Love Is Colder Than Death

Poesie Noire (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• ASIN: B0009SA9TA
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,782,191 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Track Listing !, November 8, 2011

By 

John B. Taylor (Alexander City, AL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Is Colder Than Death (Audio CD)

1. Vow of Silence
2. Deja Vu
3. Aura of Sadness
4. Taste of Candy
5. Oblivion
6. Spiral
7. No Beach
8. Icicle
9. Ocean of Tears
10. Love Is Colder Than Death
11. Gare du Nord
12. The Lake
13. Final Station
14. Les Excuses

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best of all time!, November 12, 2006

By 

Frankland S. Strickland (Memphis, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love Is Colder Than Death (Audio CD)

I suppose the fate of Poesie Noire is what we could define as a clear case of cosmic irony. Here we have a band who released one the very best albums in the history of alternative music and they've remained almost completely unknown. There have been a few faithful fans all across the globe, however, who have kept the proverbial candle burning for this Belgian band ever since they sizzled out in the early 1990s.

Led by Jo Casters (who was sometimes known as simply "Jo" or "Johan"), Poesie Noire emerged in the mid-80s and built a small, but loyal fanbase in Europe. It wasn't until the release of 1989's "Love is Colder Than Death" that I discovered them, and by then it was almost "lights out" for the group. It was only thanks to a local D.J. in Birmingham, Alabama, the esoteric Coyote J. Calhoun, that I got turned on to Poesie Noire in the first place.

Trying to classify the sound of this particular album is a bit of a task in that, by its very nature, it defies description. Sure, I can draw vague comparisons to The Cure (as many have), but this is no "copy cat" band (like some have said The Essence were). Interestingly though, the lead single from this album, "Oblivion," contained three cover songs and one was---you guessed it---a Cure cover. F.Y.I. the "Oblivion" E.P. contained a cover of The Cure's "A Night Like This," The The's "Uncertain Smile," and The Sisters of Mercy's "Marian." Okay, so maybe we could say Poesie Noire sounds a bit like all three of these. I certainly am a follower of all of them! Perhaps this was the band's testament to thier influences--who knows.

Arguably, "Love is Colder than Death" is the best album ever released by the band. The most well-known track, as mentioned above, is "Oblivion." "Deja Vu," similar in tone to the latter, is also a fan favorite. "The Aura of Sadness" lives up to its title completely. Here, Jo sings in a sullen "whisper" and, as you might expect, the song has a depressed quality to it. The song, by the way, laments the death of a young man as he lays dying (I always assumed it was from AIDS). Some of the other tracks are quite a bit brighter, and I feel are just a tad bit on the "pop" side for my taste (e.g. "Taste of Candy"). "The Lake," however, may have a "pop" quality to it, but it is one of my very favorites. Perhaps I'm still taken by Jo's philosophic words of wisdom: "So let's change skin and face the truth/ Let's go back to mother's womb/ Let's rehearse it one more time/ The state of being Man." While waxing philosophic, the album closes with "Les Excuses." Here, Jo growls in his native French "Les excuses sont faite pour s'en servir!"

It will set you back quite a lot (unless you miraculously happen across one somewhere), but the purchase of "Love is Colder than Death" is money well spent. In this respective time period, I am a fan of The Cure, Bauhaus, The Sisters of Mercy, etc. I easily rank this album up there with the best from any of these bands.