forever (sleeve), Thursday, 16 February 2017 03:52 (seven years ago) link
Um. Where is "Night Shift"? Also, "Suburban Relapse", "Icon", "Playground Twist", "Monitor", "92 Degrees", "Land's End", "Voodoo Dolly"
― ornate orchestral arrangements (DJP), Thursday, 16 February 2017 04:25 (seven years ago) link
For that matter, where is "Nightshift"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrkEDe6Ljqs
― example (crüt), Thursday, 16 February 2017 04:43 (seven years ago) link
they could've covered "Nightshift" in the style of Peepshow.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 16 February 2017 14:37 (seven years ago) link
I'm 100% behind that list.
A, LS: your essay, along with the latest Prince developments, got it in my head that S&TB and Prince were walking oddly parallel paths through the 80s, if you exchange punk roots with funk roots. 1980-1990, both had a nearly perfect run of singles that toyed with new wave, pop, psychedelia and dance music in equal measures. They were juggling kink and camp and high art, and I see a lot of matches between the mood and production on their big singles. Like, the opening to this "Dazzle" remix could easily break into "Take Me With You"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAOOUR2KCpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMzkXdiAggs
Some of it is just the gated snare and polyrhythms that were standard in 1984, but both artists were very good at balancing the gaudy and the raw and feeling like outsiders when they were right in the middle of everything.
― juggulo for the complete klvtz (bendy), Thursday, 16 February 2017 19:36 (seven years ago) link
then it all comes apart after 1988?
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 16 February 2017 19:38 (seven years ago) link
Fascinating analysis – thanks!
Yeah, 88 is where it gets shaky. Their respective landscapes get taken over by sample-heavy hip hop and shoegaze, trends that owed a lot to them but they were too established to comfortably capitalize upon. 3 Feet High and Rising, Isn't Anything owe them tons.
― juggulo for the complete klvtz (bendy), Thursday, 16 February 2017 20:05 (seven years ago) link
"Night Shift" is my all-time Siouxsie track
― Everything Moves Towards The Sun (Ross), Thursday, 16 February 2017 20:57 (seven years ago) link
It's totally alien to me -- the omission of The Lord's Prayer from any list or overarching discussion about this band's history
― sarahell, Thursday, 16 February 2017 21:07 (seven years ago) link
I think "The Lord's Prayer" is more interesting as an artifact than it is enjoyable to listen to. I feel that way about large sections of Join Hands actually, unless I happen to be super pissed off and hating everything in which case the whole album slides into focus and is perfect.
― ornate orchestral arrangements (DJP), Thursday, 16 February 2017 22:22 (seven years ago) link
^^^ otm
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 16 February 2017 22:24 (seven years ago) link