Product Description

CRACKLE is the second of Bauhaus' greatest-hits albums, following the import-only 1979-1983. The major difference between the two sets is that CRACKLE eliminates most of the coverversions that appeared on the earlier collection. The tracklisting draws from Bauhaus' entire career-from the definingfirst single, "Bela Lugosi's Dead", all the way through "She's In Parties" and the title track of the band's final album, BURNING FROM THE INSIDE. All tracks have been remastered.This is especially evident on the band's earliest work. "Dark Entries" and "Double Dare" are afforded a cleaner sound, adding to their power.
The lone cover included is a version of "Ziggy Stardust", a David Bowie classic that clearly influenced the band. Though they will always be labeled as founding forefathers of the "Goth" rock movement, Bauhaus werenever constrained by the label. "Terror Couple Kill Colonel" features a gentle, swaying groove. "Silent Hedges" is built on a foundation of acoustic guitar and a chunky, distortedbass line. "Spirit" features dueling guitars and a harpsichord. The collection concludes with one of the band's most emotive tracks, "Crowds", a pretty piano-based song wherein tortured vocalist Peter Murphy wonders "What do you want of me?"

Track Listing

1. Double Dare
2. In The Flat Field
3. Passion Of Lovers
4. Bela Lugosi's Dead
5. Sanity Assassin
6. She's In Parties
7. Silent Hedges
8. Hollow Hills
9. Mask
10. Kick In The Eye
11. Ziggy Stardust
12. Dark Entries
13. Terror Couple Kill Colonel
14. Spirit
15. Burning From The Inside
16. Crowds

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7454 in Music
• Released on: 2000-12-04
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

They're NOT QUITE NORMAL you know
A fairly preposterous proposition at the best of times, Bauhaus occasionally came up with a killer art-rock tune - but boy did you have to sit through some pretentious guff to get to it.

Their most famous song remains 'Bela Lugosi's Dead.' Extraordinarily long for a single released in 1979, it still exudes a clammy dread. Pete Murphy's ghoulish, disembodied voice is perfectly suited to the hammy tale of bats and belltowers, vampires and virgins.

'She's In Parties' is a fine single, for once the strangulated guitar enhancing the song not detracting from it. 'Kick In The Eye' is loose, funky, danceable. The urgent, dramatic 'The Passion Of Lovers' is another top track, as is the excellently titled 'Terror Couple Kill Colonel.' And the band's aggressive, amped-up take on 'Ziggy Stardust' surpasses the original in my view.

Much of the rest, though, is a gruelling, dreary listen, the band clearly in thrall to early '70s Bowie but lacking his "gift of sound and vision." The lyrics, too, display a rather forced insistence on being NOT QUITE NORMAL.

If Murphy & Co had dropped the Theatre of Cruelty affectations and spent as much time honing the music as applying the eyeliner, they would've been a better band.

And where's 'Lagartija Nick?'

Crackle? More like Rumble in the Jungle!
In the Eighties, Bauhaus were the sort of band whose next output was never going to be predictable - except that you would want to listen to it. This reviewer was never particularly fond of "Gothic"-labelled material but coming back to it now on "Crackle" it still sounds cutting-edge: impossible sometimes to say what the appeal is but Bauhaus were never afraid to try out ideas, most of which they carried off. Sometimes the instruments sound less than well tuned, but the material is strong enough that as a listener you forgive them.

"Crowds" appears as the last track, and is possibly the best: Peter Murphy's agonised vocal asks "What do you want of me?" and comes from the heart. What did we want of Bauhaus? Something original, something unexpected. We got it in spades and this album is a fine introduction to their music.

Nice to own these songs again....
I'd not heard most of these songs in 20 years and it really was a joy to hear them again. I had 1979-83 on double vinyl back in the day, all of the tracks on this CD appear there but it's hard to fault the track selection on this disc. Perhaps it'd have been nice to have Telegram Sam and maybe Stigmata Martyr on here too but otherwise it's hard to fault.
She's in Parties and Double Dare are 2 standout tracks, but again it's hard to pick out standout tracks but it's all good and sounds surprisingly fresh and undated today, particularly compared to much of the music around in the 80's.