Product Description

It is virtually impossible to imagine the last 30 years of rock music without the influence of Bauhaus. They have inspired countless bands and have mesmerized the masses with their ability to be simultaneously sparse, dark, anthemic, and glam. With their new album, entitled Go Away White, Peter Murphy Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins have created an album as exciting and relevant as their earlier work. Echoes of Bauhaus have been heard in the work of their heirs and imitators for the past few decades and 25 years after their last studio release the band have returned with yet another undiluted glimpse into their world.

Track Listing

1. Too Much 21st Century
2. Adrenalin
3. Undone
4. International Bulletproof Talent
5. Endless Summer Of the Damned
6. Saved
7. Mirror Remains
8. Black Stone Heart
9. The Dog's a Vapour
10. Zikir

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3431 in Music
• Released on: 2008-03-04
• Number of discs: 1

Review
Recorded in 18 days, some tracks in one take, Bauhaus' fifth studio album proves that even a quarter-century's hiatus can't kill a great band, especially if it was undead to begin with. There's no trickery here apart from the sinister seduction of Peter Murphy's ever-deepening Transylvanian croon and the bare, live style makes the band's heirs even more apparent. There's PJ Harvey in David J's swamp-blues bass; Nirvana in the shrieking, submerged guitar of Daniel Ash. But the quartet doesn't compose or perform like elder statesmen: ''International Bullet Proof Talent'' and ''Endless Summer of the Damned'' are as spry and visceral as its first material. If the band had released a bunch of meandering albums during the past 25 years, you might call ''Go Away White'' a return to form. Instead, it picks up right where Bauhaus left off: a wet dream for original fans and a blast of recognition for the newly eye-lined. --Billboard

Review
Don't freak, but the first thing that comes slithering out of the new Bauhaus record aren't ghoulish echoes from these goth godfather's past. Instead, on the album opener Too Much 21st Century, a ''Taxman''-like bassline shepherds a procession of T. Rex guitars and lush Love & Rockets styled backing vocals. And herein suggests some of the challenges faced when a band with such a singular voice like Bauhaus takes 25 years to write its fifth studio album. Especially considering the many career re-defining moments between the final chapter-- when in 1983 these legendary post-punks threw in the towel (the first time) and eventually formed the two less-goth and more commercially successful acts, Love & Rockets, and frontman Peter Murphy's solo work. A more recent epilogue-- a series of reunion tours-- eventually birthed this impressive and surprisingly true-to-form swan song.

Yes, sadly, this is the final (!) slab from these insanely influential art rockers, who managed to wield epic, moody masterpieces from such unlikely materials as glam, dub, punk, and funk. After more than two decades painting (primarily) pop songs with a different pallet, when they reconvene as Bauhaus they can't seem to shake the shapes and sounds they developed decades ago-- even if they're still filtered through the work of Love & Rockets and Murphy solo. Tracks like the aforementioned opener, plus rockers Adrenalin and International Bulletproof Talentsound like the glam-side of Bauhaus-- complete with Murphy's Transylvanian Bowie vocals-- but re-worked with the Rockets' detached and breezy sensibility. Then there are tunes like Saved & Zikir, and Undone that feature a pronounced Murphy influence: synth-heavy Middle-Eastern flirting drones and/or 80s-esque alterna-pop. Elsewhere, authentically retro numbers like Endless Summer of the Damned (an obvious shout out to goth nation) and Mirror Remains would've fit nicely either on The Sky's Gone Out or Burning From the Inside.

The real gems here, however, are the tunes that point to what Bauhaus could've become had they continued this comeback for another album or two. Both Black Stone Heart and The Dog's a Vapour -- the latter was actually recorded back in 1998 during their initial reunion shows and previously featured on the soundtrack for the animated film sequel Heavy Metal 2000-- wheeze with brooding atmospherics and shine with a playful sense of experimentation. Black Stone melds dark and dancey rhythms and Murphy's novel multi-personality melodramatics with hand claps, whistling, and stilted piano while Vapour creeps around in the fog slowly building into ominous guitar sirens. Bauhaus can hold their head high, mission accomplished; but with no victory-lap tour, no more studio albums, and several awesome new tunes pointing at an un-actualized future, it all feels rather anti-climatic and lacking closure. One more time: Bauhaus are dead. Undead, undead, undead. --Pitchfork

