Customer Reviews

Legacy

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There are so many variations of electropop or synthpop, whichever you prefer to call it...
The combination of dark lyrics and synth pop that defines the darkwave movement is too precious for some. To them, the lyrics and dramatic delivery are borderline silly, and nobody with black lipstick can convince them otherwise. It's a shame they might ignore this wonderful collection of the great Psyche, lovingly put together by the goth-friendly label Metropolis. Singer/songwriter Darrin Huss is the main drive behind Psyche's 20-year career, a career he calls his "imaginary life" in the charming liner notes. With the help of Metropolis he's compiled the band's grandest moments on Legacy, stuffing the disc with 78 minutes of atmospheric melancholy and pacing the set wonderfully. Plenty of songs play up the death and dark to the point no one new is going to be won over, but the band's three top songs are worthy of consideration by all those not threatened by sunlight. "Exhale" has a better construct than Psyche's cottage industry should allow. It's thrilling, twists and turns musically, and should be added to Annie Lennox's dramatic songbook any day now. "Angel Lies Sleeping" is the superb dance number that put the band on the map back in late '80s, but it's the cover of the obscure "Goodbye Horses" that steals the show. Huss and Per Anders Kurenbach -- the other member till he handed his synth duties over to Remi Szyszka in 2001 -- nail the tune, a tune that's most known for Buffalo Bill dancing to it in The Silence of the Lambs. Neglected for too long because they were lumped in with all the lessers, Legacy gives Psyche the props they deserve. It's an easy and portable way to introduce the skeptical to darkwave's greatest treasure and a monolithically important release for the faithful. Obviously this is a band who knows how to challenge the expectations of listeners to this genre. There may be some compromises made here for the dancefloor, such as "Sanctuary" and "The Beyond", but there is passion in the vocals, and intricacies to the lyrics that can only come from an artist of this definite maturity.
~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide (additional edits by Ghostwriter.)

Working their way out of the Canadian electro underground to become of the premiere synthpop acts, Darrin Huss and his band Psyche have survived thanks to their mix of good production, well-orchestrated electronics, and passionate melodies. Legacy marks the band's 20th anniversary, finally making available to the American audience some of their best moments from the '90s, during which their back catalog was only available in Europe. "Beyond" is the perfect opener, a pulse-pounding dance track that could remind many of VNV Nation if not for Darrin's distinctly emotive vocals, indicating the scope of the band's influence over the years. "Sanctuary" is also a notable track with an infectious chorus and a great beat, sounding like it could've been recorded in the '80s just as easily as it could be a modern futurepop track, and they even add some jazzy piano in "Exhale," while "Love is a Winter" could remind some of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata." Huss gives a wonderful vocal performance on "Heaven in Pain (Revisited)," which has a slow melancholy reminiscent of Depeche Mode, and Psyche's cover of Q. Lazzarus' "Goodbye Horses" (rememeber Silence of the Lambs... or perhaps more recently, Clerks II) is remarkably faithful and fits in perfectly on the album. With so many great songs from the band's past, and now being signed to Metropolis Records, this isn't just a "hits" collection, but also the perfect introduction to American audiences to Psyche's musical magic. They've always possessed a sound that was deceptively complex, hiding beneath the simplicity of clever pop hooks. Check out Psyche's Legacy... you won't be disappointed!

This version of "GOODBYE HORSES" is NOT the stabbingly tragic and pathos-heavy one from Silence of the Lambs nor from Clerks 2: it's a sterile, keyboard-dominated version that proves how crucial production choices and nuance are to making a song great versus bland. Why Psyche so badly gutted such a sublime song is incomprehensible. The Clerks 2 soundtrack is apparently one of the few places to get the better, more mournful version; also, there are some superb live versions of the song on YOU TUBE, with Psyche performing it in clubs. The meaning(s) of the song Psyche explains on their web-site, and their intent matches the power of what most even half-living people feel it to be.