Customer Reviews

Kaleidoscope (Dig)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Forget categories like Goth or Dark Wave, this record is a classic no matter what pigeonhole you try to put it in. On this disc the band pulled out all the stops, and the quirkiness of their performances (notice for example the dizzying tempo changes on "Happy House"; it ends at least 1/3 faster than it begins), only serve to make the thing more endearing. And Budgie's drum sound--good heavens.....it's as far from the over-produced "big drum" crap that Phil Collins made famous as you can get. These drums have character and Budgie's snare never sounds the same two hits in a row. But the true charm of this disc is the songs. They are so creatively conceived and performed it is mind-boggling. Some people call "Juju" the quintessential Siouxsie record--and I love it too, my friends, but Kaleidoscope broke the mold. I had the LP, wore it out, and now I'm carrying the CD in my car and refuse to part with it. Buy this disc; you will love it.

Siouxie and the Banshees always had a deep crush on classic American funk (find, if you can, the cover of "Supernatural Thing" on the flipside of the "Arabian Nights" 12" single), though, in keeping with a key plank in punk's aesthetic manifesto, they were smart enough to never play it in blackface. In short, this is an album of dope beats -- the underlying foundation for some clean barre-chord riffing, sweet and tarnished pop songcraft, and a good dose of European weltschmertz -- though it's the cold rock beats that make it better than a Nico record every time out.

In my opinion the Banshees best over all album. A perfect blend of hypnotic, rhythmic oddities and twisted, not quite "pop" songs. Kaleidoscope shows off the Banshees every strength, from Siouxsie's new-found control over her once admittedly quite out of control voice, to Severin and Budgie's continuing almost telepathetic relation as a rhythm section. A bevy of session guitarists ( from ex-Pistol Steve Jones to eventual full time, if short lived member, John McGeoch ) hold the songs together quite well, you'd never notice the ever-shifting lineup. Tight, with great production. Very highly recommended.

and you will revel in supremely creepy characters and dark, wonderous places. This fantastic, quintessential Siouxsie album encompasses both S&B's punk edge as well as their use of synthesisers for the first time and their expansion into even more evocative, atmospheric songwriting.

Siouxsie's voice is pretty close to peak form on this album, their 3rd. She sounds more comfortable with her voice, despensing with some of the more eccentric stylings of her earliest recordings (this is not to say that Siouxsie has not continued to employ unusual and highly creative vocal techniques which are all her own because she certainly has - especially with the Creatures). The lyrics are, typical of Siouxsie, simply brilliant and the music - newly embellished with electronics and tinged with psychedelia - perfectly conveys their moods to create vivid atmospheres, one of the band's greatest gifts.

My impressions:

"Happy House" - classic Siouxsie. In my head I can picture this secret society of shut-ins, tucked away in their own little world, tumbling like clowns (with evil, gothic face-paint). The haunted carnival atmosphere with its off-kilter rhythm offers the first clue that all is not truly well in this little paradise. This song helped me realize early on that even punks and others who "rebel against society" often have their own little folkways, prejudices and delusions, wary of non-conformity within their little circles. "Happy House" is a perfect distillation of this theme. *****

"Tenant" - This one has a really creepy atmosphere that makes me want to curl up in a shell and hide. The song merely conveys a common potential downside to apartment living - nosey neighbors - but it makes the prospect of being spied on sound positively chilling. ****1/2

"Trophy" - a more ominous, insistent track. Conversely, the song concerns the slow ravaging effects of time and the fading of memories. ****1/2

"Hybrid" - the song itself drags a bit, rendering it my least favorite on the album, but the limp style does serve a purpose. The lyrics are rather enigmatic, but they seem to concern a psychopath's failed experiments with bodies. In its own way, the song does in fact rock, particularly in certain places and it features a lonely sax harkening back to THE SCREAM. ***1/2

"Clockface" - a cool, energetic little tune featuring great lyric-less vocals from Sioux and former Sex Pistol Steve Jones on guitar (who also plays on "Paradise Place" and "Skin"). ****1/2

"Lunar Camel" - a mellower tune with an arid atmosphere, twinkling like the desert sky at night. ****1/2

