Out of all the bands that emerged in the immediate aftermath of punk rock in the late '70s, the Cure was one of the most enduring and popular. Led through numerous incarnations by guitarist/vocalist Robert Smith (born April 21, 1959), the band became notorious for their slow, gloomy dirges and Smith's ghoulish appearance. But the public image... [+] Read More

Out of all the bands that emerged in the immediate aftermath of punk rock in the late '70s, the Cure was one of the most enduring and popular. Led through numerous incarnations by guitarist/vocalist Robert Smith (born April 21, 1959), the band became notorious for their slow, gloomy dirges and Smith's ghoulish appearance. But the public image often hid the diversity of the Cure's music. At the outset, they played jagged, edgy pop songs and they slowly evolved into a more textured outfit. As one of the bands that laid the seeds for goth rock, the group created towering layers of guitars and synthesizers, but by the time goth caught on in the mid-'80s, the Cure had moved away from the genre. By the end of the '80s, the Cure had crossed over into the mainstream not only in their native England, but also in the United States and in various parts of Europe.

Originally called the Easy Cure, the band was formed in 1976 by schoolmates Robert Smith (vocals, guitar), Michael Dempsey (bass), and Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst (drums). Initially, the group was playing dark, nervy guitar pop with pseudo-literary lyrics, as evidenced by the Albert Camus-inspired "Killing an Arab." A demo tape, featuring "Killing an Arab," arrived in the hands of Chris Parry, an A&R representative at Polydor Records; by the time he received the tape, the band's name had been truncated to the Cure. Parry was impressed with the song and arranged for its release on the independent label Small Wonder in December 1978. Early in 1979, Parry left Polydor to form his own record label, Fiction, and the Cure was one of the first bands he signed to the label. "Killing an Arab" was re-released in February of 1979, and the Cure set out on their first tour of England. The Cure's debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, was released in May 1979 to good reviews in the British music press. Later that year, the group released the non-LP singles "Boys Don't Cry" and "Jumping Someone Else's Train." That same year, the Cure embarked on a major tour with Siouxsie & the Banshees. During the tour, the Banshees' guitarist, John McKay, left the group and Robert Smith stepped in for the missing musician; for the next decade or so, Smith would frequently collaborate with members of the Banshees.

At the end of 1979, the Cure released a single, "I'm a Cult Hero," under the name the Cult Heroes. Following the release of the single, Dempsey left the band to join the Associates. Dempsey was replaced by Simon Gallup at the beginning of 1980. At the same time, the Cure added a keyboardist, Matthieu Hartley, to their lineup. The band's second album, Seventeen Seconds, was released in the spring of 1980. The addition of a keyboardist expanded the group's sound; it was now more experimental, and frequently they would immerse themselves in slow, gloomy dirges. Nevertheless, the band still wrote pop hooks, as demonstrated by the group's first U.K. hit single, "A Forest," which peaked at number 31. After the release of Seventeen Seconds, the Cure began their first world tour. Following the Australian leg of the tour, Matthieu Hartley left the band and the group chose to continue without him. In 1981, they released their third album, Faith, which peaked at number 14 in the charts and spawned the minor hit single "Primary." The Cure's fourth album, the doom-laden, introspective Pornography, was released in 1982. Pornography expanded their cult audience even further and it cracked the U.K. Top Ten. After the Pornography tour was completed, Simon Gallup quit the band and Lol Tolhurst moved from drums to keyboards. At the end of 1982, the Cure released a new single, the dance-tinged "Let's Go to Bed."

Robert Smith devoted most of the beginning of 1983 to Siouxsie & the Banshees, recording the Hyaena album with the group and appearing as the band's guitarist on the album's accompanying tour. Smith also formed a band with Banshees bassist Steve Severin called the Glove that same year. The Glove released their only album, Blue Sunshine, later in 1983. By the late summer of 1983, a new version of the Cure -- featuring Smith, Tolhurst, drummer Andy Anderson, and bassist Phil Thornalley -- was assembled and they recorded a new single, the jaunty "The Lovecats." The song was released in the fall of 1983 and became the group's biggest hit to date, peaking at number seven on the U.K. charts. The new lineup of the Cure released The Top in 1984. Despite the pop leanings the number 14 hit "The Caterpillar," The Top was a return to the bleak soundscapes of Pornography. During the world tour supporting The Top, Anderson was fired from the band. In early 1985, following the completion of the tour, Thornalley left the band. The Cure revamped their lineup after his departure, adding drummer Boris Williams, guitarist Porl Thompson, and bassist Simon Gallup. Later in 1985, the Cure released their sixth album, The Head on the Door. The album was the most concise and pop-oriented record the group had ever released, which helped send it into the U.K. Top Ten and to number 59 in the U.S., the first time the band had broken the American Hot 100. "In Between Days" and "Close to Me" -- both pulled from The Head on the Door -- became sizable U.K. hits, as well as popular underground and college radio hits in the U.S.

