Siouxsie & The Banshees

Scubadevils

I'm pretty late getting around to these guys, especially seeing as I have been meaning to since the early 90's now! - I suppose the rave scene diverted me somewhat at the time and led me on another course of electronic music for several years, picking up other bits and pieces along the way though of course.

I have only got around to Siouxsie & the Banshees now and started just over the weekend with the following compilation + DVD -

http://www.discogs.com/Siouxsie-The-Banshees-The-Best-Of-Siouxsie-And-The-Banshees-Sound-Vision-Deluxe/release/437378

Loving them and want to start delving into their albums. Are there any standout albums I should head for first or are they all excellent and start at the beginning? There seems a lot of albums so would appreciate a steer in the right direction...

Sorry also if there has been another thread, I did search and couldn't find one.

PaulBrewer

I bought the music version from iTunes only a couple of weeks ago having heard a Bbc radio documentary on their now deceased guitar player John McGeoch.


A brilliant band oozing with personality.

Every member had their own unique style as did the lady herself.

The bould Robert Smith also recorded and played with them. (around the time of 'Dear Prudence' as I recall)

She released a great album last year (I think it was) called Mantaray.

A lot of the earlier stuff was produced by Mike Hedges whose last project was 'The Priests' !

Scubadevils

Yeah I heard Robert Smith had worked with them on some stuff, curious to know actually which albums he featured on. I'm sure google will assist...

Funny actually that I have been into The Cure since the late 80's but managed to overlook these guys till now. Same with the Cocteau Twins, only got around to them in the last year and gobsmacked by them, amazing.

PaulBrewer

Those post punk years were 'my' era of music.

There were loads of great songs, musicians, bands, producers, engineers and studios.

You'll notice a lot of the Banshees stuff has dated very well. Same is true for bands like The Cure, The Stranglers and XTC and my fave, The Jam.

It was a short lived golden period.

Mantaray is no drop in quality in my opinion.

She also had a band with her then lover and Banshee drummer, Budgie called The Creatures.

Robert Smith and Banshee Bassist Steve Severin also had a band called 'The Glove'

Scubadevils

It seems I have a lot of digging to do so. Thats the problem with music though, there is more to discover than there is time to listen to! The joy of it though.

Dudess

Hugely influential band - just listen to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Joan As Policewoman for two contemporary examples of Siouxsie-inspired outfits.

For those about to check them out... I salute you. And I would advise you to start off with the songs Spellbound and Hong Kong Gardens. Awesome.

stateofflux

their 3 best albums which you should get are.....

1- "the scream" (first album --very raw & primal but amazing)

2- "Juju" |(4th album)(....very dark...some label it a goth lp but its deeper and more versatile to have one tag....the guitars are mindblowingly original as are all the other instrument and vocal performances.....has the song spellbound on it....

3-"Kaleidoscope" (3rd album)..again consistently amazing and innovative songs.....has the singles "christine" and "happy house"

the second album "join hands" is not to good at all strangely....the album with robert smith has its moments but it does'nt come close to the 3 mentioned above......

creature have some good stuff but its very inconsistent.....

amazing band....probably won't see their like again......

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i have to laugh at the stupidity and faux punkness of the nme wave girl acts like ida marie and fight like apes....siouxsie is so cool and innovative she created her own identity and didnt give a flying stuff about female stereotypes.......genius

DublinWriter

Superstition remains one of my favourite albums ever.

There's a bootleg vid of them floating about from the BBC series 'Rock Goes to College' circa 1981 which is breathtaking.

I heard Siouxie interviewed on BBC R4 a few years ago saying that she initially dreaded going in to remaster their early stuff, but said that when she actually listened to it, it sounded very fresh.

I'd agree, songs like 'Christine' sound like they could have been recorded yesterday by some up and coming indie outfit.

Dudess

stateofflux wrote: »

i have to laugh at the stupidity and faux punkness of the nme wave girl acts like ida marie and fight like apes....siouxsie is so cool and innovative she created her own identity and didnt give a flying stuff about female stereotypes.......genius

Yeah, her successors have to make a lot of effort - she did nothing of the sort. She was just herself.
She despised being lumped in with goth though.

Scubadevils

Thanks for the recommendations, look forward to getting some albums.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Dudess wrote: »

Hugely influential band - just listen to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Joan As Policewoman for two contemporary examples of Siouxsie-inspired outfits.

For those about to check them out... I salute you. And I would advise you to start off with the songs Spellbound and Hong Kong Gardens. Awesome.

Spellbound's a cracker of a tune

bullpost

stateofflux wrote: »

the second album "join hands" is not to good at all strangely...

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Not a great album but its got one great song - "Icon" - definitely worth hearing.

Valcin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNfwNV3p3_o

Tune!

So Melt!!!

My favourite Siouxie tune. Was too young when they were about but came across this song a few years ago and thought it was sh!t cool in a really depressing, haunting way. Checked out a few of their albums which had some good tunes on them, but this one is savage. I enjoyed the Nocturne live album as well. I think it was recorded when Robert Smith was the guitarist.

Here 's a live version of Melt! as well, savage too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZWTCIskwTc

Just checked out that tune icons. Brilliant. Their best of album doesn't seem to have all their best songs on it at all.

ShawnRaven

Siouxsie still has it live, saw her last year and is still energetic as hell!

poundhound

Great voice and great songs, particularly Wheels of Fire. Still sounds fresh today.

iamhunted

this wheels on fire is a cover - originally written by Dylan.

I too was around when then the banshees where trendy and I have to say they didnt really have a lot of material. By the time they released that covers album in the mid 80s, they where finished.