"Christine" - A cool song, magical and fun, it still retains a dark Siouxsie undercurrent. Apparently, Christine has a severely split personality and she physically transforms like a chameleon to suit each new personality she becomes. Inspired by Christine Sizemore, who actually suffered from a split personality. *****

"Desert Kisses" - a dreamy, dark and sensuous track with a quasi-Middle Eastern sound. *****

"Red Light" - This cold, mechanical cut is disturbing and freaky, a goth lover's fantasy. Another instance of Siouxsie taking a normal, everyday thing (in this case, photographing a fashion model) and somehow twisting it into an altogether different experience. *****

"Paradise Place" - is a rather nasty indictment of plastic surgery. The main character here, like the ones in "Red Light" and most of the other inhabitants of KALEIDOSCOPE, is portrayed in quite a harsh and unflattering light. The song swirls around like a snake pit. ****

"Skin" - This intense, terrifying cut concerns another deranged psycho. This particular nutcase has a penchant for draping herself in human flesh and justifying her atrocities by claiming there's just too many people around. Freak out! *****

I don't think I could pick a "best" S&B album, but this one's a strong contender.

punk / gothic

it took me about... a day to delve into the album

but about a week for all the songs to catch and transfer themselves into my head

at first i thought it was a bit boring

but i was so so wrong

01. Happy House

one of the more famous tracks from this album. mega catchy tune. the drumming really brings it out along with the high pitched synths. quite sinister but not dark. a punky, up-beat song.

not a fave on this album it's no doubt an awesome track.

8/10

02. Tenant

starts with a high pitched synth cry and a spiky synth beat. very creepy. quite a spine-tingling tune. this song actually made me jump when i was listening to it in bed. when she sings about how "the painters crash" deep background synths slide in in, spooky stuff!!

8.5/10

03. Trophy

it took me a while to get into this track but it's a typical dark siouxsie tune. when you do get into it it becomes mega catchy. her voice is sorta drugged and sleepy which works

7/10

04. Hybrid

i love the drum beat but i really can't get into this track. shame it's the longest too. it just gets sorta... boring

5.5/10

05. Clockface

i LOVE this track. it's the shortest on the album but it's so catchy even though it contains no lyics. just a clever series of "OH!" and "A-WAO-WAO!!". an up-beat, punkish charger. i love it

10/10

06. Lunar Camel

a very gloomy electro song with a gothic-arabesque sound and a trip-hop feel. no guitars here at all but it's awsome. a slower song with naive and sweet vocals. the first song i got into on this album. very melancholy

10/10

07. Christine

an amazing song about a girl with split personalities. a dark matter and a melancholy feel about it but it's quite up-beat and it has quite a charming feel to it. a siouxsie classic. "now she's in purple, now she's a turtle"

10/10

08. Desert Kisses

maybe my favourite track. another one that takes time to get into. it has a very hot feel to it, scorching, like a desert. the guitars sound very middle-eastern. i love the lyrics. i even wrote them on my college bag. the bit about cursing into the ocean. the song's an epic. siouxsie belts it out one minute and soothes it out the next. way too catchy. i could listen to this for hours

10/10

09. Red Light

a moody electronic stomper about "kodak-whores". sounds quite modern. a catch track, highlighted by the high pitched photographic sfx and the flickering of siouxsie's words where the first sound from her tongue echoes and doubles over itself. it gets really good at about 2 minutes where the beat clashes and starts echoing, tripling itself and bubbling over itself, echoing, making the song dance around your headphones

8.5/10

10. Paradise Place

this took me a long long time to get into. another arabesque-stylee one. i think it's about plastic surgery?? the bass is EXTREMELY catchy when she goes "lo-do-do-dodo".

9/10

11. Skin

okay, my favourite, tied with 'Desert Kisses'. this is some furiously twisted stuff. wouldn't seem out of place if it was in THE SCREAM. it's a very insane, high tempo, scary song. i think it's about a woman who gets so obsessed with animal fur she starts to wear human skin. dunno, someone correct me?

i like the twisted side of siouxsie. i reckon her most demented lyrics are deffo 'Carcass', this, and 'Head Cut'

10/10

whatever

it's an amazing album

get!

i reccommend, for beginners

first buy...

the scream

then this

my fave albums, tied, have got to be this, the scream, juju and peepshow.

i can't get into the much-loved tinderbox :( help!!