The Cure followed the breakthrough success of The Head on the Door in 1986 with the compilation Standing on a Beach: The Singles. Standing on a Beach reached number four in the U.K., but more importantly it established the band as a major cult act in the U.S.; the album peaked at number 48 and went gold within a year. In short, Standing on a Beach set the stage for 1987's double album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. The album was eclectic but it was a hit, spawning four hit singles in the U.K. ("Why Can't I Be You," "Catch," "Just Like Heaven," "Hot Hot Hot!!!") and the group's first American Top 40 hit, "Just Like Heaven." Following the supporting tour for Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, the Cure's activity slowed to a halt. Before the Cure began working on their new album in early 1988, the band fired Lol Tolhurst, claiming that relations between him and the rest of the band had been irrevocably damaged. Tolhurst would soon file a lawsuit, claiming that his role in the band was greater than stated in his contract and, consequently, he deserved more money.

In the meantime, the Cure replaced Tolhurst with former Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Roger O'Donnell and recorded their eighth album, Disintegration. Released in the spring of 1989, the album was more melancholy than its predecessor, but it was an immediate hit, reaching number three in the U.K. and number 14 in the U.S., and spawning a series of hit singles. "Lullaby" became the group's biggest British hit in the spring of 1989, peaking at number five. In the late summer, the band had their biggest American hit with "Lovesong," which climbed to number two. On the Disintegration tour, the Cure began playing stadiums across the U.S. and the U.K. In the fall of 1990, the Cure released Mixed Up, a collection of remixes featuring a new single, "Never Enough."

Following the Disintegration tour, Roger O'Donnell left the band and the Cure replaced him with their roadie, Perry Bamonte. In the spring of 1992, the band released Wish. Like Disintegration, Wish was an immediate hit, entering the British charts at number one and the American charts at number two, as well as launching the hit singles "High" and "Friday I'm in Love." The Cure embarked on another international tour after the release of Wish. One concert, performed in Detroit, was documented on a film called Show and on two albums, Show and Paris. The movie and the albums were released in 1993.

Porl Thompson left the band in 1993 to join Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's band. After his departure, Roger O'Donnell rejoined the band as a keyboardist, and Perry Bamonte switched from synthesizers to guitars. During most of 1993 and early 1994, the Cure was sidelined by the then-ongoing lawsuit from Lol Tolhurst. Following the settlement in the band's favor in the fall of 1994, the group was set to record a follow-up album to Wish, but drummer Boris Williams quit just as they were about to begin the record. The Cure recruited a new drummer through advertisements in the British music papers; by the spring of 1995, Jason Cooper had replaced Williams. Throughout 1995, the Cure recorded their tenth proper studio album, pausing to perform a handful of European musical festivals in the summer. The album, titled Wild Mood Swings, was finally released in the spring of 1996. A second singles collection, 1997's Galore, yielded the new "Wrong Number," and the original album Bloodflowers followed in early 2000. An all-encompassing Cure retrospective entitled Greatest Hits, which included two brand new songs, was issued in fall 2001. The band returned with another original album, self-titled, released in 2004. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

One of England's leading "goth" bands of the 1980s, the Sisters of Mercy play a slow, gloomy, ponderous hybrid of metal and psychedelia, often incorporating dance beats; the one constant in the band's career has been deep-voiced singer Andrew Eldritch. (There is some disagreement as to whether the group took its name from an order of Catholic... [+] Read More

