Customer Reviews

Superstition

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After listening to 'Superstition' right after my previous Siouxsie purchases, 'Juju' 'Keleiodoscope' and 'Once Upon A Time' I must say I couldn't believe my ears. I'd just gone from screepy, scary and sometimes downright abrasive to something mellow, produced and almost poppish. 'SELLOUT!' voices in my head screamed.

However, once I got over myself (as i hope some other reviewers here will one day) I realised that 'Susperstition' when viwed objectively rather than in context of The Banshees wide catologue holds very good ground of its own right. While Stephen Hague's production gets a little over zealous at times (the layered synth work does get somewhat cluttering) and the lyrics are somewhat unfocused ('Cry' appears to be addressing two issues here, and as for 'Little Sister' and 'Silver Waterfalls, well they just don't make sense) there are many strong tracks on here that are either catchy or will eventually grow on you.

Siouxsie has always being provocative, and on several count here doesn't fail. 'Kiss Them For Me' is subjected around Jayne Mansfield's tragic crashing incident and 'The Ghost In You' reflects the Tinnamen Square massacre. And how can you forget 'Fear (Of The Unknown)' where Siouxsie asks us what it would be like to jump off a tall building? However the overall mood of the album is melancholic rather than gothic or scary as is the Banshee trademark, the songs being slices of brooding music to dance to rather than have nightmares over. Siouxsie's voice also is somewhat more subduded and she proves here she is capable of singing.

Favorite cuts are 'Kiss Them For Me' (despite being WAY overproduced) 'Drifter' 'Little Sister' 'Silver Waterfalls' and 'The Ghost In You' (with its new age synths here sounds like Siouxsie meets Enigma.)'Cry' and 'Shadowtime' while I love both these songs to bits, are perhaps a litle TOO early nineties FM pop fare. I can't say I like 'Fear(Of The Unknown)' altho its highly danceable its just SOOO monotone (the melody is almost one note throughout the whole song!!) Softly is great at first but is too long at 6 minutes, esp. since its so repititious.

Don't be fooled by other reviews that tell you this album is just fluffy pop. It is so way beyond that. Just be prepared to be shocked if you own other SATB albums. There are good songs behind the overly zealous production.

When Siouxsie Sioux gets going, her music can scare cats and little children away for miles. In the more-staid early '90's, she's a bit more melodic and dreamy, and "Superstition" reveals different shades of her musical personality. "Shadowtime" and "The Ghost In You" are hauntingly lovely, "Kiss Them For Me" really cooks, and "Silly Thing" is playfully snazzy. I didn't care for the single "Fear(of the Unknown)" or the harder-edged "Cry", but die-hards will probably like those more and the ballads less. It's a touch too slick, but still too eccentric to be labeled 'corporate pop'..and thank God for that!

I'll admit, the earlier years of this band were great, but I do like this album quite alot as well. No punk to be found here, just lush melodies, and alot of catchy goth-pop. A number of tracks do seem to be ready for the mainstream, but there's a few which are dark and spooky too. Included is possibly their biggest hit "Kiss Them For Me", "Shadowtime", and "Fear (of the unknown)". But the beauty of this album lies in the tracks "Drifter", "Little Sister", "Silver Waterfalls", and the gorgeous "The Ghost In You". All of those are excellent. I'm not sure how anyone couldn't like this album. Any "Siouxsie" fan should, or at least any fan of "Peep Show".

I'm a person that wouldn't call myself a diehard Siouxsie fan. I liked her older albums, but they mostly never had enough melodic, or harmonic, or lyrical content that really moved me.

Many of the hardcore Siouxsie fans here have noted one reason for not liking this album was the production of Stephen Hague, it was overproduced, synthy, lush, etc. That's actually one of the reasons why I like it better. I love a lot of 80s music: Depeche Mode, The Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen, OMD, Clan of Xymox, REM, so the elements of Hague's influence & 80s music which are more apparent on this album, ie, synthesizers & overproduction if that's what you want to call it, I love.

But most of all, the music's well written with lovely melodies, haunting harmonies, and wonderfully poetic lyrics. That's not to say that some older Siouxsie doesn't have these, just that this album has more of all 3. The lyrics in fact stand solidly on their own, seperate from the music. I read older Siouxsie lyrics and this is typically not the case. My favorite all-time Siouxsie song, "Ghost in You," is a great example, "You awoke in a burning paperhouse, from infinite fields Of dreamless sleep." It's deep, for lack of a better word, and thoughtful, and dare I say sensitive. "Dare I trespass to lift the veil, to touch the lips so soft and frail?"

