Customer Reviews

Ninth

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

PM returns with a heavy album of roaring beauty. Everything you've loved about his solo work has been updated & intensified here. It's absolutely stellar.

I have had a love/not love relationship with Murphy's solo releases over the years, (never "hate" mind you...just an occasional "not love"). His solo work ranges from brilliant to good-but-a-little-too-precious. Some longtime fans will catch my meaning; others will vehemently disagree, but we all have our unique tastes, don't we? On this disc, however, PM nails it. Every note is in place and nothing is there that shouldn't be there. The thing about Murphy is not just his great voice but his unique way of using it: Velocity Bird, the opening cut, demonstrates this beautifully. To the non-Murphy connoisseur, it can almost sound like he's "scooping" the notes, unable to land on the pitch properly. But oh no...a closer listen will show this to be no mistake: it's there on purpose and it's perfect. A lesser singer could never pull this off. And his lyrics here are pitch-perfect too: he hits the beauty and the darkness, often in the same phrase. "I spit roses" conjures up some great poetic imagery in three little words.

On a semi-related note: to anyone who is reading this and has yet to pick up the newest and final Bauhaus CD "Go Away White", you should know that it too is an amazing recording. They got it right; bringing back the old magic while not becoming parodies of their 1980s selves. Buy both. You will thank yourself.

I didn't expect something like the album Ninth from Peter Murphy. You'd think he would have packed it in by now. But the old goth rock God re-assembled the great Bauhaus and toured with the band for a time recently. They also released an album, Go Away White in 2008. The last good solo album for Murphy was Cascade in 1995. And you know, overall, that album was fairly strong. But Ninth is much, much better. And dare I say this, Ninth is in my view, better than the iconic record Deep. There's a real raw energy to these tunes and David Baron -- who co-wrote most of these songs -- does a brilliant job with production duties. The drum sound is terrific on Ninth and the collage of guitars, with strings in the mix on stellar tracks like I Spit Roses and The Prince and Old Lady Shade makes for some incredible tuneage. Velocity Bird is a seering opener. Some might argue that the amazing single I Spit Roses is the standout here. But Seesaw Sway, Never Fall Out, Memory Go and Uneven and Brittle are all real toe-tappers which Murphy sinks his teeth into. I have no idea what the Secret Silk Society is, but I'd love to be a member. It sounds quite dangerous. Crème de La Crème slows things down with prominent piano and strings. This is a great track to close Ninth. And Murphy sings this tune with considerable aplomb. I take Daniel Thorlby's point about Murphy's singing. I suppose from a strictly technical point of view Peter Murphy's voice isn't nearly as pliant as it was 20 years ago. Is it smoking, age? I don't know frankly. I can't touch my toes anymore, but hey, I get by. Let's face facts, Murphy's pipes are still pretty marvelous. His range is quite stunning and what he does in the lower register of his vocals is particularly impressive, as is his phrasing. Ninth knocks my socks off -- 4 and a half stars!

I can admit when I'm wrong. I dissed this CD in the comments of a negative review, essentially affirming the criticisms based on brief clips. I had said that Peter's voice is tired, that this music is bland, that it lacks the anthemic power of "Deep" (the favorite among Murphy fans).

Well, I couldn't resist Amazon's fantastic price and bought it anyway.

BOY, was I wrong. About everything.

Let me start over: Peters voice is not only NOT tired, it's really freaking STRONG. Listen to the refrains of "Prince and Old Lady Shade" and that raging, psychotic howl in "Uneven and Brittle." This is Peter at his prime, not at his end.
The music is exceptional--Murphy rocks on this one. Guitars cut and claw through the songs, and the whole thing is beautifully produced--there's a depth of sound here. Play this one on good speakers.

I'm still not always sure what Peter's lyrics are about (what the heck is "Shick Shack" in "I Spit Roses"? The song describes Murphy's feelings about a schism that formed during the recording of Bauhaus' "Go Away White," when he actually confronted his bandmates and, well, spit rose petals at (on?) them. The lyrics describing a mutiny and the ship he'd though had sunk are metaphors to Bauhaus' final demise). "Secret Silk Society" throws a bone to his goth fans with a gorgeous, creepy, sinister, stalking minor key melody and Murphy at his growling, dark best. Heck, I'll come right out and say it: "Ninth" is what the final Bauhaus album OUGHT to have sounded like. Normally, I favor the Love and Rockets side of things, but in this case I gotta give it to Peter--in any dispute about where the quartet's musical direction ought to have gone, "Ninth" closes the case.

'Ninth' is my introduction to Peter Murphy. I discovered this album by complete chance by stumbling upon his official website. It so happened that was the day the music video for `I Spit Roses' hit the internet, lucky me. One viewing of the video and I was hooked and immediately bought this album via Amazon Mp3. Usually it takes me a little while to really enjoy an album but `Ninth' hit me pretty hard on the first listen. I do enjoy the raw quality of the music and I feel this particular aspect is worth noting. Often raw sounding albums are either hit or miss and `Ninth' is a hit. All the songs are enjoyable, some more than others. The highlights for me on the album are `Velocity Bird', `Memory Go', `Slowdown', `The Prince & Old Lady Shade', and of course `I Spit Roses'. That's not to say there are any fillers. All the songs on `Ninth' are very solid, well comprised pieces of music. As a first time listener to Peter Murphy, I have to say `Ninth' has me interested in delving further into his catalogue. Very happy with my chance finding of this album and have already recommended it to a few friends.

I wasn't much impressed with the last two offerings of Mr.Murphy and I didn't expect much about this new release, but fortunately he returned to the old good days of Deep and Holy Smoke: a mix of hard, goth, romantic, ethereal, etc.... and still singing great. I love the overall sound of the recording too, and IMHO is one of his best recordings. High points: Seesaw Sway, Peace to Each, The Prince & Old Lady Shade, Creme de la Creme ... and all the rest too. A must have for fans. Highly recommended.

Everything you love about Peter Murphy is here....the sensual, raw, deep voice of gothic romanticism and poetry, a passing nod to Bowie, Iggy, and others, but deliciously original and the best solo LP he's put out to date. We love it!! A+

I was lucky enough to see Peter Murphy twice in the last few years. Once for his covers tour, and recently for a lead up to this release. I went to the first show with low expectations as to be honest, I didn't want to be in a room full of people who have only heard Cuts you Up and I also didn't want to a legend reduced to playing in front of a crowd like that.

Thankfully I was completely blown away. The set list was amazing including covers from David Bowie, Roxy Music, Nine Inch Nails, Bauhaus, and an outstanding selection of Peter Murphy tracks. To my surprise they didn't play Cuts you Up (note: I know it's a great song, it's just not what I wanted that night and apparently neither did Peter Murphy). Fantastic performance and an amazing reenergizing of my interest in Peter Murphy.

Fast forward a few years later, I lowered my expectations once more as I didn't want to be let down with a less inspired encore performance of the amazing covers show. Once again, I was completely blown away. The band continued to come together as a powerful unit and played a truly inspired set of new tracks, old tracks, and some of the most unexpected Bauhaus covers ever including the almost 10 minute Burning from the Inside. Wow!

So here I am again today and I see that Ninth is out. My confidence is high but I'm lowering my expectations as there's no way a new studio album is going to come close to the two amazing live shows I've seen. Once again I have been too cautious and Peter Murphy has exceeded my expectations. Fantastic album and I couldn't be happier.

It's definitely more guitary and crunchy then anything since say Final Solution but that's absolutely perfect. It's the perfect album for this moment in time for me. I am extremely happy that I was able to hear many of these songs live before the studio version as to me there's nothing better then experiencing a great song live for the first time.

Do yourself a favor and pick this album up. The price is incredible. The album is extremely well sequenced and in my opinion it truly captures the decades of music that has come pouring out of Peter Murphy with a fully energized and re-vitalized band. One of my favorite purchases of the year.

Ninth is awesome! Peter Murphy's best album since Cascade (which is still my favorite) and right up there with his classic Deep. There are so many songs on this album that have taken hold of me and I keep playing. I had almost given up on any new Murphy releases after Dust which I'm sure has many musical merits, but which was over-my-head. I could not get into any of the songs save for the "Subway (Epilogue)" only because it was my favorite song off Cascade. I'd listen to a song and have no clue how it went once it ended and I lost interest in Murphy's new material by the time Unshattered came out. Such is definitely not the case with Ninth which sports so many memorable and catchy songs. I went to a Murphy concert in March 2011, three months before the release of Ninth, and he played several numbers from the new album ("Memory Go" being one of them) and I knew right away that this marked a return to the Peter Murphy music that made me such a fan. Ninth did not disappoint.

"Velocity Bird" is an excellent beginning track as it is full of energy and rocks. "Seesaw Sway" is the second single off the album. I really like the guitar work during the verses. "Peace To Each" reminds me of "The Light Pours Out Of Me" off Should The World Fail To Fall Apart. Despite the title, this track is very hard and heavy. "I Spit Roses" was the first single off Ninth. It is a very catchy song but the first line is just grammatically strange: "The captain is sea." I like songs with nautical themes. "Never Fall Out" is a relaxing, kick back number: "If you fall in love with me, you'll never fall out" (ha, ha).

"Memory Go" never left my memory after I saw Murphy perform it live in March 2011. It is the type of song that sticks in one's head, and it rocks. My favorite song off this album is "The Prince & Old Lady Shade." It was released with "I Spit Roses" as the first single. The instrumentation is wonderful and the violin at the beginning and end gives it beauty. I saw a video where Peter Murphy, guitarist Mark Thwaite, and a violinist played the song on the street, and it was terrific. "Uneven & Brittle" is a grinding rocker. "Slowdown" reminds me of something with the beginning bass rift and the guitar during the verses, I just can't put my finger on it and it drives me nuts. "Secret Silk Society" is quiet, dark, and mysterious. "Crème de la Crème" is an older song that Murphy played on the Dust tour that finally emerges here. The piano, orchestration, and build-up in intensity at the end makes it an excellent conclusion to Ninth.

That just about says it all. All of the songs are excellent, strong, great vocals and instrumentals. It's something of a return to form for Peter Murphy after the experimental sounds of "Dust" and the watery "Unshattered."