One of England's leading "goth" bands of the 1980s, the Sisters of Mercy play a slow, gloomy, ponderous hybrid of metal and psychedelia, often incorporating dance beats; the one constant in the band's career has been deep-voiced singer Andrew Eldritch. (There is some disagreement as to whether the group took its name from an order of Catholic nuns or from the Leonard Cohen song of the same name.) Eldritch originally formed the band in 1980 with guitarist Gary Marx and recorded its first single with a drum machine dubbed Doktor Avalanche. Guitarist Ben Gunn and bassist Craig Adams were added to make live gigs feasible, and the Sisters built a reputation through several singles and EPs. Gunn left the band in 1983 and was replaced by Wayne Hussey. The Sisters of Mercy recorded their first full-length album, First and Last and Always, in 1985, but two years later, internal dissent had split them apart; Marx left to form Ghost Dance, and Adams and Hussey departed shortly thereafter. A legal dispute ensued over the rights to the name Sisters of Mercy; Adams and Hussey attempted to use the name Sisterhood, but Eldritch released an EP under the name to prevent its usage, and the two finally settled on the Mission. Eldritch chiefly utilized a corps of temporary sidemen from this point on (although former Gun Club bassist Patricia Morrison was an official member of the group for a short time) and rebounded with his two biggest-selling American LPs, Floodland and Vision Thing. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The founding fathers of American goth rock, Christian Death took a relentlessly confrontational stand against organized religion and conventional morality, with an appetite for provocation that made Marilyn Manson look like Stryper. Regardless of who was leading or performing in the group, Christian Death set themselves up to shock, both in... [+] Read More

The founding fathers of American goth rock, Christian Death took a relentlessly confrontational stand against organized religion and conventional morality, with an appetite for provocation that made Marilyn Manson look like Stryper. Regardless of who was leading or performing in the group, Christian Death set themselves up to shock, both in their cover art and their lyrics, which wallowed in blasphemy, morbidity, drug use, and sexual perversity. Their self-consciously controversial tactics set them apart from the British goth scene, having more to do with L.A. punk and heavy metal, and thus the band dubbed its sound "death rock" instead; however, their sensibility was ultimately similar enough that the "goth" designation stuck in the end. Their music also relied on slow, doomy, effects-laden guitar riffs and ambient horror-soundtrack synths, and their theatrical performances were strongly influenced by British glam rockers like David Bowie and Roxy Music, as well as industrial provocateurs Throbbing Gristle. The latter was especially true of the band's first incarnation, led by vocalist and founder Rozz Williams, who masterminded much of what many critics consider their best work. When Williams left in 1985, guitarist Valor Kand took over leadership and sent the group in a more intellectual, political, and metal-oriented direction. A subsequent dispute over ownership of the Christian Death name led to a bitter feud between the two, not to mention competing versions of the group, leading many of their fans to take sides. The unconverted tended to dismiss Christian Death no matter who was involved; critics often found their poetry florid and overwrought, their subject matter self-important, and their shock tactics ham-handed. Nevertheless, Christian Death had an enormous influence on the American goth scene, shaping the sensibility of countless goth, metal, and even industrial acts that followed. Sadly, the Kand-Williams dispute ended in tragedy in 1998, when a heroin-addicted Williams took his own life.

Rozz Williams (born Roger Alan Painter, November 6, 1963) founded Christian Death in Los Angeles in 1979, having grown up in the eastern suburb of Pomona in a Christian family. Originally, the 16-year-old Williams called his group the Upsetters, which also included guitarist Jay, bassist James McGearty, and drummer George Belanger. The band didn't really take off until it changed its name to Christian Death (reportedly inspired by a goof on designer Christian Dior's name) and added onetime Adolescents guitarist Rikk Agnew. In 1981, they made their recorded debut with several tracks on the L.A. scene compilation Hell Comes to Your House, which also featured the more tongue-in-cheek death rock compatriots .45 Grave. Hooking up with Frontier Records, Christian Death issued their debut album, the goth landmark Only Theatre of Pain, in 1982. Featuring genre touchstones like "Romeo's Distress" and "Spiritual Cramp," the record also included guest vocals from Superheroines leader Eva O. (born Eva Oritz), who would become Williams' wife and semiregular collaborator in 1987.

