Yup. It was their first single and not on the album originally.
Thought so. It doesnāt suit the album does it but I do love Hong Kong Garden just not on this album.
Band are crying out for McGeoch already, oh boy do they change when he joins.
The Legacy section of The Scream wiki is jaw dropping. Itās honestly amazing that a band that influential on so many legendary artists has mostly disappeared from music history.
It doesnāt get a lot of credit these days. Party, maybe, because they bettered it so clearly, and if and when they are remembered - they are remembered for the songs and albums that went more mainstream?
Nope, Iām taking about their entire career, which is a Goth footnote.
Yeah, itās much more ground-breaking than I had thought. E.g. The Banshees were obviously a big influence on where the Cure ended up going, but I hadnāt really twigged that The Scream came out before Unknown Pleasures, and that the signature bass-drums backbone of the post-punk sound is owed as much to the Bansheesā debut as anything else.
Donāt really get this. I reckon the guitar work is great. Sure, thereās a couple of punk plodders, but thatās true of the early material of all the important/interesting post-punk bands. Certainly, 3IB has a few, and the early JD songs are very punky ā the only difference perhaps being that JDās punk is punk at its absolute best, whereas tracks like āCarcassā are ā as you mentioned earlier ā much more pub rock. For the most part, the guitar on The Scream is great, and to tell you the truth, I didnāt realise that McGeoch wasnāt part of the composition and recording of this album.
Fair point, well made. Iām not even sure who the original (album) guitarist was. McGeoch does improve things though, definitely.
Iām a banshees fan but
iād never given this album a proper go until this week. Think iāve tried a few times but itās just bounced off of me.
A really promising debut and better than i remember but for all of its originality i have to say, i donāt find this album all that thrilling. Some really good songs and an interesting album for sure but i think the likes of joy division and Killing joke definitely took the best elements of this sound (the drum and guitar style in particular) and did much more interesting things with it (as did the banshees themselves eventually tbf). Think āThe Screamā sounds a little flat compared to the very best post-punk records. In fact i think itās the dub-like sense of space that those aforementioned bands added that i find preferable as I find the relentless claustrophobia on āThe Screamā a bit much for my tastes. Also, whilst Siouxsie has undeniable presence and charisma i do find her vocals a bit one note on this record and her hectoring vocal style grates over the course of an album. She does become a much more versatile and dynamic singer over time though. Think āSwitchā is arguably the best track and a sign that they were already moving on from the sound of this album by the time they finished it.
Never heard āJoin Handsā so iām interested to here where they went after this.
Both The Scream (album) and Hong Kong Garden (single) were released in August 1978. Itās strange that it isnāt on the album? Yet it does push things on and have a different mood to The Scream, to my ears at least.
Music was moving very fast in the late 1970ās. It (Hong Kong Garden) has Hit Single written all over it and for a (Post) Punk Single to reach Number 7 in what where, back then, very competitive Charts speaks volumes as to how good it was. They move onā¦
Just the original album tracks. Vote two tracks please.
- Pure
- Jigsaw Feeling
- Overground
- Carcass
- Helter Skelter
- Mirage
- Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)
- Nicotine Stain
- Suburban Relapse
- Switch
0 voters
As always Iāll add the winners to the Spoitfy playlist.
Jigsaw Feeling and Switch get my votes! As fantastic as Helter Skelter is, Iām not voting for it on account of it not being their song (this is my own personal rule that no one else need abide by).
Donāt want to start an argument, but I think thereās no argument about it! Defo the pick of the bunch for me.
I was familiar with the album already and have listened twice this week, but feel like I might need a third listen to pick 2 songs and do a write-up.
Same here
Reading the autobiography, surprised how much it sells for on eBay but Iām keeping hold of my copy.
Anyway, when Siouxsie was a child she was obsessed with Harold and Maude (the film) and the first record she loved was Johnny Remember Me by John Leyton, a love song pining for a dead girlfriend. She also loved The Leader of the Pack by The Shangri-Las which oddly is about dead boyfriends.
Her Mother was a bilingual secretary and her Father was a bacteriologist who milked snakes for their venom, a snake doctor if you will.
Their first gig was 20th September, 1976, supporting The Stinky Toys, The Clash and the Sex Pistols. Susan (Siouxsie) had seen the film The Cry Of The Banshee (1970) recently and when she was asked what the band were called, for gig promotion, she made up the name Siouxsie & the Banshees.
She taped 3 microphones together for volume and feedback effect and recited a variation of The Lords Prayer. Sheās been reading William Burroughs and wanted to project an apocalyptic image and sound. She wanted a lectern to sing from but couldnāt arrange it.
The band instinctively knew that Hong Kong Garden was a single and completely different to everything else they had played or recorded at that point. (This might explain to me why it is a stand alone from the debut album). The song is mentally dedicated to a local Chinese take-away, which, from the age of 12 Siouxsie would witness skinheads racially abusing the staff. She wished she was Emma Peel (from The Avengers) so she could beat the shit out of them.
When the band heard the track played back to them in the studio they couldnāt believe it was actually them as it sounded so professional.
Such a fantastic act.