Bauhaus: Mask

Bauhaus: Mask

1981

Beggar's Banquet Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Hair of the Dog  2. Passion of Lovers  3. Of Lilies and Remains  4. Dancing  5. Hollow Hills  6. Kick in the Eye  7. In Fear of Fear  8. Muscle in Plastic  9. The Man with the X-Ray Eyes  10. Mask



It's hard to believe I'd never owned this album before...I knew a lot of the songs from those old"1979-1983" CD compilations that served as my introduction to the band, but I guess I was so smitten with "In the Flat Field," "Stigmata Martyr," and "Double Dare" that I tended to overlook the later material on those comps...

 Despite the fact that some homeless dude in a bottle-tab headdress called me a goth once, I actually discovered Bauhaus as a punk fan...Therefore the more caustic and frenetic first album appeals to me more. But I've got to admit that "Mask" is far more consistent...Every single song is enjoyable,while the first album had shit like "Spy in the Cab" that sorta irritated the shit outta me...So, I can see why this tends to be most people's favorite Bauhaus album...It's a little more atmospheric while being a little bit funkier. I  can imagine that moon-lit booty-shakers like a "Kick in the Eye" and "Muscle in Plastic" really lit up the goth dance clubs back in the day...Although I'm unsure there were enough goths around back then to necessitate a club...I don't even know if there are any goth dance clubs now...

 I dunno, I guess I just always assumed that people who dressed like this were going somewhere...You don't put this stuff just to go rent "The Notebook" at the nearest "Redbox," right? No, I imagine you slap on the greasepaint, tighten your corset and congregate...And since there's such a thing as goth dance music, I imagine these congregated goths would eventually get around to busting a move, so what better album to serve this purpose than Bauhaus' "Mask."  Sisters of Mercy, you say? Get real...

Oh yea, the title track is a masterpiece of pure, evil music...Real Halloween shit...They stop the dancey, bass-noodling and clippy hi-hats and get down to the minimalist, pagan pounding...As you listen to this, you can't help but feel like you're being watched by some malevolent force that's closing in for the kill...File Under Uneasy Listening, I guess...Y'know, I'm still trying to determine if that stringed instrument at the end is a mandolin or just the world's most tightly-strung acoustic guitar...

Forget all the labels, all the posthumous genre classifications forced onto the band and you'll find this is just some good, dark, danceable rock with some creepy ambiance thrown in...The more ominous material sounds great on a stormy night and the more upbeat stuff sounds perfectly at home on a Friday night with a few beers...Hey! That reminds me! Tonight is Friday night! And there's a few cold ones in the fridge! Let's check out some Bauhaus...

Here's "Muscle in Plastic"...Happy Friday!

Bauhaus: Burning from the Inside

Bauhaus: Burning from the Inside

1983

Beggars Banquet Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing:  1. She's in Parties  2. Antonin Artaud  3. Wasp  4. King Volcano  5. Who Killed Mr. Moonlight?  6. Slice of Life  7. Honeymoon Croon  8. Kingdom's Coming  9. Burning from the Inside  10. Hope

The fourth and final album by Bauhaus. The bulk of the writing and recording was done while singer Peter Murphy was sick and as a result he doesn't have much input...Some of the vocals are even done by the other band members.  This results in an album that's somewhat spotty but ultimately very enjoyable and against all odds a fitting farewell for the band...

Things start off with a very big bang. "She's in Parties" is an awesome goth-rocker with an excellent and dynamic chorus...Peter Murphy is really on here, as he gives a performance that's alternately shadowy and showy...This song makes me want to put on a cape or something...

There are a lot of cool moments on here, like the intense coda on "Slice of Life" and the awesome organ-driven "Honeymoon Croon," but they also toss in various experiments such as the instrumental "Wasp" and the tribal "King Volcano,"  which work as interesting distractions, if not great songs. The title track also goes on a few minutes too long, but it's nothing too bad, and the standout material is  ultimately strong enough to warrant sitting through a little filler...

And who would have thought that the final song on the final Bauhaus record (well...until the later reunion of course) would be a bright ray of optimism called "Hope." I didn't see it coming...a perfect closer...and this album works as a tribute to the band's adventurous spirit...You see the label goth tossed at this band all the time, but it really doesn't do them justice. Their sound is broader than most other bands and they were constantly trying out new genres and approaches...They were just a rock band who spent a good deal of their time detailing the darker side of life, but also weren't afraid of acknowledging the light...

As I mentioned briefly above the band later reunited and put out the album "Go Away White" in 2008 . I haven't heard any of  it so I can't really comment on it...but if I get a chance to check it out I'll let you know...

This album was originally released in 1983, I was only 7 years old at the time and the big event in my life was the release of  the new Star Wars film "Return of the Jedi." Yesterday we went over some of my favorite "Empire Strikes Back" trading cards and today I scanned in some of my favorite "ROTJ" cards...Here are a few of my favorites...

Here's Greedo's cousin Beedo, who apparently inherited his wardrobe...

This is what I look like without my shirt...

There were so many cool monsters in the Star Wars movies...I seriously spend most of my time just watching the backgrounds...I like these cards that give us a closer look...