Having already booked a European tour, the original lineup of Christian Death splintered amid infighting and drug abuse. Williams quickly assembled a new version of the band in 1983 by merging with their scheduled opening act, another L.A. death rock band called Pompeii 99, and eventually settled on retaining the more evocative Christian Death name. Australian-born guitarist Valor Kand, keyboardist/vocalist Gitane Demone, and drummer David Glass joined with Williams to create the best-known Christian Death lineup (bassist Constance Smith was also onboard, but was soon replaced on the tour by the Sex Gang Children's Dave Roberts). While overseas, the group recorded the second Christian Death album, Catastrophe Ballet, another much-revered goth rock record that appeared on the French label L'Invitation au Suicide in 1984. Returning to the U.S., the band formed its own label, Nostradamus, and the Valor/Rozz lineup issued its second album together, Ashes, in 1985, once again to an enthusiastic reception from goth fans. A live album, The Decomposition of Violets, was culled from the supporting tour (with second guitarist Barry Galvin now in tow) and released by ROIR.

By this time, Christian Death were drawing predictable fire from religious groups in the U.S. over their lyrics, artwork, and concert performances, and were finding it easier to mount tours for their growing European fan base. In mid-1985, Rozz Williams left the band he'd founded, partly due to his increasing interest in experimental music and surrealist performance art. Valor Kand took over leadership of Christian Death, now serving as lead vocalist and songwriter. Reportedly, Kand and Williams had agreed to rename the existing band Sin and Sacrifice; however, on the ensuing tour of Italy, fans assumed they were still watching Christian Death. Defrauded and left penniless by the tour promoter, the band recorded a quick EP for the Italian label Supporti Fonografici called The Wind Kissed Pictures, which was credited to The Sin and Sacrifice of Christian Death in order for fans to know whom they were buying. The band raised enough money to return to England, which they made their permanent base; meanwhile, The Wind Kissed Pictures was issued in the English-speaking world under the Christian Death name, as once again few people comprehended the change. Williams, meanwhile, all but dropped out of sight for several years, eventually resurfacing in side ventures like Premature Ejaculation, Heltir, and Shadow Project (the latter with his wife Eva O.).

Now settled in England, Christian Death added bassist Johann Schumann and returned to the Welsh studio where they'd cut Catastrophe Ballet. Their first post-Williams effort was 1986's Atrocities, a concept album about the aftereffects of World War II on the European psyche. Their next project was Jesus Christ Proudly Presents Christian Death, a box set of concert EPs from 1986 and early 1987. The proper follow-up to Atrocities was even more conceptually ambitious; 1987's The Scriptures was Kand's musical treatise on comparative religion, and surrounded him with a revamped lineup of Demone, Glass, guitarist James Beam, and bassist Kota. The Scriptures marked the beginning of Christian Death's evolution into a mouthpiece for Kand's one-man crusade against political corruption and organized religion (the Catholic Church in particular). His liner notes explained his elaborate intellectual concepts in painstaking detail, and he increasingly used interviews as a platform to launch vitriolic attacks on his favorite targets.

Longtime drummer David Glass left the group following the release of The Scriptures, and returned to California, where he eventually worked with several of Rozz Williams' side projects. That whittled Christian Death down to a quartet for the 1988 single "Church of No Return," one of their more accessible efforts. Despite the group's more intellectual bent, they weren't above resorting to the calculated offensiveness of old; the cover of their 1988 LP Sex and Drugs and Jesus Christ depicted Jesus shooting heroin. The ensuing furor helped make the album the group's biggest seller; it also saw them evolving into a more basic, straightforward goth metal band. In 1989, with new second guitarist Nick the Bastard onboard, the group issued the concert document The Heretics Alive. Gitane Demone subsequently left the band, not to mention her longtime lover Valor Kand, citing dissatisfaction with his new direction; she relocated to Amsterdam and pursued a jazz singing career.

With Demone's departure, the always-unstable Christian Death lineup splintered completely, leaving Kand essentially a solo auteur despite continued instrumental assistance from Nick the Bastard. In 1989, Kand completed another far-reaching concept opus, All the Love All the Hate, which was released in two separate full-length LP installments that covered "love" and "hate" themes respectively. The latter featured one of the band's more notorious latter-day cuts in "I Hate You," a profane tirade by Valor and Demone's five-year-old son Sevan Kand; its artwork also utilized Nazi imagery to a somewhat ill-defined end. Nick the Bastard subsequently departed, and bereft of any backup, Kand turned his attention to archival material; 1990 saw the release of the demos/outtakes compilation Insanus, Ultio, Proditio, Misericordiaque, and 1992 brought the Valor Kand-era singles retrospective Jesus Points the Bone at You?.