TAKE CARE!!

x

Shortly before the recording of "Kaleidescope," the original drummer and guitarist quit the band, leaving vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bassist Steve Severin to hunker down and soldier on, preparing demos of new material (some of which are included here as bonus tracks). Remarkably (but not surprisingly), the two managed to expand on all that the band had yet accomplished.

Powered by two strong singles ("Happy House" and "Christine"), the band displays stronger musicianship (new drummer Budgie and guitarist John McGeoch both proved more than up to the challenge) and a willingness to continue exploring new territory. Acoustic guitars abound here, yet Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) plays a very loud guitar on three songs.

An interesting as these demos are, I would have preferred some live material from this tour instead. The inclusion of the 7" version of "Isreal" is a nice touch, though.

I was buying this stuff when it came out way back when. This is definately a very listenable Banshees disc. No offense to all the other great efforts they've put forth but on most of them Siouxs voice seems to always be fighting with the guitars. Not so on this one. The tracks don't lose intensity either and Siouxsie's vocals are mixed up front. This release is also very minimal with more synths used which is exactly the reason why I like it. Not completely indicative of their sound but very good, very strange, and very haunting. Only competition are Hyena, Tinderbox, and Rapture. Oh, all the Creature's stuff is breathtaking as well.

if you want to be a siouxsie fan first buy once,then twice,and for the albums....this one has it all! from happy house to skin. all the songs are great. my favorite one though is trophy because of its lyrics,drums,guitars,etc. this album is one of my biggest musical influnces ever. my band actually did covers of most of these songs because they are a tribute for this great band. then buy juju after this.

When I first bought the album it was mainly for the song "Christine" but I listened to the rest of the album and fell in love with it. "Desert Kisses" is definitely a song to buy the album for if you love the ethereal goth sound. I love the rest of the album because it actually has meaning and Souixie and the Banshees don't try to make hatefull gothic and pity-me songs but rather they sing about important and political issues as well in a very artistic way.

and you will revel in supremely creepy characters and dark, wondrous places. This fantastic, quintessential Siouxsie album encompasses both S&B's early punk edge as well as their use of synthesisers for the first time and their expansion into even more evocative, atmospheric songwriting.

Siouxsie's voice is pretty close to peak form on this album, their 3rd. She sounds more comfortable with her voice, dispensing with some of the more eccentric stylings of her earliest recordings (this is not to say that Siouxsie has not continued to employ unusual and highly creative vocal techniques which are all her own because she certainly has - especially with the Creatures). The lyrics are, typical of Siouxsie, simply brilliant and the music - newly embellished with electronics and tinged with psychedelia - perfectly conveys their moods to create vivid atmospheres, one of the band's greatest gifts.

Album - five stars

Bonus Tracks - three stars (four star average)

My impressions:

"Happy House" - classic Siouxsie. In my head I can picture this secret society of shut-ins, tucked away in their own little world, tumbling like clowns (with evil, gothic face-paint). The haunted carnival atmosphere with its off-kilter rhythm offers the first clue that all is not truly well in this little paradise. This song helped me realize early on that even punks and others who "rebel against society" often have their own little folkways, prejudices and delusions, wary of non-conformity within their own little circles. "Happy House" is a perfect distillation of this theme. *****

"Tenant" - This one has a really creepy atmosphere that makes me want to curl up in a shell and hide. The song merely conveys a common potential downside to apartment living - nosey neighbors - but it makes the prospect of being spied on sound positively chilling. ****1/2

"Trophy" - a more ominous, insistent track. Conversely, the song concerns the slow ravaging effects of time and the fading of memories. ****1/2

"Hybrid" - the song itself drags a bit, rendering it my least favorite on the album, but the limp style does serve a purpose. The lyrics are rather enigmatic, but they seem to concern a psychopath's failed experiments with bodies. In its own way, the song does in fact rock, particularly in certain places and it features a lonely sax harkening back to THE SCREAM. ***1/2

