Bauhaus Albums (5)
'Rest in Peace: The Final Concert'
Release Date 9/2/1992
Tracks 23
Label Alex
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What The Critics Say
First surfacing long after the band's 1983 breakup -- but long before anyone realized that in fact more concerts would one day be a reality -- Rest in Peace, a soundboard recording made by the band's loyal soundman Pete "Plug" Edwards, isn't as crisp-sounding or totally successful a live release as the massive Press the Eject, but still demonstrates the band members bowing out on a high with what was indeed their final show together at that time. Covering the entire show without breaks, including the use of the studio instrumental "Satori" as introduction music, Rest in Peace remains quite noteworthy not merely for the historical value, but because it's the only place where official live recordings of many Burning-era songs can be found (aside from "She's in Parties," no other song from that album was regularly featured during the band's reunion tour). The portentous but still draggy "Burning from the Inside" actually starts the show, while the haunting beauty of "Kingdom's Coming," "King Volcano" and "Slice of Life," here sung by Murphy with Ash instead of just Ash (as on the album take), surface here, along with the ranting energy of "Antonin Artaud." As with the performances of more familiar songs like "Hollow Hills," the main-set-closing "Dark Entries" and "In Fear of Fear," the band sounds excellently on form; while you can't quite say there's a definite sense that these were going to be the last performances for the known future, the four members do give it all they have. The encore includes a spirited take on "Boys," the obscure flip of "Bela Lugosi's Dead," while the finale consists of that notorious number, given a then-final kick. On top of all this is a total never-officially-recorded-elsewhere rarity in the main set -- a gently spooky version of "In Heaven," the oft-covered David Lynch song used in Eraserhead. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
'Burning from the Inside'
Release Date 1/1/1983
Tracks 10
Label Beggars Banquet
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What The Critics Say
If The Sky's Gone Out felt like a collection of various recordings, Burning from the Inside really was, due in large part to outside events -- Murphy had fallen victim to a life-threatening illness, so the rest of the band began recording without him, which more than anything else foreshadowed both Bauhaus' breakup and the trio's future work as Love and Rockets. As a result, two songs ended up on the album, the piano-led cinematic moodiness of "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight" and the sweet acoustic drive of "Slice of Life," with David J and Ash on lead vocals respectively. Furthermore, more songs from the earliest days of the band were dug up to provide material, the most notable and successful being the dub-inflected, heavily dramatic "She's in Parties," using filmmaking as a metaphor for romance and life, with Murphy's excellent lead balanced against a near-whispering chorus from the other two singers. The end result of all this was an album that was good in spots but not as strong throughout as it could be, while betraying the other performing and writing strains that would soon cause the band to call it a day. As before, though, when the band members were on, they were on with a vengeance, such as the medieval folk dance "King Volcano" and the starkly beautiful "Kingdom's Coming." The ten-minute title track takes a good idea and stretches it out a little too long, but the concluding track "Hope" follows it with a life-affirming, inspirational vibe that serves as much as a farewell for Bauhaus' audience as anything else. While imperfect, Burning from the Inside has much more to recommend it than many other albums. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
More fragmented in origin than it might appear on first glance -- the leadoff track, a phenomenal, nuclear-strength rip through Brian Eno's "Third Uncle," featuring some fantastic soloing from Ash, came from a BBC radio session performance -- The Sky's Gone Out was caught between the expectations of an audience now thoroughly embracing the incipient goth genre, with all the built-in limitations such expectations often provide, and a band which wanted to please them while still following its own muse. On balance it's quite a fine album, but unlike Mask it misses the infusion of a more positive energy, and simply doesn't gel as perfectly, more notable for individual songs than as a whole. Old, pre-recording-career songs like the strong but already dated "In the Night" were revived and balanced against experiments and attempts to further develop the band's sound, ultimately making The Sky's Gone Out feel more like a compilation than anything else. Piece by piece, though, the songs still often showed Bauhaus in excelsis. Ash's elegant, haunting acoustic guitar work received two great showcases -- "Silent Hedges," adding a more familiar electric explosion to a fine Murphy performance detailing a desperate mental collapse, and "All We Ever Wanted Was Everything," a sympathetic, nostalgic reflection on dreams of the past, again matched by a perfectly balanced Murphy vocal. Other standouts include the brooding lope of "Swing the Heartache," with a skeletal rhythm matched against some of Ash's best guitar work, and "Spirit," a live standout inspired by the performance vibe the band received from its fans. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Managing the sometimes hard-to-negotiate trick of expanding their sound while retaining all the qualities which got them attention to begin with, on Mask the members of Bauhaus consciously stretched themselves into newer areas of music and performance, resulting in an album that was arguably even better than the band's almost flawless debut. More familiar sides of the band were apparent from the get-go; opening number "Hair of the Dog," one of the band's best songs, starts with a double-tracked squalling guitar solo before turning into a stomping, surging flow, carefully paced by sudden silences and equally sudden returns to the music, while Murphy details cases of mental addictions in pithy phrases. The energy wasn't all just explosive angst and despair, though; the one-two punches of "Kick in the Eye" and "In Fear of Fear" have as much hip-shaking groove and upbeat swing to them as portentous gloom (Ash's sax skronk on the latter, as well as on the similarly sharp "Dancing," is a particularly nice touch). Elsewhere, numerous flashes of the band's quirky sense of humor -- something often missed by both fanatical followers and negative critics both -- make an appearance; perhaps most amusing is the dry spoken-word lyric beginning "Of Lillies and Remains," as David J details a goofily grotesque situation as much Edward Gorey as Edgar Allen Poe. Add to that three of the most dramatic things the band ever recorded -- the charging, keyboard-accompanied "The Passion of Lovers," the slow, dark fairy-tale-gone-wrong "Hollow Hills," and the wracked, trudging title track, where the sudden appearance of an acoustic guitar turns a great song into a near-perfect blend of ugliness and sheer beauty -- and the end result was a perfect trouncing of the sophomore-slump myth. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
'In the Flat Field'
Release Date 1/1/1980
Tracks 9
Label 4AD/Beggars Banquet
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What The Critics Say
Few debut albums ever arrived so nearly perfectly formed; that In the Flat Field practically single-handedly invented what remains for many as the stereotype of goth music -- wracked, at times spindly vocals about despair and desolation of many kinds, sung over mysterious and moody music -- demonstrates the sui generis power of both the band and its work. This said, perhaps the best thing about the album isn't what it's supposed to sound like, but what it actually does -- an awesomely powerful, glam-inspired rock band firing on all fours, capable of restraint and complete overdrive both, fronted by a charismatic, storming frontman. Starting with the challenging angst of "Double Dare," with shattering guitar over a curious but fierce stop-start rhythm while Murphy rages ever more strongly over the top, In the Flat Field contains a wide variety of inspirations and ideas. The astonishingly precise rhythm section of David J and Haskins pulls off a variety of jaw-dropping performances, including the high-paced tension of the title track and the brooding crawl from "Spy in the Cab." Ash, much like his longtime hero Mick Ronson, turns out to be a master of turning relatively simple guitar parts into apocalyptic explosions, from the background fills on "St. Vitus Dance" to the brutal descending chords of "Stigmata Martyr." Murphy, meanwhile, channels as much Iggy Pop as he does Bowie, proving to be no simple copyist of either, able to both maniacally sing-shout and take a somewhat lighter touch throughout. Concluding with the seven-minute "Nerves," an aptly titled piece that alternates between understated energy and unleashed power toward a dramatic ending, In the Flat Field started off Bauhaus' album career with a near-perfect bang. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
