In the Flat Field. Three and a half Stars.
The revered forefathers of goth rock. Peter Murphy, the stylised Transylvanian Count, and a backup band that would eventually become Love and Rockets. Knowing them both in their later stages, I was curious to here the original material.
If you ask me, it's a bit like introducing listeners to Iggy Pop via The Idiot and then giving them Raw Power...
My version of In The Flat Field contains a variety of bonus material, leaving it difficult to discern how it would have come across in shortened form. But I digress.
Dark Entries is a good pace and tone setter. Driving guitars, and an incomprehensible lyric delivered at speed with odd phrasing, all complicating matters. No melody. Sounds like punk rock.
Double Dare has fat, distorted guitars and ominous drums. Peter Murphy sings like he's before an audience hung up on his every word. He stretches all his lines to the breakng point while the music rises steadily in volume.
In the Flat Field doesn't rest for long. That drummer goes into overdrive, while Murphy goes conventional with actual verses and a chorus. He does some cool things with his voice, but he's a bit too fond of screaming. That happens a lot here, which does rob some power from the proceedings.
God in an Alcove is a step in the right direction. A bit restrained musically.I think it's impossible to retrain Murphy though.
Dive is like Dark Entries 2. Punk Thrashing, never letting up the pace. I think Murphy is trying to be hard to understand on purpose. Short.
Spy in the Cab again teeters on finesse. Musically it's really quite atmospheric. Peter's vocal histrionics kind of do it in.
Small Talk Stinks (complete with incomprehensible, tinny voices in the back) is... really weird. It's almost funny ("There's no idle gossip in braille"), but also nicely unsettling with those tinny voices taking over toward the end.
St. Vitus Dance is light. I don't think Bauhaus were quite as dismal as the goth tag might sound. Peter really camps this one nicely. But then he gets up and screams it out. Maybe he enjoyed it... But I don't.
The crucifixion is given the rock treatment with Stigmata Martyr. It adheres musically to all the record. Cold, guitar-heavy post-punk. Actually, come to think of it, it really sounds a hell of a lot like The Scream.
Nerves is brilliant. The opening build up is truly nerve-wracking, using our fear of sudden, quiet noises to perfection before expanding. This is the end of the original album, and even though Murphy does some yelling here, being as the song is a seven minute build-and-subside experiment, it really comes across as far more compelling than anything prior to it.
Extras.. Telegram Sam, a reimagining of that classic T. Rex song. Instead of a straight version, there's a manic and somewhat silly quality to the cover. It's fast and almost charming, if that's possible from these guys.
Rosegarden Funeral of Sores is a John Cale song. It fits well with Bauhaus originals, being rather dismal and dirge-like. It's worth waiting for the eventual delivery of the title phrase. It has more impact that way.
Terror Couple Kill Colonel actually carries a melody. Must have been a single, for it's a shame to think of wasting that potential. It's about a murder, of course, but still accessable.
Scopes is utterly trivial. A minute and a half of Peter listing off a variety of scopes with backing vocals chanting "scope!" Lame. But Bauhaus had to be a group that was either way too serious or secretly having a laugh to make this type of music. Scopes backs up the latter.
Untitled is a bit of jamming with our singer muttering something at the same time. Makes no difference what it is, as it's no longer than Scopes.
God in an Alcove plays again. Remixed or an alternate take or something. It's a little different, but nothing important.
Crowds is an extraordinary turn of events. Peter Murphy sings to a lover he doesn't like so much anymore. It's amazing. Just gentle piano based stuff to back him up, with him just wringing real emotion from this sad, angry, betrayed rant. I'm still impressed by it.
Last is an unlisted bonus, a remix of Terror Couple Kill Colonel. Really irrelevent as well, except to Bauhaus fanatics.
Of which I am not one. Though this debut was more eccentric than I'd anticipated, and grew on me as I compiled this review, still moreso it frustrated me with fine hints of what it could be, but lacked the focus or wisdom to achieve.
At least on this outing. Maybe on their next and only other CD I own, they will refine their sound.
In some ways their 'unrefined' sound is better than what they came up with later, though I believe Mask is a better record (more melody) most groups never regain the energy of their first outing.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked by In The Flat Field first time I heard it and didn't re-visit it until the mid eighties and for a while I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. There really isn't enough variation in what they do to sustain my interest long term.
More chaos and less screaming, that's what I want :)