"Clockface" - a cool, energetic little tune featuring great lyric-less vocals from Sioux and former Sex Pistol Steve Jones on guitar (who also plays on "Paradise Place" and "Skin"). ****1/2

"Lunar Camel" - a mellower tune with an arid atmosphere, twinkling like the desert sky at night. ****1/2

"Christine" - A cool song, magical and fun, it still retains a dark Siouxsie undercurrent. Apparently, Christine has a severely split personality and she physically transforms like a chameleon to suit each new personality she becomes. Inspired by Christine Sizemore, who actually suffered from a split personality. *****

"Desert Kisses" - a dreamy, dark and sensuous track with a quasi-Middle Eastern sound. *****

"Red Light" - This minimal, cold and mechanical cut is disturbing and freaky, a goth lover's fantasy. Another instance of Siouxsie taking a normal, everyday thing (in this case, photographing a fashion model) and somehow twisting it into an altogether different experience. *****

"Paradise Place" - is a rather nasty indictment of plastic surgery. The main character here, like the ones in "Red Light" and most of the other inhabitants of KALEIDOSCOPE, is portrayed in quite a harsh and unflattering light. The song swirls around like a snake pit. ****

"Skin" - This intense, terrifying cut concerns another deranged psycho. This particular nutcase has a penchant for draping herself in human flesh and justifying her atrocities by claiming there's just too many people around. Freak out! *****

I don't think I could pick a "best" S&B album, but this one's a strong contender.

Bonus Tracks:

The bonus material is mostly of interest to the more obsessive Siouxsie fans out there. These are great songs presented in formative stages. I doubt most people would bother hearing them more than once or twice. I've rated these versions according to their actual listenability.

12-16 Chappell Publishing demos

"Christine" - demoed in a tiny room on a reel-to-reel tape recorder, just Steve Severin, Siouxsie Sioux and a drum machine. Very primitive, marred by an abrupt ending, but Siouxsie's vocals are crystal clear. ***

"Eve White/Eve Black" - This instrumental sketch outlines the basic idea of the song - Christine Sizemore (who allegedly exhibited 22 different personal identities) undergoing a personality change. Here, the transformation occurs abruptly with some extemely jarring white noise. ***

"Arabia (Lunar Camel)" - This instrumental has a cool drum machine beat. the familiar melody rings out on keyboards using a standard pre-programmed sound. There's an interesting bass drone accompaniment played on an instrument I can't recognize - either bass guitar with effect or keyboards. ***1/2

"Sitting Room" - As this is the only unreleased piece of music in the bunch, hopes of hearing something interesting were high. Alas, it's only a rather unremarkable song sketch although they probably could've turned it into something worthwhile. **

"Paradise Place" - a slow, primitive and tentative take. You can hear where Sioux originally sang the words "paradise place," later omitted. Interesting, but ultimately rather tedious. **1/2

17-19 Polydor demos

"Desert Kisses" - full band demo finds the Banshees hashing out this fantastic song. The guitar sound is cool. Drummer Budgie is great as always but Sioux's vocals are terribly out of tune most of the time. **1/2

"Hybrid" - inferior to the final version and even more sluggish, this track offers no major revelations although it gave me a new found appreciation for the way it finally turned out. **1/2

"Happy House" - very interesting take on this Siouxsie classic finds Budgie trying to figure out the drum parts. He's totally all over the place and slightly out-of-sync, completely overwhelming the song but it's quite an impressive performance none-the-less. I'm no musician, but I expect this song is difficult to play due to its off-kilter syncopation. The tempo on this version slows down for a drawn out ending. Not exactly listenable, but Siouxsie fans may find themselves checking it out repeatedly. ***

"Israel" - the haunting single (released version) *****

As for the remaster - I have no problem with it, but then, I'm no audiophile. Some of the complaints I've read seem rather nit-picky and ignore the strong possibility that the band approved the final remaster and actually wanted some of the extraneous noises cleaned up.