BAUHAUS: THE SKY'S GONE OUT (1982)
1) Third Uncle; 2) Silent
Hedges; 3) In The Night; 4) Swing The Heartache; 5) Spirit; 6) The Three
Shadows, Part 1; 7) The Three Shadows, Part 2; 8) The Three Shadows, Part 3; 9)
All We Ever Wanted Was Everything; 10) Exquisite Corpse.
With Bauhaus now firmly marketed as a «goth»
band, their third album seems to have been seen by many critics and fans alike
as straying too far away from a
formula to which the band had actually never ever subscribed in the first
place. Essentially, The Sky's Gone Out
is frequently accused of being too meandering, too scattered, too unsure of
where to go. But if you ask me, I much prefer this «insecurity» to the
way-too-predictably-monotonous formula of Mask
— just how much more «dark dance music» does one really need?
This is, indeed, the peak of Murphy and Ash's
experimentalism: not always succeeding, perhaps, but not afraid, either, of risking
an occasional miss among a bunch of successful hits. The idea to open the
proceedings with a cover of Brian Eno's nearly decade-old rocker ʽThird Uncleʼ,
in particular, is brilliant — Bauhaus' transparent link to Joy Division had
always obscured their earlier roots, but they are really much closer in spirit
to the «morose glam theater» of early Roxy Music and early solo Eno, and they slice
through the insanely fast drone chords of ʽThird Uncleʼ like butter: not adding
much to the original, I guess, but perfectly capturing its joint vibe of lunacy
and irony — and, although Ash's technique does not fully match Phil Manzanera's,
this is barely noticeable, because the spirit of that original solo is
reproduced to a tee.
None of the originals come close in terms of
general frenzy, but they do not intend to: ʽThird Uncleʼ is just a benevolent warm-up,
followed by one «big freeze» that comes in several different models. If you
expected to be able to dance the night away, clad in black cloacks and mascara
shades, you will be disappointed. But stepping away from pop rhythms allows
them more space for invention — with a little patience, it becomes obvious that
every song has something to offer, and a few of them have something incredible
to offer.
Actually, when I use the term «incredible», I
am mainly referring to ʽSwing The Heartacheʼ — a track like no other in the
Bauhaus catalog. This is the Ash show all the way: after a long, intriguing
set-up of electronic howling, he kicks in with such a nasty loud riff that I
can't help being reminded of Black Sabbath and ʽIron Manʼ — that «earth ripped
apart» effect! — and from there on, the whole song becomes a test pad for all
sorts of guitar madness, including a repetitive «whistling» effect that may
easily wreck an unstable nervous system. Altogether, there are enough cool musical
ideas in this song to fuel a small album, but they all work together towards a
common purpose: drive you right out of your head. (And I'm pretty sure that
will happen the minute you turn the volume up real loud in your headphones).
The band is being more merciful to the listener
on such classics as ʽSilent Hedgesʼ (featuring the album's meanest bassline)
and ʽIn The Nightʼ, which is lyrically a song about suicide, but musically
more of a pissed-off «slow punk» rocker, drastically speeding up towards the
end. ʽSpiritʼ is a portentous anthem — Bauhaus' own idea of a ʽWe Will Rock
Youʼ, culminating in an endless loop of "we love our audience, we love our
audience!", clearly written for the fans but, considering that Murphy's
image does not require «loving» anybody, coming off as ironic all the same. The
best thing about ʽSpiritʼ, anyway, is how they manage to combine an essentially
rockabilly bass line with a folk-themed melody — somehow, it works.
Experimentation hits hardest on the second side
of the album, especially with the three-part suite ʽThe Three Shadowsʼ, its
first movement purely instrumental and atmospheric, its second one a melancholic
funeral waltz, its third one a short «folk-punk» coda with a little Irish dance
flavor. I guess this description alone helps understand why the «scattered»
nature of the album was so confusing, but, really, this odd mix of different
elements should hardly be any more confusing than, say, Kate Bush's
much-revered suite on the second half of Hounds
Of Love — it's just that the «point» of it may not be for everyone.
Murphy's lyrics hardly make any sense, and sometimes seem drastically
underworked ("but I... will always... exist... because... I always...
exist" — nice logical chain out there), but it is the music, not the
words, that matter, and there is a clear emotional link between all three
parts, from the somber ricocheting guitar licks of the intro right down to the
slightly dissonant piano / fiddle duet on the outro.
What may really
count as scattered is the last track — ʽExquisite Corpseʼ is more like a
collection of loosely, if at all, connected snippets than anything else, as if,
having recorded 35 minutes worth of material, they simply decided to cram all
their remaining ideas into the other five, regardless of how well they could
be sewn together. Indeed, the coda, especially coming right after the lovely
acoustic balladeering of ʽAll We Ever Wantedʼ, is a bit anti-climactic: some of
the snippets are okay, but I was really looking forward to some grand
conclusion after all the freaky imagination outbursts. Still, that's a small
price of disappointment to be paid for such an overall satisfactory experience.
In any case, do not follow the naysayers — The Sky's Gone Out still captures Bauhaus
at the top of their game, and just because it refuses to conform to the clichés
of «goth» does not mean that these guys do not know what they're doing. Okay,
so they probably do not know what they're doing, but they're doing it fine
anyway: not even on Flat Fields has
Ash been more thoughtful about his instrument, or more lucky about putting
those thoughts in practice.
Check "The Sky's Gone Out" (CD) on Amazon
Check "The Sky's Gone Out" (MP3) on Amazon
I dunno... I kinda like "Exquisite Corpse", and I like the way it chaotically shifts from a mantra with wailing Ash guitar to some kind of vocal coda to eerie acoustic jangle and creepy poetry to dark dub to Peter screaming his throat raw. It's a song which takes me on a trip. I do see where you're coming from, though. "Exquisite Corpse" is quite confused.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good album, I agree. Don't believe them naysayers!
So is this a thumbs up or thumbs down? :)
ReplyDeleteWell, Abbey Road got a blazingly positive review from George and it got no thumbs up either.
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