To me this just seemed like a more mature project, not like the harder punk elements of earlier Siouxsie had died or even softened, but that they'd been expressed in a more articulate way.

The performance of Siouxsie and the band is top notch. Hague does put Siouxsie's voice more inline with the music. I like it, no I prefer it that way. It was as if Siouxsie stepped back removing her eggo from the spotlight so much and said, "no, the music and I will go hand in hand."

It's 2006, 15 years since the group released this album, and I'm still going back to it.

Yes, this album is a far cry from the earlier releases such as "Juju." It's not dark, it's dreamy. It's intention is not to scare you away or give you nightmares, but to draw you in and allow you to explore its melodies. I think that's why Banshees fans tend to either love it or hate it. If you're open to different (in this case more lighthearted) sounds, you'll probably love it, but if you exclusively like darker music, you'll probably want to pass on this.
I am in the former camp, and this is one of my favorite Banshees albums. "Goths" beware -- it's beautiful, melodic pop-rock. It still has the Banshees quirkiness, but it comes in a softer and more accessible form than before. The melodies of "Kiss Them for Me," "Shadowtime" and "The Ghost in You" in particular are exquisite and instantly memorable. The only thing that would have made this album better is the inclusion of b-sides such as "Staring Back" and "Return," which are some of the most beautiful and dreamy songs I've ever heard.
If you consider Banshees singles such as "Peek-a-boo," "Cities in Dust" and "The Killing Jar" to be among the band's best work, do not hesitate in picking up "Superstition." If not, you'll definitely want to check out the audio samples before adding this one to your cart.

Superstition is a very mature album, quite far removed from the bashed out, angular tracks on The Scream, or Juju. The Banshees have sacrificed their raw edge for a more lush, constructed sound that relies heavily on synths, as opposed to the drums, bass, guitar of albums past.

There are very high moments on this album. Kiss Them For Me, Drifter, Shadowtime, Silly Thing, Silver Waterfalls, and The Ghost In You are all finely crafted Banshees tracks. The B-sides for the singles from this album are equally as strong, if not stronger. Return from KTFM, and Sea Of Light, Spiral Twist, and I Could Be Again from the Fear and Shadowtime singles are all highly recommended (if you can find 'em!)

Having said all that, if angst is your game, and you're still teasing your hair and painting every orafice on your body black, you'd better stick to the earlier albums: Juju and A Kiss In The Dreamhouse. However, if you've passed out of all that, but can still appreciate strong songs with some gravity, and lyrics a step above what's currently floating around, you won't be disappointed.

It certainly should be said here that of all the albums in their catalog, this is Siouxsie and Budgie's least favorite. They blame producer Stephen Hague for the over production and over dependence on synthesizers ('bubbleboy' they've called him), and they've said that all of this killed the spirit of the album.

Personally, I think this album has been given a bad rap. It came out at a bad time (right before Nirvana changed the face of pop), but it must be noted that Superstition gave the Banshees their biggest successes in America with KTFM, and Fear, and earned them a spot on the now legendery first Lollapalooza line up. Not bad for a band that only sought to piss off the audience for 20 minutes at a punk festival way back in 1976.

To say that songs like "Shadowtime" lack good songwriting is just flat out BS.

Die-hard fan or not, this is an album worth purchasing.

This album is awesome. Any of those whiny neo-gothic types out there who say otherwise are nuts. It's refreshing to see that the post-punk Siouxsie sound just got better and better over time. Shadowtime, Kiss them For Me, Silly Thing, Ghost in You, these are all incredibly detailed and rich songs. Why does Goth Rock have to be thrashy and disjointed? It doesn't! Buy this album whether you're a Sioux-fan or not.

Siouxsie goes pop on this album, and at first, I thought it stunk, with the exception of "Kiss them for me," but the more I listened to it, the better it sounded. Not one of the all-time greatest albums or anything, but a nice, more accessible approach to Siouxsie and the Banshees. If Paula Abdul or some other Top-40 siren released this album, it would have been hailed as a masterwork of contemporary music. Because S and the Bs are capable of better, we make the mistake of thinking that this isn't good enough.

I bought it for the hit "Kiss Them for Me," and it turns out that no other songs really hold me. A great band, from their punk roots to the later more refined and experimental stuff. I think they reached a zenith with their "Peepshow" album. Also Siouxsie's (2007) solo "Mantaray" album is great.