Customer Ratings & Reviews

Firstly, know that this was written by a Siouxsie fan of almost 25 years (since Haeyena in 1984). I have every banshee album (including the Box-set) except one...The Rapture...and every creature album except Hai!...because after Seven Year Itch, I wasn't confident about hearing Siouxsie's singing again any time soon. But, I did finally purchase The Siouxsie Dreamshow, when it finally had a domestic release in the States, and was rather impressed by her much improved vocals...the surgeries must've really helped. So, with that in mind, I was rather confident about how her first solo album would sound and starving to purchase it the moment it was available. This is where things go "Gothically" wrong: 1) I hate the packaging of this album! One photo of Siouxsie, and it's not even the best of the ones taken for the album...and what's up with her face upside down?! Is this supposed to be "Downside Up -- Revisited"? I can't stand fold out lyrics and sleeve notes; they're so perishable and some of the lyrics can't be deciphered due to the cracks and creases. Her photos for her singles are WAY better and definitely more evocative of the Siouxsie mileu. What is this cover supposed to signify? It's the busiest and the most annoying of any cover I've seen from the world of Siouxsie. 2) What's up w/ the title of this album? What's the significance? The Creatures' Boomerang makes more sense than this. The title doesn't help describe or give theme to the overall work. 3) Some reviewer compared this album as being close in tone and feel to the banshees' Superstition? How so? Not really! It's closest to The Creatures' Anima Animus, which was my least favorite album by them. The problem w/ an artist like Siouxsie embarking on a solo career after fronting two bands is that there is such a wealth of quality, groundbreaking, classic material in her past that her future will be judged and predicated by it. There is not one song on this album that ties or --definitely not -- surpasses a Christine, a Night Shift, a Jigsaw Feeling, a Placebo Effect, a Dear Prudence, a Swimming Horses, a Happy House, or a Spellbound; not a But Not Them, a Miss The Girl, a Pluto Drive, a Say, or a Another Planet. Also, because she has been making great music for almost 30 years, this new stuff pales because some of it echoes what we've already heard before: If you're a banshees fan, Loveless (w/out question, the best song of the album...this should've been the first single, not the so-so Into A Swan), One Mile Below, Drone Zone, and Sea of Tranquility are for you. The other tracks, for the most part, sound Creatures-like, and or amalgams of both Creatures and banshees. They Follow You has a surprisingly Blondie-esque sound to it w/ its zany keyboards a la Jimmy Destri. But, honestly, the banshees last recorded track, Dizzy is way better than anything on this album. 4) The Voice: Siouxsie on this album, for the most part, does not evoke fond memories of her heights from her Dreamshow...people, this is closer to Seven Year Itch quality than Dreamshow...are you getting me, now? On some songs you say, "Yeah, sing it that way for the rest of the song (or album)!" Then, she falters back into that now-too-familiar atonal monotone, which does her very little good to enhance the music. Her voice is not pretty or powerful on many of these songs. 5) The Words: the lyrics aren't very deep, profound, or memorable, and they're short on being imagistic...that coming from Siouxsie is not good! Some people fear the gothic side of her is underplayed on this album...it's not so much that, it's just that the subject matter isn't that powerful, or clear, or engaging. The themes of this album: Something's happening to me...I'm changing; Uh-oh, something's about to happen; it's happened; this is not love anymore; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger; how low can I go?; the suburban life is like being on a sleeping pill; I am a body left at a crime scene by the seashore, and all of the evidence is being washed away (which sounds like a sequel to Steven Severin's beautiful, though sad Sea of Light, which is way better than this new song); and love at first sight is unreliable. That's it, folks! I found myself wishing for Severin's poetic lyrics to make an appearance, or even Budgie's occasional, interesting words. 6) The Music: What in many ways is most disappointing for me is the lack of variety and diveristy of music and musicians for this album...Siouxsie herself projected this album to sound a lot like the Dreamshow...I was expecting songs w/ a full orchestra, lush arrangements, decidedly pronounced brass sections, songs that sound intimate w/ only a few bandmates, then songs w/ multitudes of instruments (there are no Fireworks, Wheels On Fire, Slowdives, Overgrounds, or Killing Jars on this album)...I was looking for an album with the kind of exoticism of Kaleidoscope. Far from it was this album. For one, many of the core group of musicians are the same. I was expecting multiple drummers, guitarists, and bassists to appear on different tracks, not the same ones! Where the heck was Knox Chandler?! Robert Smith?! Members of The Clash?, Clem Burke from Blondie (he really could've added power to Siouxsie's kind of realm)?! And lastly BUDGIE!!! I know that their divorce killed that prospect probably, but God, he's been her only rhythm section since 1979, and the absence of him weakens the album and leaves a lot to be desired. And, in terms of enhancing her low vocals, WHERE IN THE WORLD WERE THE ELLIS TWINS?!?!?! WHY DIDN'T SHE GIVE THEM A CALL?! She was on record as stating that she had "a lot of collaborators in mind..." she wanted to work with...I assumed that meant she'd be working with a diversity of producers, writers, arrangers, etc. ALSO this album only contains TEN SONGS!!! After the longest break and gestation period she's had from making music, all she could come up w/ was a 41 minute CD, shorter than Anima Animus!!! I was looking for a number closer to 20 than 10!!! I thought the freedom and newness of the situation would have led to lots of creativity and ideas, not just enough for an album in 1977. The small number of songs puts even more importance on the quality and variety of them, which really makes the output precarious if not handled correctly. 7) The Future: I hope this album does well for Siouxsie, but I think this may be my last ride with the Queen of Goth. Listening to this album only drove me to put on her old albums, returning to the Siouxsie that I love and know. I guess I will have to live in the glory of her great past with all the new remasters that will be coming out over the years, which really has been moving at a snake's pace. Hopefully that should be enough. If you're new to Siouxsie, start from the beginning up to 1991, cause that's where the classics and the classic Siouxsie live. Siouxsie Fan: 1984-2007

loved it. love her, a welcome addition to her work. these woman beat the odds of the ridiculus stigma of age to bring us there best. i wont rattle and hum about each track. after 5 listens i'm charmed. siouxie, debbie, ann,annie chrissie, stevie etc make these kids look sick GIMME MORE(but not from britney) goddess bless girls keep it coming.