Meanwhile, a penniless Rozz Williams had resurrected his own version of Christian Death during the late '80s, with his wife Eva O. contributing guitar as well as the band's signature female vocals. Billing themselves as the original Christian Death, they were rejoined by first-album guitarist Rikk Agnew for a 1989 tour of Canada. Despite the dubious legality of Williams' use of the Christian Death name, his efforts attracted the interest of the goth-oriented Cleopatra Records label. In 1992, with Valor's version of the band in recording hibernation, Williams issued The Iron Mask as Christian Death, its title a pointed reference to the Alexandre Dumas novel about a usurper who imprisons the rightful heir to the throne. He and Eva O. were joined by bassist Listo and drummer David Melford, and most of the repertoire dated from Williams' first three albums with the original band. The similarly conceived Skeleton Kiss EP appeared on its heels. An all-new studio effort, The Path of Sorrows, followed in 1993, with a new lineup behind Williams and O.: keyboardist Paris, multi-instrumentalist William Faith, and drummer Stevyn Grey. In June that year, Williams re-formed most of the early Christian Death lineup -- bringing back Rikk Agnew (once again) and George Belanger, with support from guitarist Frank Agnew and bassist Casey Chaos -- for a one-off show in Los Angeles. The result was released in 1994 by Triple X as the live album Iconologia.

Williams' reclamation of the Christian Death name sparked a fierce court battle with Valor Kand, who eventually won trademark rights and forced Williams to bill his version of the band as "Christian Death Featuring Rozz Williams." In part to keep his rival from stealing his thunder, Kand assembled a new Christian Death of his own, centered around himself and new wife Maitri on bass and vocals. He returned with 1994's Sexy Death God, which many longtime fans greeted as his best and tightest effort in quite some time. Confusingly, Williams' Christian Death also issued a new album that year, The Rage of Angels, which found its leader dabbling in spoken word at times. A steady stream of archival reissues -- live material, outtakes, remixes, etc. -- from throughout the band's history also began to appear on Cleopatra.

Adding guitarist Flick and drummer Steve Wright, Valor's Christian Death picked up their recording pace, offering the double live set Amen in 1995, and returning to the ambitious concept works of old with 1996's Nostradamus-themed Prophecies. As it turned out, Williams' version would not release another full album of original material. He pursued several other projects, including a duo album with Gitane Demone (1995's Dream Home Heartache) and a spoken word examination of his heroin addiction (1996's The Whorse's Mouth). That addiction would help claim his life on April 1, 1998, when the 34-year-old Williams hanged himself in his West Hollywood apartment. He was mourned by a still-devoted cult of fans, and even Valor Kand put aside his previous animosity to dedicate that year's Pornographic Messiah album to Williams, going so far as to draw from some of Williams' more experimental influences.

Kand's Christian Death soldiered on, issuing the two-disc singles/outtakes compilation The Bible in 1999. In 2000, they added drummer Will "Was" Sarginson (ex-Cradle of Filth and Blood Divine) and toured Europe alongside Britain's Cradle of Filth, one of the more popular black metal bands of their time. The two groups got along well enough for several Cradle members to guest on Christian Death's 2001 album Born Again Anti Christian, helping it become one of the most metallic records in their catalog. The following year, bassist Maitri issued the black metal-influenced solo album Lover of Sin (confusingly labeled on the cover as "Christian Death Presents..."). In 2003, Cradle of Filth guitarist Gian Pyres officially joined Christian Death for their European tour. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Bauhaus are the founding fathers of goth rock, creating a minimalistic, overbearingly gloomy style of post-punk rock driven by jagged guitar chords and cold, distant synthesizers. Throughout their brief career, the band explored all the variations on their bleak musical ideas, adding elements of glam rock, experimental electronic rock, funk, and... [+] Read More

Bauhaus are the founding fathers of goth rock, creating a minimalistic, overbearingly gloomy style of post-punk rock driven by jagged guitar chords and cold, distant synthesizers. Throughout their brief career, the band explored all the variations on their bleak musical ideas, adding elements of glam rock, experimental electronic rock, funk, and heavy metal. While their following has never expanded beyond a cult, they kept their cult alive well into the '90s, a full decade after they disbanded.

