Mask

Bauhaus

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 27, 1995)
• Original Release Date: October 1981
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B00000DP97
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #86,382 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "we're dancing to the dark side of this tune...", June 30, 2002

By	skippy (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mask (Audio CD)

The 1981 effort of Bauhaus is truely amazing. It is the most "mainstream" Bauhaus record to date, but that doesnt mean in the least that it doesnt have its dark moments. (of course! It's Bauhaus!)

On this version of the LP you will find the 10 tracks that make up the original album "Mask". These are the first 10 tracks. These songs are all brilliant, but standouts (in my opinion) are Hair of the Dog, the Passion Of Lovers, the Man With the X-ray Eyes, the chilling Hollow Hills and title track Mask.

There are 5 bonus tracks on this CD, however, these tracks are nothing compared to the first 10. These tracks come from various singles and EPs released around the same time (ish) as Mask.
Track 14 is comical, and fun to listen to, and track 15 is alright, but i prefer to have the CD set so it only plays the first 10 and then repeats back to track 1.

If you have just downloaded Bela Lugosi Is Dead and have decided it's time to buy your first Bauhaus CD, make Mask it. Buying the actual albums is a much better alternaltive than buying Crackle (the greatest hits CD) or the single collections. Collections like that may be of interest to you, but they do not provide the whallop that a full length Bauhaus CD will give you.

And if you are prepared to buy a couple of albums, put "Pornography" by The Cure and "The Downward Spiral" by Nine Inch Nails into your shopping cart right now too.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Passion of Bauhaus, October 29, 2000

By	Pop Tarantula - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mask (Audio CD)

"Mask" is probably the quintessential Bauhaus studio (non-compilation) album, though "Burning From the Inside" is pure genius as well. "Mask" features many of their best known songs, including "The Passion of Lovers," "Kick In The Eye," "In Fear of Fear," and "Hollow Hills." Equally enjoyable are some of the lesser known tracks, such as the spoken word "Of Lillies and Remains" and the Cure-like "Man With The X-Ray Eyes." What raises "Mask" -- as well as the entire Bauhaus oeuvre -- so far above current Goth-type music is the variety. Whereas most post-Sisters of Mercy groups tend to be sonically monolithic, Bauhaus, inspired by Bowie, knows the value of shifting moods. There's darkness and gloom, for sure, but there's also dance grooves, dubby reggae, and yes, even some humor. Nowhere is the range of Bauhaus better demonstrated than on the bonus track "1. David Jay 2. Peter Murphy 3. Kevin Haskins 4. Daniel Ash", on which each member takes a lead turn. "Mask" isn't really the place to start -- get the sterling compilation "Crackle" as your first purchase -- but get this one next.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Accessible is a relative term...thank goodness, August 28, 2003

By	Julie McCord "estara" (Anaheim, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mask (Audio CD)

A lot of reviews refer to Mask as Bauhaus's most "accessible" or "mainstream" album. And if you're looking at Bauhaus for the first time, hoping to buy an album that will give you better old-school Goth creds, maybe that will turn you off. But you have to keep in mind that this is, in fact, Bauhaus we're talking about. Mask is their most accessible and mainstream album in kind of the same way that I might say that Duran Duran's original album is their most Goth. It's kinda true in its way...but not really.

Try to imagine for just a fraction of a second a world in which you would hear the actual song "Mask" on the radio, and you'll see what I mean. Not gonna happen. It's much too full of eldritch noises and dark intellectual musing to get any airplay.

"Mask" is a personal favorite of mine; but if you're looking for the names that get bandied around more, check out "Passion of Lovers" and that pleasantly hostile paean to spiritual growth, "Kick in the Eye." Important to song cross-referencing, a favored pastime for Bauhaus and for Peter Murphy solo, is "The Man with X-Ray Eyes," which is the lyrical basis for the later "Departure."