Customer Reviews

The Secret Bees of Ninth

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

 

 

Long a fan of Peter Murphy's solo work, and his legendary stint with Goth-innovators Bauhaus, I snapped up Ninth as soon as it was released. While sporting some great tracks, "I Spit Roses," "Seesaw Sway," "Secret Silk Society," I felt the album as a whole didn't quite gel, swinging between the "Cuts You Up" dynamic of earlier hits and rockier numbers that hearkened more to The Stooges than the Sufi-mystic-meets-Bowie of albums like "Dust". So I was thrilled to listen to "The Secret Bees of Ninth" and see more of the Murphy I loved on new tracks like "Gaslit" and "Rose Hunter". The new tracks, along with an extended "Secret Silk Society" and the latest single off "Ninth" (Seesaw Sway) create a strong reminder of why Murphy has endured as an artist. I think "The Secret Bees" should be seen as a completion of, rather than a companion to, "Ninth." Considering the fact that you can (digitally) purchase both the album and the EP on Amazon for less than ten bucks, I say get both and consider it as a whole. Recommended.

I love the four new tracks on Secret Bees! It seems like a waste to consign them to an EP release. He said he wanted Ninth to have a more energetic feel and felt these songs weren't part of that feeling, but I wish they'd made it to the proper album. They're just too good. "Gaslit" is a new classic, perhaps better than anything on Ninth. He could have left "Velocity Bird" and "Secret Silk Society" off Ninth and made room for a couple of these. But I respect his vision and really do like Ninth...I just overthink things. :)

Fantastic!! like most of the things that Peter Murphy do..
May be need more songs (only six) but they are great songs!!

This is a very welcome release.

I never thought of Ninth as a full album. Probably because I only found 7 out of 11 songs actually listenable. The others, however, were his best work ever!

And thats where this release comes in. Of the 6 songs, one is already on Ninth, and a further 2 are unlistenable. However, the remaining 3, plus the 7 on Ninth, that makes for a full, excellent, 5 out of 5 listening experience.

Most artists record more songs for an album than will actually make the final cut. Because half the songs end up not very good. In the case of Ninth it seems, all the songs made it, but across two releases. I can't say that does him any favours, because a lot of people will listen to an album and think 'wtf?' But we can be thankful we have everything now, and make our own 'perfect album' as we see fit.

My biggest gripe with Peter's recent solo work is some bad artistic decisions on the vocals. Until recently, his performances were always flawless. Different... but flawless. He has developed the annoying habit of singing entire songs two or three times, then pasting all the vocal tracks on top of each other, slightly out of time, and very out of tune, with some wild warbles thrown in. Backing vocals should be used sparingly, to emphasize important words or add atmosphere, but if its the entire track, it gets confusing on the ear, and sounds over-produced. 'Secret' and 'Secret Silk Society' suffer extraordinarily badly from this.

When he sings properly though, he has an excellent voice. And its a voice I like to hear. I can't hear how he sings if its diluted by multiple versions of the same thing. However, the song 'Good Works' suffers none of these problems. The voice is clear, solid, passionate, and haunting. The track is so good that I rated the album 4 instead of 3 on this experience alone. It might become my favourite Peter track of all time.

'Secret' isn't vocally pleasing, but its passable, and the song itself is a tremendous feat of writing. Despite the fact it could have been better, I rate it 4.

Then theres the delicious 'Rose Hunter' track. It shines as a perfect companion to the perfect 'I Spit Roses' of Ninth. It has a similar structure, with vocal humming layered underneath a chorus which cuts suddenly with the word 'lovers!' (as opposed to 'spit!) Perfect. Its sung with great passion, and builds throughout.

All in all, 4 out of 5, because it completes 'Ninth' perfectly, and now I feel complete. Peter's work has always inspired me, and I'm so relieved that my confidence in his latest album can remain unscathed.