The group formed in 1978 in Northampton, England. Guitarist/vocalist Daniel Ash, bassist/vocalist David J (born David Jay Haskins), and drummer Kevin Haskins had played together as a trio called the Craze before forming Bauhaus with vocalist Peter Murphy. Originally, the band was called Bauhaus 1919 after the German art movement; by 1979, they had dropped the 1919 from their name.

In August of 1979, the group released their debut single, "Bela Lugosi's Dead," on the independent record label Small Wonder Records. Although it did not make the pop charts, it became the de facto goth rock anthem, staying in the U.K. independent charts for years. Three months later, the group signed with Beggars Banquet's subsidiary label, 4AD. The group's second single, "Dark Entries," was released in January 1980. Following their first European tour, Bauhaus released their third single, "Terror Couple Kill Colonel," in the summer of that year, which became a hit on the indie charts.

After touring America for the first time in September, the group released a version of T. Rex's "Telegram Sam." In October, they released their debut album, In the Flat Field, which reached number one on the independent charts and number 72 on the pop charts. The success of the album led to their first hits on the pop charts; both "Kick in the Eye" and "The Passion of Lovers" made the U.K. Top 60 in 1981. In October, they released their second album, Mask, which revealed a more ambitious musical direction; the new direction, which featured elements of metal and electronic sonic textures, made the music more accessible without abandoning the dark, foreboding core of their music. Mask was a commercial success, peaking at number 30 on the U.K. charts.

In March of 1982, Bauhaus released the EP Searching for Satori, which reached number 45 on the U.K. charts; another successful single, "Spirit," followed in the summer. That fall, the group had a number 15 hit with their version of David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust." The success of the single propelled their third album, The Sky's Gone Out, to number four on the album charts.

Murphy contracted pneumonia at the beginning of 1983, which prevented him from participating in the recording sessions for Bauhaus' fourth album, Burning From the Inside. Consequently, the record featured substantial contributions from Ash and J, who both pursued more personal and atmospheric directions. After Murphy recovered, the band toured Japan and then returned to the U.K. to promote the summer release of Burning From the Inside. The album was another hit, peaking at number 13. In July, Bauhaus split up.

After Bauhaus' breakup, Murphy formed Dali's Car with Japan's Mick Karn and then pursued a solo career. Ash continued with Tones on Tail, a project he began in 1981; Kevin Haskins also joined the band after Bauhaus' split. J made some solo records and joined the Jazz Butcher briefly. Ash, Haskins, and J formed Love and Rockets in 1985 after a proposed Bauhaus reunion fell apart because Peter Murphy wasn't interested in the project. More than a decade later, however, with the careers of both Love and Rockets and Peter Murphy at a standstill, Bauhaus re-formed for several live dates in Los Angeles, mounting a full-blown tour in 1998; the two-disc Gotham documented the reunited group's performance at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Despite having a successful solo career as a cult artist, vocalist Peter Murphy remains best known as the lead vocalist for Bauhaus, the pioneering post-punk goth rock band of the early '80s.

After disbanding Bauhaus in 1983, Murphy formed Dali's Car with former Japan member Mick Karn. Dali's Car only released one album, The Waking... [+] Read More

Despite having a successful solo career as a cult artist, vocalist Peter Murphy remains best known as the lead vocalist for Bauhaus, the pioneering post-punk goth rock band of the early '80s.

After disbanding Bauhaus in 1983, Murphy formed Dali's Car with former Japan member Mick Karn. Dali's Car only released one album, The Waking Hour, in 1984. Following its release, the duo broke up and Murphy hesitatingly began a solo career with a cover of Magazine's "The Light Pours Out of Me," which was featured on a 1985 Beggars Banquet compilation called The State of Things. In 1986, he released his first full-fledged solo album, Should the World Fail to Fall Apart, which featured a number of guest artists, including former Bauhaus member Daniel Ash. Two years later, Murphy released his second solo album, Love Hysteria. Like its predecessor, Love Hysteria received lukewarm reviews but sold well to his dedicated fan base.

