Customer Reviews

Love Hysteria

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I came across a cassette compilation I made yonks ago and was so excited to find songs from Peter Murphy's Love Hysteria. Boy it takes me back. When MTV actually played cutting edge, watchable stuff. The video for "All Night Long" arrested me, black and white, those heavy-lidded eyes and full-mouth.
I worship this song and it might have been the reason I bought the album so long ago. But my favorite now is "Socrates: the Python." What great lyrics: "Socrates, Pythagoras, yin and bloody yang, hatha yoga, Om, Bennett, Gurdjeff, Jesus, Old Testament and New. Libraries full of keys." Then that great Indian/Middle Eastern music, very sinuous like a coiling snake, and that very quiet French man in the background talking about about a beauty in the mirror, his horse and his gloves ... (is this "La Belle est La Bete?" Hmmmm.)
It's interesting that after all these years, I've actually studied about all of these systems of philosophical thought.
Peter Murphy has such a unique voice, deep and hypnotic. Bordering on creepy. Like a voice from beyond.
Buy this CD for "All Night Long," a brilliant song with an almost Japanese opener then building to something that's dancable; and the very friendly "Indigo Eyes." But then listen to "Socrates" and let that wrap around you.
Murphy is genius.

A great CD for chilling. Definitely my favorite Peter Murphy release.

His voice is one that grabs you and doesn't let go. "Socrates the Python" while far from the poppier songs is magnificent. Very brooding.

Of course, the familiar "Indigo Eyes" and "All Night Long" are just absolutely fabulous. It's rare for a CD to have three all out homerun songs.

I really enjoy the gentle "Dragnet Drag". "I've Got a Minature Secret Camera" is another very cool tune.

I still remember when Peter Murphy brought his birthday boy Dad up on stage during the "Love Hysteria" tour. Really a class act, just like this CD.

"Love Hysteria" is a great album defining the solo career of the ex-Bauhaus frontman. "All Night Long" is pure rapture, mystical and darkly romantic - the best song on the album and one of my faves of the decade. "Blind Sublime" is probably the most like a true pop song with a good beat and catchy hook. "My Last 2 Weeks" is an outright ballad showcasing his deep vocal mastery. "Indigo Eyes" is the perfect love song falling not far from the same tree as "All Night Long" but slightly more uplifting; let's say it this way... "Indigo Eyes" is a perfect love song when you're with someone and "All Night Long" is the perfect love song when you're alone. The remaining tracks are consistently good and carry the vibe, though they are less accessible in a pop sense.

Generally speaking, Love Hysteria is a great album with some tracks clearly being better than others. Is it his best? Arguably yes. While "Deep" is probably more consistent throughout, LH just seems more like the real Peter Murphy with no out-of-place moments. Why split hairs? Buy both and be happy that you did.

This is my favorite Peter Murphy solo cd. It is not the punk/goth of Bauhaus, but more metaphysical. Vivid and poetic imagery are at at their height in this album, echoed only slightly less so by his following album "Deep". When I first listened to it some sixteen years ago, I wasn't impressed the first time round. Several months later, I popped in the then cassette (now worn out and replaced with the cd)and gave it an honest listen. I was hooked for months thereafter and it has become one of the staples in my music collection, one of the cd's that for me is "home".

OK, so this was the album where I finally connected with Peter. I was introduced to Bauhaus and ToT in junior high and loved them, but just did not connect with his first solo effort. But there was just something about this album when it came out -- so much, in fact, that I have since collected just about every PM record, cd, and artifact I could find. From Indigo eyes to All Night Long to Socrates the Python to Blind Sublime, the album is rich and complex and beautiful, and by far his best work.

This cd is a great work of its time. Its momentum grabs one by the hand swings one over into the realm of beauty and grace. Indigo Eyes has to be one of the best songs ever written. Dragnets Drag has enough power to life ones spirit close to Heaven before letting one fall back to Earth after it is over. Only the extra songs let this cd down, even though it is a 5 star rating. Why did they have to put them on? It lowers the overall effect of the cd.

"Love hysteria" is simply a wonderful album. Not song; it's poetry with music and I can't get enough. This album is moving, and thought provoking, and more expressive than most art peices could hope to be. It's "elitist" and dangerous, and descriptive of higher thoughts and feelings; even the destructive ones.
Buy this. Even if you descide you hate it, you're a more enlightened person for having listened to it.

The music is good and Peter's vocal is awesome. One of his best albums.

Love Hysteria was my first full-length Peter Murphy solo album. This was the first of Murphy's albums to feature Paul Statham as his main songwriting collaborator. Murphy also showed on L.H. that he could write just fine on his own with such timeless tracks as 'My Last Two Weeks'. This album runs the gamut from really rocking tunes like 'His Circle and Hers Meet' to spiritually indulgant rants such as 'Socrates Python'. This is also the first album just to feature Murphy's touring band which makes the album a bit more uniform than his first. Definately a must-have in my opinion.

After muddling through his debut "Should the World Fail to Fall Apart" Peter Murphy finds his missing muse and puts it to work. "Love Hysteria" has the crisp sonic snap that "Should..." was missing. Granted, there's no bottom to the music, but it grants it an other-worldly sounding brittleness and tension. The setting is perfect for classic Murphy tunes that abound here. "All Night Long", "Dragnet Drag", "Indigo Eyes", "Time Has Got Nothing To Do With It" and "Blind Sublime" all crackle with electricity and are standout tracks. Murphy even turns in a good Iggy Pop turn with "Funtime", virtually making it his own. Having seen Murphy live on this tour I can say the live versions were even better. He reprised them on the "Holy Smoke" tour.

The biggest complaint is the aforementioned lack of a bottom which gives it too much of an '80s feel and sound. Multitracking the vocals would have been a good idea too, but this was a good starting point and Murphy learned his lessons as evidenced on later recordings. Turn the bass up and enjoy!