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How great were Siouxsie and the Banshees?

Started by Dirty Boy, November 12, 2021, 07:06:22 PM

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Dirty Boy

I've really got into them lately during a journey through a bunch of Post Punk stuff (early PiL, Wire, Magazine, Joy Division, Killing Joke etc) and i wonder why i never got around to them before (i think the word 'goth' might have put me off).

I've only heard as far as the more ornate, dream pop sounding Tinderbox which i'm thinking will be a grower and i gather their last few records are treading water, but those first four or five albums are all superb. The Scream in particular is an amazing debut and a scratchy Post Punk classic along with Metal Box and Real Life imo.

Suburban Relapse
Switch
Happy House
Spellbound
Slowdive

The Culture Bunker

A lot of their stuff I find OK though not particularly inspiring, but the period when John McGeoch was in the band, they were pretty amazing.

Dirty Boy

I think Budgie is one of my favourite drummers called Budgie. I love his playing on The Slits album as well.

Pauline Walnuts

Quote from: Dirty Boy on November 12, 2021, 07:06:22 PM
The Scream in particular is an amazing debut and a scratchy Post Punk classic along with Metal Box and Real Life imo.



First time I heard The Scream was about 5 years ago. 'This album is entirely made up of tired post-punk Clichés' I thought.


Yeah, I know, but I found it v. hard going. Sorry.




Natnar

Personally i prefer their later albums. I think Peek-A-Boo & Cities In Dust are probably their best singles.

Dirty Boy

Quote from: OnlyRegisteredSoICanRead on November 12, 2021, 08:41:36 PM
The earlyish 80s albums are great through. Mostly.
Sorry for being rude, i get a bit defensive over bands i've only just got into.

Pauline Walnuts

Oh I thought it was a term of endearment around here.

Arabian Knights is choon too, something something #cancelled these days blah blah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfygNGVdJ7g

mobias

Steve Severin lives in Edinburgh now and is frequently spotted in pubs and out and about. Apparently he's got a reputation for being a right grumpy old git when people go up to him and say 'hey aren't you Steve Severin from Siouxsie and the Banshees?'

Which to be fair is understandable.

A mate of a mate spotted him and Robert Smith coming out of a restaurant in Edinburgh a couple of years back.





badaids


Banshees are great.  Best songs.

Peek-a-boo (remember seeing the video on the Chart Show and it freaked me the fuck out).
Cities in Dust
Trophy (fucking great drumming and guitar)
Happy House
Swimming Horses

Hyena and Kaleidoscope stand out albums.  McGeoch was a hugely inventive guitarist, but I preferred the really tall bald awkward guitarist with the mullet.


purlieu

Juju and A Kiss in the Dreamhouse are their peak for me, two absolutely flawless albums, start-to-finish no bad songs. Kaleidoscope is amazing at its best, a few rambling experiments that don't work, but for a partial band in transitional it's generally fine. Lyrics on the last track always felt a bit dodgy to me though. The Scream is great, a touch too straight-up punk for my taste in places, but some great stuff. Never got on with Join Hands.

In terms of the post-McGeoch stuff, there's some incredible stuff, Hyaena opens with 'Dazzle', which is one of the most glorious songs ever written. Tinderbox and Peepshow I find overlong and slightly plodding in places, but they still contain a number of fantastic songs - 'Cities in Dust' is one of their best, '92º' is another favourite, 'Peek-a-Boo' and 'The Killing Jar' are similarly classics. I must revisit the two '90s albums one day, because other than the lovely 'Kiss Them for Me', I don't recall a thing about them at all.

SweetPomPom

Where is the love for John McGeoch? An absolute fucking legend and Juju is the album by which all their others should be judged.

But yeah, they were great right up to the original end. Tinderbox and Rapture were a bit patchy but everything else is pretty much golden. Severin is medically fucked now isn't he? Liver or kidney or something. I genuinely never realised Budgie was scouse until the podcast, fuck my hat etc.

The Culture Bunker

Quote from: SweetPomPom on November 12, 2021, 10:29:32 PM
Where is the love for John McGeoch? An absolute fucking legend and Juju is the album by which all their others should be judged.

Well...

Quote from: The Culture Bunker on November 12, 2021, 07:09:09 PM
A lot of their stuff I find OK though not particularly inspiring, but the period when John McGeoch was in the band, they were pretty amazing.

kalowski

Can I shock you?
I dig their version of Dear Prudence.

The Culture Bunker

Quote from: kalowski on November 12, 2021, 10:41:44 PM
Can I shock you?
I dig their version of Dear Prudence.
It's a great pop single. No surprise it was their biggest hit.

JesusAndYourBush

Quote from: kalowski on November 12, 2021, 10:41:44 PM
Can I shock you?
I dig their version of Dear Prudence.

I heard their version of Helter Skelter before I heard The Beatles version.  Some years later I'd gone to sleep with the radio on and they played The Beatles version which forced me to wake up and take notice.  I was surprised it kicked so much ass because I was only familiar with the Fabs 1st 4 albums and knew little about their later stuff.

Johnny Foreigner



Vitamin C

It's a disgrace that no one has mentioned the John McGeoch era yet.

Pauline Walnuts

John McGeoch was great when he was a Banshee, I'm suprised no ones mentioned him. Not so great with PIL though.

John McGeogh should have stayed with Magazine.

Norton Canes


Dirty Boy

I mean, The Scream is great, but it's clearly no Metal Box is it? I think i'd had a bit too much rum.

No one has mentioned John McGeogh The Creatures. Were they any good?

buttgammon

My favourite album of theirs is Juju. The Scream has some great tracks (especially 'Switch') but there's something about the production that puts me off. Admittedly, I first heard a remastered CD version in about 2006 so it may have been that my experience was tainted more by that oppressive 2000s sound than the original.

In short: good band but a notch below PIL, Gang of Four, Wire and Magazine.

Egyptian Feast

Quote from: Dirty Boy on November 13, 2021, 10:36:25 AM
No one has mentioned John McGeogh The Creatures. Were they any good?

I really like the first Creatures album. A while back I picked up a compilation of their early singles, EPs and that album for my partner, who's been a Siouxsie fan since the early 80s,  and listening to that finally made her music really click with me. Never listened to the Ibiza-influenced second album more than once, but it's on the shelf awaiting it's time.

John McGeoch Kaleidoscope is probably my favourite Banshees album that I've heard (still haven't heard Juju, which I hear is even better), but The Scream, A Kiss In The Dreamhouse and Peepshow are almost as good.

I've been loving their appearances on the Top of the Pops repeats and really fell for 'Kiss Them For Me' when it was shown recently. I was very pleased to see them pop up with 'Peek-a-boo' when I was rewatching Beavis and Butthead recently. "This is music for people who...like, uhhh...don't have any friends".

phantom_power

I like individual songs but couldn't listen to more than a couple in a row. They have a pitch and intensity that I find grating after a while

Johnny Yesno

Quote from: mobias on November 12, 2021, 09:38:28 PM
A mate of a mate spotted him and Robert Smith coming out of a restaurant in Edinburgh a couple of years back.





How the fuck did your mate contrive to have his The Glove single ready for signing when they came out of the restaurant?