Customer Reviews

Pleasantly Surprised
Having not much time for them,Bowie,Iggy did it a lot better a long time ago plus the band's name dripped with pretension, and their first album in 25 years-why would you bother? Well,something about the album cover made me curious-and a lack of details inside made me wonder lets give it a spin. From the opening track Too much 21st Century to the end it chugged along very well. Peter Murphy's deep baritone is quite compelling and the band behind him just crackles.The production of the album makes the band contemporary but of another vintage.You can here their influences but then you can also here who they have influenced.If its a one off reunion the band has definitely gone off on a high, but if there is more to come the possibilities are endless

What a great band!
Bauhaus, in case your completely out of the loop are the pioneers of the gothic rock genre. Peter Murphy, the vocalist (who is obviously inspired by David Bowie...and certainly sounds a bit like him) croones with deep emotional and dark swoon that are shure to appeal to anybody with ears....a truly great singing voice. The rest orf the line up is all there, Daniel Ash, Kevin Haskins, David J...verry little to complain about. Great music, and I particulurly enjoy the slow stuff.

Well worth having for any true fan
A few "Bauhaus snobs" have given this new album poor reviews, and as a die hard fan of Bauhaus I was a little disappointed too during my first run listen of the first three songs. However, I have since come to love the album dearly, and throw down the gauntlet that if the nay-sayers don't appreciate this new album then I question how much they REALLY appreciated Bauhaus in the first place. Sometimes supposed "fans" don't know why they're fans. Back when Bauhaus was new they probably just knew that their friends used to also think it was cool & it helped them fit in with their chosen adolescent counterculture. However, true fans of the music and the personalities of the band will not be disappointed in this album.

My initial disappointment wasn't because the first three songs were bad, they just weren't quite like the older style Bauhaus that I got hooked on long ago. It was almost like instead of hearing Bauhaus, I was listening to Love & Rockets at their most basic & Peter Murphy just happened to be a guest singer, if that makes any sense. Again, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but the songs were not quite what I had hoped to dive right into after being deprived for so long.

So, I can understand the feelings of the negative reviewers, as probably most of us who love Bauhaus had hoped we'd be able to re-live the good ole days when the band was in their prime & it'd be just exactly like a combination of their 4 incredible studio albums from the late 70s to early 80s. Of course a lot changes in almost 3 decades, and they only had 18 days to do this one, so all things considered it is impressive that the quality of this album is as good as it is, and it is indeed Bauhaus.

And for you nostalgic fans, the good news is that despite the few songs that I would consider decent but bland, there are still plenty of elements in the album and several songs in particular that are very reminiscent of the classic style Bauhaus created "back in the day". The album has grown on me quite a bit, and I imagine even the reviewers with their ultra high standards have come to enjoy it more if they've truly given it a chance.

I believe that the album doesn't really take off until song #4, International Bullet Proof Talent. Its a catchy song and for whatever reason I dig it! Follow that up with #5 Endless Summer of the Damned, which made me feel like I was listening to A God in Alcove for the first time all over again. The Dog's a Vapour is also genius, too, with their patented low-key mystic style at first and then it breaks into a drum beat & guitar riff as lustfully pornographic as some of their classics (think In the Flat Field or Double Dare). Songs 6,7 & 8 are also good in their own right and offer more of the many splendored flavors of Bauhaus.

My biggest complaint is that they didn't write more songs & at least give us 15 or so. Song #10, Zikir, is kind of just a filler. Its pleasant to listen to, but if you're going to count that as a song then at least give us more to enjoy than just 9 1/2 songs! I guess that's all they could pull off in 18 days, which is also the other thing that is subtly missing. There's a difference in a band who has been jamming, touring, and hanging together for months & years at a time, and one who has split & had a reunion after so long. Don't get me wrong, the spirit of this album is great (like a family reunion, or hooking up with your ex- just for fun!) but they could never match the seasoning of comradery that their earlier works have when they've been separated for so long & only have 18 days to crank it out. So if that's what you were looking for, Bauhaus snobs, then my advice is to get a little proper perspective or quit being such posers.

Go Away White earns a solid 4 stars in my book & I'm delighted to see that my religious glance at the Bauhaus card when I go to the music store has finally paid off!