Here are some more cool monsters....

...and a benevolent creature...

This looks like a Larry King interview with Obi-Wan Kenobi...

I think the Ewoks are cute...

As I was digging through the shoebox I also found some A-Team cards that are also from '83...These go out to my friend J.J who is currently watching the entire series...which I believe is one of the most  noble and worthwhile endeavors a man can experience in his lfetime...

Here's the wrapper...I unwrapped these around the year 1998...I ate the gum then too, but it wasn't so bad...It was only about 15 years old at the time as opposed to the 30 year old "Empire" gum I discussed yesterday...

Got no time for jibba jabba!

...

 Amy Allen...

 Here's the sweet A-Team van...

This sticker is so awesome...I'm always tempted to peel it off and stick it on my guitar or keyboard but something always stops me...

Okay, let's put away the shoebox and  check out "She's in Parties" by Bauhaus...

Bauhaus: In the Flat Field

Bauhaus: In the Flat Field

1980

4 AD Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Dark Entries  2. Double Dare  3. In the Flat Field  4. God in an Alcove  5. Dive  6. Spy in the Cab  7. Small Talk Stinks  8. St. Vitus Dance  9. Stigmata Martyr  10. Nerves  11. Telegram Sam  12. Rosegarden Funeral of Sores  13. Terror Couple Kill Colonel  14. Scopes  15. Untitled  16. God in an Alcove  17. Crowds 18. Terror Couple Kill Colonel

Helloooo...My blog is down here...If you can be bothered to take your eyes off that picture of the guy's schlong pictured above for a minute...

This is the debut album by Bauhaus, the version I have also contains all the surrounding singles and b-sides. I consider this the exact point that "Goth Rock" became a fully-formed and readily identifiable thing. Pitch black songs with vocals that veer between a ghostly croon and blood-curdling shrieks...One thing its legion of imitators often overlook is the band's healthy dose of gallows humor.

Most of the tracks are...ahem...vamps...

They don't so much consist of readily identifiable verses and choruses...the song are usually constructed around a repeating serpentine bassline, while the drums pound out a menacing, primitive rhythm. The guitars scrape and claw as Peter Murphy chants some phrase over and over...  The tracks usually end using the same rhythm and  chords it starts with, but they're made interesting by the endless variations...and really in only a very few instances do the songs become the slightest bit dull...Outside of  "Spy in the Cab (which eventually drives me nuts) most of the time it's fantastic...I can't think of a better (or darker) goth-punk blast than "Dark Entries?"  If you know of one, let me know!

I also love the pounding "Double Dare." I remember me and my friend Josh used to jam out to this song in the music room my Dad built for us that we used to call "The Shed." I would play drums on it and Josh would play bass and we'd just bang out that rhythm for an hour or so at a time...It was so fun...I believe I have a recording of one of these "Double Dare" sessions on an old cassette but I can't readily find it...as soon as I come across it again I'll be sure to upload it here...In the meantime here's old photos of "The Shed" where my old band "D.C" (Deranged Chimpmunks) used to rock out and where my current band TA-80 got our start...

Here's the front door featuring a painting of some sort of pig-man...

 Here's the inside...The walls were a reddish orange and we just did paintings all over the place...Here are various monsters and a Strung Out logo that looks more like a Chevy logo...

My favorite thing here is a painting my friend Shawn did in the upper left corner of a guy peeing in another guy's mouth...Genius...

The famous "Weiner Snake head." I think there's a sixer of Coors light in the lower left...

 "The Shed" still exists in Hale, Michigan, but it's since been converted to a sewing room/guest bed-room...the walls have (of course) been painted over but sometimes in the right light you can still see some of the graffitti...

"In the Flat Field" was released in 1980. I was only 4 years old at the time but I can still remember the biggest event in my life that year was the release of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back." I cannot convey to you the levels of  my "Empire" obsession...I used to especially love the trading cards that Topps used to put out...I still have some of them in a shoebox in my bedroom, here are some of my favorites I've scanned in...

Here's the outside wrapper...I unwrapped these in about 2006 and ate the gum...by gum I mean a rock hard greyish-pink slab that instantly turned to a bitter-tasting dust as soon as I bit into it...

The cards were all a pinkish blue color when I opened them...I think it the result of being packaged with the gum for 30 years years...The gum also also caused some sort of chemical reaction on the card touching it...There was a gum-shaped burn on the cards...You can't really tell from the scans though...

I think her space-suit looks even cooler in pink...

The Friday Night Record Party blog! Where it's all about the music!

The stickers were all letters of the alphabet...I only have this "Q" & "L."

 On the back they have trivia questions...Unfortunately I don't have card # 246, so I'll never find out if they're doing a sequel or not...

"Malpractice Suit" does not compute...

 Alright...That's enough Star Wars cards today...Maybe if you're lucky I'll post some more tomorrow...You should go to bed now so tomorrow will come even sooner...

Oh yea...I forgot this was supposed to be about Bauhaus..Let's tie a nice bow around things by listening to "Dark Entries" by Bauhaus...Enjoy...