With 1990's Deep, Murphy had a surprise hit -- the first single from the record, the Bowie-esque "Cuts You Up," became the American modern rock hit of the year, spending seven weeks at the top of the U.S. charts and crossing over to AOR radio and the pop charts, where it peaked at number 55. Following its success, Deep reached number 44 on the album charts. Murphy wasn't able to sustain that success with his next album, 1992's Holy Smoke, which only reached 108 on the charts, despite the number two modern rock hit "The Sweetest Drop."

In 1995, Murphy released Cascade, which was greeted with weak reviews. The album failed to chart in either America or Britain. While touring with a reunited Bauhaus in 1998, he recorded the solo EP Recall. The new millennium, however, saw a newly charged Murphy. Without a deal, he took to the road in support of the greatest-hits retrospective Wild Birds 1985-1995: The Best of the Beggars Banquet Years for two tours of the U.S. during spring and fall 2000. The latter tour, which was more acoustically based, showcased some new material and rare favorites. Still a cult mainstay with American fans, Murphy issued the live double-disc Alive Just for Love in summer 2001. This delightful set was released by Metropolis and featured Bauhaus tracks and solo hits. A year later, he hooked up with renowned world artist Mercan Dade for this sixth studio album, Dust. Unshattered followed in 2004. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Staring at the Sea: The Singles collects all of the Cure's biggest U.K. hits and best-known songs from the late '70s and early '80s. Spanning from "Killing an Arab" and "Boys Don't Cry," to "The Lovecats," "In Between Days," and "Close to Me," Staring at the Sea captures some of the finest -- and most influential -- post-punk music. At their... [+] Read More

Staring at the Sea: The Singles collects all of the Cure's biggest U.K. hits and best-known songs from the late '70s and early '80s. Spanning from "Killing an Arab" and "Boys Don't Cry," to "The Lovecats," "In Between Days," and "Close to Me," Staring at the Sea captures some of the finest -- and most influential -- post-punk music. At their best, the Cure were nervy, intellectual, catchy, and foreboding, all at once. No matter how carefully crafted the Cure's individual albums were, their finest moments occurred on singles like these, when they distilled their essence into surprisingly catchy, but decidedly left-of-center, pop singles. Staring at the Sea not only selects highlights from their uneven early albums, it collects many of the group's terrific non-LP singles. It's a definitive retrospective of the Cure and is one of the finest albums of the '80s. [The cassette version of Staring at the Sea was titled Standing on a Beach and included several B-sides.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

It's ironic that the Cure, a band whose albums have always seemed like definitive artistic statements, were at their best as a singles band. On the group's singles, Robert Smith's ideas reached their full potential, since they captured not only the group's off-kilter pop sense, but also the haunting melancholy and wacky humor that interlaced... [+] Read More

It's ironic that the Cure, a band whose albums have always seemed like definitive artistic statements, were at their best as a singles band. On the group's singles, Robert Smith's ideas reached their full potential, since they captured not only the group's off-kilter pop sense, but also the haunting melancholy and wacky humor that interlaced Smith's songs. Galore rounds up the singles from the second part of the Cure's career, beginning with "Why Can't I Be You?" from 1987's Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and ending with "Gone!" from 1996's Wild Mood Swings. Between those two are 15 more songs, nearly every one of which is a gem. The Cure were never a repetitive singles band, and there's a dizzying array of styles here, from infectious jangle pop ("Friday I'm in Love," "Mint Car") and monolithic, chilly goth rock ("Fascination Street," "Pictures of You," "Just Like Heaven") to jaunty, clever dance-club pop (the remix of "Close to Me"), eerie crawls ("Lullaby"), neo-mariachi madness ("The 13th"), and even love songs ("Catch," "Lovesong"). There are a couple of missteps along the way -- the pounding dance and pseudo-rap of "Hot Hot Hot!!!" sounds dated, as does the ill-conceived Madchester diversion "Never Enough" -- but Galore emphatically confirms the Cure's status as one of the best and most adventurous alternative bands of the '80s. And the new song, "Wrong Number," is pretty good, too. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Looked at in the cold light of day and from some years' distance, Gene Loves Jezebel would seem like the last band whose work would stand the test of time. Weird thing, though -- in all their "everything goes" exuberance, from abstract goth wailing to balls-out Sunset Strip rock, the Aston brothers, much like their labelmates in the Cult, made... [+] Read More

