| |
Bauhaus
"1979-1983 Volume I"
Official
Website
Sounds:
4 of 5
Vocals: 4.5 of 5
Composition: 5 of 5
Overall Rating: 9
|
Bauhaus
formed in 1979 as Peter Murphy and Daniel
Ash. Not long after they invited Kevin
Haskins and David J to join the band
(originally called Bauhaus 1919). In
1982 the song Bela Lugosis's dead was
featured in a Tony Scott film called
The Hunger starring David Bowie.
After four years and four albums together
they officially broke up after a tour,
in August of 1983. Each member of Bauhaus
went on to do various projects. Fifteen
years later Bauhaus reformed for a 'resurrection'
tour in 1998. Their first all-new track
in seventeen years is on the Heavy
Metal 2000 soundtrack.
In the early 1980s, Bauhaus was one
of Britain's most revered cult bands.
Forming in 1978, Bauhaus built on the
scattered, ethereal sounds of post-punk
bands. Steady and mid-paced beats, atmospheric
keyboards, dark, ruddy bass lines and
haunting guitar parts, the Bauhaus'
sound would become the template for
what would be called Gothic music.
Bauhaus
is synonymous with Gothic music....
as they should be, they started
this whole mess.
|
|
Singer Peter Murphy's stentorian voice
drew its power from the ghostlike guitar
of Daniel Ash, having a beyond-the-grave
sound, further enforcing the spooky
tone of the band's sound. Sinister and
melancholic, the band's passive menace
was a dramatic change from punk's in-your-face
aggression. Instead of the world of
concrete, steel injustice and rage punk
invoked, Bauhaus' music painted a dark,
haunting picture of shadows. Bauhaus'
stage appearance reinforced this feeling,
with the band adopting a cadaverous
image onstage.
After
signing with 4AD, Bauhaus released a
handful of singles before the 1980 release
From the Flat Field marked the
band's entrance into the full-length
arena. With the exposure of the singles
and full-length album, the band was
the crux of the blossoming London Goth
scene. With the band's debut single,
"Bela Lugosi's Dead," a now-classic
eight-minute spook track of dark electro-dub,
the band cemented its position as the
leaders in the Goth music scene, gaining
heavy play in early Goth clubs such
as London's Batcave. Murphy, ill with
pneumonia, missed much of the recording
of Bauhaus' 1983 album, Burning from
the Inside. The result was a more fragmented
album, featuring individual efforts
by each member released under the Bauhaus
mantle. It soon proved to be a precursor
to the band members' solo careers as
the band split soon after it was recorded.
| |
Their
living-dead good looks helped
propel their onstage image to
stardom and now, curiously, immortal
superstardom.
|
The
album 1979-1983 Volume 1, is
more of a selection of progress until
the band was signed on 4AD. The songs
progress on this album as they were
recorded. Towards the later part of
the album Beggars Banquet seemed to
pick up Bauhaus. Most songs on this
particular album use guitar, feedback
and drums. Near the middle to end of
the album keyboards, electronic drum
kits or drum machines seem to be picked
up, perhaps the band struggled with
the expense of such equipment at the
time. A monophonic analog synth was
used as a lead in the song "St.
Vitus Dance." "A Spy in the
Cab" used electronic drums with
perhaps some keys. Tracks 1-4, 6-10
are courtesy of 4AD, tracks 11-14 are
from Beggars Banquet. This particular
album was released with arrangement
with BBC records.
1979-1983
Volume 1 track list:
1.
Double
Dare
2. In
The Flat Field
3.
Dark Entries
4. Stigmata
Martyr
5. Bela Lugosi's Dead
6. God
in an Alcove
7. Telegram Sam
8. St. Vitus Dance
9.
A Spy in the Cab
10.
Terror Couple Kill Colonel
11.
Dancing
12.
Hair of the Dog
13.
The Passion of Lovers
14.
Mask
Bauhaus:
DAVID
J: BASS VOCALS
KEVIN HASKINS: DRUMS & PERCUSSION
PETER MURPHY: VOCALS & KEYBOARDS
DANIEL ASH: GUITARS & VOCALS
Review by;
October1
