Search - Bauhaus :: Crackle: The Best Of Bauhaus

The Old School

SystemStructure | town, WA United States | 10/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bauhaus is not a melodic band nor are they a metal band. They don't try to hit you with sugary hooks and sing along lyrics nor do they attempt to hit you with rapid-fire thrash metal. They are an old school gloomy "Goth" band that the musical press once described as "a funeral dirge." Goth rock (and especially early, old school goth) was characterized by having three qualities to it - a slightly punk edge, a sublime metal edge but also a heavy influence of "art" or "artistic" rock. This "art rock" influence, in addition to the other influences, made them less attractive to hardcore punks and metalheads. Goth is a heavy dose of art rock blended with punk and a dash of metal. Perhaps in parody of the art rock influence in goth, this band is called Bauhaus - German for "art house."



Their songs are splintered, fractal slabs of rock with sparse lyrics and harsh, even weird delivery (Peter Murphy one of rock's weirdest vocalists). This was never meant to go mainstream yet somehow it did, with a certain crowd. The secret, hidden appeal of this band seems to be their very abstractness in itself. It's an elusive, gloomy quality that makes this band last throughout the ages.



Highlights include:



Bela Lugosi is Dead - song about Bela Lugosi, the famous actor who played the original Hollywood incarnation of Dracula.



The Sanity Assassin - energetic number about a mysterious, abstract character who makes people go crazy.



Double Dare - one of their most aggressive tracks, showing the punk and metal elements actually overpowering the art stuff."

Surplants the other collections as the place to start 4 new

Rich Latta | Albuquerque, NM - Land of Entitlement | 07/18/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The original version of "Bela Lugosi's Dead" that appears here clinches it. This version has a lot of trippy studio effects and what-not that make it much more essential than the live version on 1979-83 Vol. 1. (although that one's cool too). CRACKLE is a cool collection, although I wouldn't call all of it great. Peter Murphy clearly has some vocal limitations, but he manages to sound good and appropriately creepy much of the time. Their version of "Ziggy Stardust" isn't much different than the original on its face, but they somehow manage to make it their own anyway. It's pretty cool. I'm less thrilled with the strange cross-breed of goth and disco that is "Kick in the Eye," and the B-side stuck on the end ("Crowds") is plain gross, with one of the worst vocals ever recorded.



Not a perfect collection, and as another reviewer pointed out, some essentials are missing such as "Stigmata Martyr." I agree the producers missed an opportunity to make a perfect Bauhaus collection. Certainly they've made enough great songs to fill one disk. Still, there's a lot of good stuff here and I would recommend this as a good starting place. Those new to Bauhaus really need to hear the original "Bela," and this collection will give them a good idea about whether or not they want to explore more of this band's dark music."

Decent introduction to the 'Haus collection

Tony Hughes | Cincinnati, Ohio United States | 06/14/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Pete Murphy, feedback, Love & Rockets spinoff, non-Goth Goths, Maxell tapes, we were all there...If you've not heard anything by this band then some caution is required. Bauhaus are not for everyone. Sometimes I'm not even sure they're for me. However, this CD does have some classic cuts that can't help make you think Bauhaus flirted with genius at points in their career (Bela Lugosi, Ziggy Stardust etc) whilst mediocrity also came knocking every so often."