Looked at in the cold light of day and from some years' distance, Gene Loves Jezebel would seem like the last band whose work would stand the test of time. Weird thing, though -- in all their "everything goes" exuberance, from abstract goth wailing to balls-out Sunset Strip rock, the Aston brothers, much like their labelmates in the Cult, made everything work somehow. Not all the time, certainly, but Voodoo Dollies wisely draws on the best and biggest hits of the group, not to mention a couple of rarer items for the hardcore fanbase, to make an enjoyable career overview (certainly better than Some of the Best of Gene Loves Jezebel). Following a straight chronological order and enjoying the usual high quality of Beggars Banquet remastering, the 18-track collection is a fine treat. Besides the obvious numbers like "Desire (Come and Get It)," "The Motion of Love" (appearing here in a single mix), and "Jealous," the less well-known songs help to really flesh out the band's freaked-out, glammed-up appeal. There's the psychotic drama of "Upstairs" and "Always a Flame," the self-descriptive, perfect FM radio cut "Gorgeous," the attractive psych-shimmer of "Kiss of Life," and the underrated single "Josephina," which would have given the band a hit in earlier days, but didn't connect with the 1993 zeitgeist. The most obscure cut is an interesting one -- an alternate version of Promise's "Influenza," the entrancing and moody instrumental here given striking lyrics sung by Michael Aston and a slightly faster tempo. It would have worked excellently on the original album, and is a definite highlight here. Appreciative liner notes and a slew of photographs from throughout the band's career complete this collection, which will satisfy most casual fans' desires to a T. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide [-] Hide

To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Bauhaus reunited for a tour and released the Crackle compilation in the U.S. The band initially claimed that Crackle was an American edition of 1979-1983: Vol. 2, which was never released in the U.S., but less than half of the songs appear on both collections. Which means, of course, that Crackle shouldn't be... [+] Read More

To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Bauhaus reunited for a tour and released the Crackle compilation in the U.S. The band initially claimed that Crackle was an American edition of 1979-1983: Vol. 2, which was never released in the U.S., but less than half of the songs appear on both collections. Which means, of course, that Crackle shouldn't be viewed as a compilation for collectors -- instead, it's an excellent single-disc overview of the group's brief career, containing all of their essential songs, from "In the Flat Field" and "Bela Lugosi's Dead" to "Ziggy Stardust" and "Burning from the Inside." Hardcore fans may wish there was something special about the comp -- the only thing new is the perfectly adequate remastering -- but it's nice that there's finally a thorough single-disc retrospective of the groundbreaking goth quartet. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The need for something that finally put together the entire Tones on Tail legacy had long been clear before the release of Everything!. Earlier CD efforts were patchy at best -- the original U.K. compilation Night Music brought together many strong points but left off others, notably "Performance," "Slender Fungus," and "The Never Never (Is... [+] Read More

The need for something that finally put together the entire Tones on Tail legacy had long been clear before the release of Everything!. Earlier CD efforts were patchy at best -- the original U.K. compilation Night Music brought together many strong points but left off others, notably "Performance," "Slender Fungus," and "The Never Never (Is Forever)." In turn, the early-'90s U.S. compilation titled after the band included those but left off other key tracks. Thanks to the extensive Beggars Banquet reissue program near the end of the 1990s, coinciding with the successful Bauhaus reunion tour, all of the various tracks, rarities, and long-lost efforts were put together in a fine two-CD package. The first reproduced the original Pop album with its proper running order, which was a good move given the fine sequencing and organization of that album. The second pulls together the original singles and alternate takes; while the releases themselves are not organized chronologically on the disc, the track listing for each item is more or less preserved. The group's underground hit "Go!," being originally a B-side for the Pop track "Lions," leads off the second disc on its own. It remains a wonderful, atypical dancefloor smash, with Ash's loopy "ya-ya" chorus, Haskins' nutty percussion patterns, Campling's great fuzz bassline, and more all coming together in weird and fun ways. The various moody instrumentals and sharp, outre pop efforts from the other singles all have strong points aplenty; standouts include the sickly ballad "Burning Skies," an understated shot from Ash to Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy, and the nicely nutty "There's Only One." The final listed track is a bootleg-quality live version of "Heartbreak Hotel" that's pretty sharp in terms of performance, while a secret bonus track features a U.K. radio interview with Ash. The excellent packaging includes a brief historical essay, a full discography and gigography, and complete lyrics. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide [-] Hide