One more from the well of darkness...

Mask. Four Stars.

With their second album, goth rockers Bauhaus picked up a bit of much-needed finesse, without losing much in the way of energy. Musically, little has altered from In the Flat Field. It's still punkish thrashing with a creepy edge. And Peter Murphy still goes off the deep end every chance he gets.

Yet there is a higher quality to the songs themselves. They have a clearer structure, making them more accessible overall.

Hair of the Dog doesn't make any of the small changes immediately noticable. It goes for chaos and the contrast between the dark backbeat and the strange guitar is quite interesting.

Passion of Lovers is a Bauhaus classic. It's very strong, with a sordid lyric mangled by Peter's odd phrasing, plenty of real atmosphere in the music, more weird guitar and a memorable chorus. The backup vocals are a nice touch.

Of Lillies and Remains is a strange little piece. Bouncy, spacey filler. It never really becomes music, as the lyrics are spoken, not sung. It's a bizarre "tune," and though it starts deadpan, Peter does his usual job on the later verses. I'm at a loss about it. Is it supposed to be funny?

Dancing sounds like an extra from their debut, a leftover. It's messy, the lyric is useless and Peter does a lot of yelling...

Hollow Hills is what I truly expected Bauhaus to be like - before I heard any of them. Perhaps the reason for my disappointment. It's a crawling dirge where all the band sound like they're far away. Good lyric, and my favorite track from Mask.

Kick in the Eye 2 (where is 1?) is positively danceable. It's a fun track, with dramatic (not histrionic) vocals from Peter. I can't say more than that.

In Fear of Fear is a light, slightly obnoxious little number. It's a decent followup to Kick. I do like the way Peter juxtaposes his voice by singing twice in higher and lower register.

Muscle in Plastic contains their second reference to Nyjinsky (a ballet dancer who was diagnosed with schizophrenia). Dancing also references him. It's a manic song, without any overdubbing on Peter's voice.

The Man with the X-Ray Eyes is more typical of the CD. Creepy yet incomprehensible lyric and a pretty good climax where the typical wailing corresponds with peppy backups.

Mask also showcases the singer gaining a degree of subtlety that's nice to hear. This is the end of the original release and is quite strong.

Bonuses again included. In Fear of Dub is basically an instrumental edition of In Fear of Fear. Why?

Ear Wax, which seems to have been named that just because, is entirely unmemorable, but atmospheric.

Harry,also named so for no reason, is even stranger. It feels like a British Invasion pop song. Likable, but undeniably odd. It proves how eclectic Bauhaus really was.

The painfully titled 1. David Jay 2. Peter Murphy 3. Kevin Haskins 4. Daniel Ash is actually very good. It opens as a piano driven piece with one of the other guys singing about a law suit or something. Dry run for Love and Rockets. Then it grooves up and Peter takes over with a totally worthless but very funny lyric about fish and potatoes. It's ludicrous to be sure. Then it slows down and another segment (cautionary and not so memorable) finishes the "song." The whole thing is so bizarre it's a standout.

Satori holds promise to start, and features choppy singing in another language. It fades out and then an instrumental percussion fest fades back in. This lasts a while and desists. End of bonus tracks.

Overall, though I like Mask better than In the Flat Field and would listen to more Bauhaus if I had it, I can't say I like them very much. I'm not a fan, as they seem to be the classic example of the mixed bag. They're influential, they popularised Goth Rock alongside Siouxsie and the Banshees, but I prefer their later incarnations, once Murphy had learned how to sing. :)