Product Description

Who ever would have assumed that Sex Pistols hanger-on Siouxsie Sioux would not only form a unique and compelling groupof her own, but sustain it for decades after the Pistols dissolution? Although the band lost steam towards the '90s playing catch-up to newer trends and movements (who themselves owed Siouxsie a thing or two), at their peak the Banshees were a force to be reckoned with.
NOCTURNE is a document ofthe classic early '80s line-up captured live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1983. Without overdubs (as the album insert proudly proclaims), the Banshees manage to convey a multi-faceted sense of exoticism and menace, often within the same song. Classics like "Israel" and "Painted Bird" even seem more compelling stripped of the studio gloss and multi-tracking of Siouxsie's voice. Some songs ("Spellbound" and "Pulled to Bits") lose a little something in the translation, however. Fortunately the band seems to be enjoying itself (even without any stage patter from Souxsie), especially on the raucousBeatles covers "Helter Skelter" and "Dear Prudence". Perhaps not the best introduction for new fans, but a great recording of a band at its peak.

Track Listing

1. Israel
2. Dear Prudence
3. Paradise Place
4. Melt!
5. Cascade
6. Pulled To Bits
7. Night Shift
8. Sin In My Heart
9. Slowdive
10. Painted Bird
11. Happy House
12. Switch
13. Spellbound
14. Helter Skelter
15. Eve White / Eve Black
16. Voodoo Dolly

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27558 in Music
• Released on: 1995-03-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Running time: 74 minutes

Customer Reviews

Inspiring live album
If you want a starting point as to what Siouxie and the Banshees were about, start here.
This a live collection of songs from the first 4 albums, plus the single Dear Prudence and it is stunning, starting with Israel, it just gets better, ending with huge scarey Voodoo Dolly.
Amazing sound, great performance, Robert Smith( The Cure) 'filling in' for the recently departed but brillant guitarist John Mc Geoch ( albums he played on - Kaleidoscope, and Juju), a band on form and enjoying themselves.
get the DVD, as its great to watch.
One of the best live albums ever, in my opinion.
Enjoy

Stunning live album from the time music was good...
This is a truly inspiring album. I can remember being a massive Siouxsie fan for many years, before they dropped away and out of the limelight - only to return to release a whole host of 'best of' cds and some other new tracks which in no way ever shaped up to their success around the time Nocturne was released. The album is best listened to with the lights low (or off! by candlelight) especially for the beginning... the very powerful Rite of Spring by Stravinsky.. this sets the atmosphere - you ARE at the Albert Hall! Straight into Israel - turn it up and Mr Severin's bass penetrates your soul! I will not say any more other than - if you were a fan/still are a fan and for some unknown reason, do not own this album, OWN IT.. simple as that. Nuff said.

No overdubs live performance!
What do you really get when a CD says 'live'? Without thinking about it you would probably think a performance recorded at a gig and then put on CD. In the vast majority of cases this is not true, as live recordings are taken into the studio and parts are re-recorded to make them sound better (particularly vocals), and the recordings are the best ones chosen from multiple gigs and then spliced together. With this album you get none of that - it does exactly what it says on the tin! An on the CD case it states - "No overdubs", and it was recorded at one gig at the Royal Albert Hall. This really is a brave step for most bands, who often don't live up to their studio sound when playing live.

Siouxsie and the Banshees were always great live in the early 80's, and this is that period captured warts and all. It's not a perfect recording, as there are a few rough edges from Robert Smith's guitar, and Siouxsie tends to slide into notes if she doesn't hit them too well. Her voice really is in good form at this gig though, and she dominates the performance.

The live versions of songs here are sometimes better than the studio versions as they don't suffer from the overproduction that some were subjected to, particularly in the case of the later material. Songs like 'Dear Prudence' take on a whole new lease of life when heard live, and obscure b-sides like 'Pulled to Bits' have been literally pulled to bits and reconstructed to make a great live song. This really is a great document of the middle (and probably best) period of the band's life, and one that I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone.