Nocturne

Siouxsie & The Banshees | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 25, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B000000OPO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,476 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2009 digitally remastered digipak edition of this classic live Banshees album from 1986. Features sleevenotes by Paul Morley. 16 tracks. Siouxsie & The Banshees began life as a Punk outfit (with Sid Vicious on drums, no less!) before mutating into Post-Punkers on their way to becoming one of the most influential Goth Rock band on the scene. To this day, over 10 years after their disintegration, the band's fanatical fan base continues to grow. Universal. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ah, the creatures of the night: Such music they make, etc, June 16, 2004

By 

Laon (moon-lit Surry Hills) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nocturne (Audio CD)

The Banshees were a great band, and at their peak (perhaps between 1978 and 1984: _The Scream_ to _Hyaena_) they burned the brightest of them all. They had the best songs and the best singer, one of the most interesting band sounds, especially with Budgie on drums, and John McGeogh (rest in peace) or Robert Smith on guitar, and in an era where the New Puritanism of the post-punk era still required rock stars to scowl glumly for all photos, and ruled out "dressing like a rock star" or "putting on a show" on-stage, the Banshees were as theatrical as Queen or Bowie.

Sure, the Banshees were in at the birth of punk, they were the band Sid Vicious was in before he joined the Sex Pistols, but in their secret heart of hearts Siouxsie and the Banshees were always romantics, and they were all the better for it.

In spite of their excellence they were in some ways an inconsistent band. Every Banshees album except for _Join Hands_ has enough great tracks to win four to five stars from me, but it's also true that every album holds its share of filler. It's all good filler, except on _Join Hands_, but each album contains moments of ecstatic brilliance and some minutes that are well short of that. Which is why these days I more often find myself listening to the two superb singles collections, _Once Upon a Time_ and _Twice Upon a Time_, rather than any one of the albums. If you've heard a Banshees track on the radio and you want to explore further, or if you're a moderate fan who doesn't want to invest in the complete set of 12 or so albums, then I'd suggest that those two collections are your starting point.

But once you've owned and digested those two CDs, and you want more, I'd be inclined to recommend hearing the band at their live best. And that means _Nocturne_, which captures the Banshees on their 1983 tour with Robert Smith at the fretboard.

Don't waste your money on the live _Seven Year Itch_ DVD from 2003; sadly, it's an off-hand run-through of some old hits by a singer who can't sing any more and a band that's forgotten what that music was about, and doesn't seem to care. _Nocturne_ is 20 years better, with a singer with 20 times the voice leading a band with 20 times the energy.

So Nocturne starts with Stravinsky at his primitive best, the rhythms of _Rite of Spring_ merging neatly into a driving, superpowered performance of "Israel". This is followed by a gorgeous maroon-velvet version of Lennon's "Dear Prudence", another clue that the skeleton in the Banshees' closet was never a punk, nor a Goth, either. "Paradise Place" falls fractionally below the high standards established to that point, but things recover with a suitably liquid, and beautiful, version of "Melt".

Other highlights include lush versions of "Cascade" and "Painted Bird", the psychodrama of "Eve White/Eve Black", "Night Shift" and "Voodoo Dolly", and the wild horse gallops of "Happy House", "Helter Skelter" and "Spellbound", highlighting Budgie's drumming and Robert Smith's driving/droning guitar sound.

It's a great concert; most of the songs sound better than on their studio versions, and enough energy is generated to pull some of the weaker songs along. I could quibble with the selection: I'd like to have heard "Christine", and for that matter "Hong Kong Garden" as encores, or even instead of "Paradise Place" and "Switch", but you can't have everything. But if you've got the singles collections then you already have those tracks, and this concert complements those collections by featuring the Banshees in their slightly darker, more intense and less poppy aspect.

This is a great concert by a band burning bright, and you should have it.

Cheers!

Laon

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intoxicating live album, June 9, 2003

By 

P. Manning "attackdogs" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nocturne (Audio CD)

This album catches Siouxsie and the Banshees in concert in 1983 London just before "Hyaena" came out. It's amazing to think that they at one time played in such large music halls. Don't expect to get to know Siouxsie at a concert since she really never talked to the audience. They were there simply to perform. The concert starts with a recorded intro of the violent classical piece "Rite of Spring" before the band comes out to play live favorites "Israel" and "Dear Prudence". Her voice is very unflexible and harsh at times but very effective - almost hypnotic. She pretty much makes any other female singer sound too girly. You almost wonder if her throat hurts. This show was recorded during the brief time that Robert Smith was guitarist. He was probably anxious to get back to fronting the Cure since his guitar playing was very accurate but could have been anybody playing. "Cascade" is excellent in it's urgency and "Nightshift" is droning blackness. After an earshattering "Eve white/Eve black" the band ends on the building climax of their most evil song ever "Voodoo Dolly". Budgies drumming is so intricate and the rhythm becomes so angst inducing that it has no choice but to all go up in a vortex. Which it does. And then the band leaves the stage without a goodbye.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the measure of a band, November 14, 2001

By 

Scarlett (New Orleans) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nocturne (Audio CD)

I am a huge fan of live abums, because it tells me whether or not the band can really play, or if they're just manufactured by the studio. This live album is absolutely fantastic. It opens with an incredible version of "Israel", with this fabulous 2 minute beginning with drums and horns, then follows to an equally incredible version of The Beatles' "Dear Prudence." It continues on in this fashion until the end. Siouxsie picks you up with her enchanting voice, and doesn't let you down until the end.