Reviews (20)

Another Midnight Syndicate disc that is a must have
"Gates of Delirium" is the CD that set the stage for the band's CD "The 13th Hour."Even though I was introduced to "The 13th Hour" first, I really enjoy this CD & it really allows you to picture the haunted asylum.Great music mixed with the minimal sounds of crazed laughter and ghostly effects, it can quickly create goose bumps all over your body.I realized after listening to it over and over again, that this is the music being used at two haunted houses in my area last fall.
Footsteps, knocks & giggles
If you want to listen to something really unsettling, try Brian Eno's "On Land".It's the creepiest thing I've ever heard - and it doesn't rely on footsteps, knocks and giggles like "Gates of Delirium" does.Sure, the music here (when it's not overblown) has its moments, but it's really just a cross between a horror movie soundtrack and a Hallowe'en special effects CD.The track "Haverghast Asylum" reminds me of an outtake from Alice Cooper's "Welcome to My Nightmare". That might have been the intention, of course, but it adds up to a CONSCIOUSLY spooky listen, not a SUBCONSCIOUSLY eerie listen like the aforementioned album by Eno.
"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."
Are you looking for that halloween music that can give you a fright?
Read more

Subjects:  1. Electronic    2. Goth Rock    3. The masters of gothic/horror soundscape, Midnight Syndicate blends haunting classical orchestration and sounds effects to create the soundtrack for your darkest nightmare.   

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (6)

Ripping review
I'm going to handle this the same was as Kiss Me and not say anything about the CD itself, what for?We all know it by heart anyway.The bonus stuff?Interesting, but hardly essential.
Its Midnight And The Crows Are Beckoning: The Cure Resurrect A Goth-Pop Classic
CD Review: The Cure - The Head On The Door: Remastered And Expanded Edition
A dramatic shift.
A distinct change of direction, "The Head on the Door" finds the Cure drifting towards pop music for the first time.This is really enabled by the band-- with the return of bassist Simon Gallup to the fold, leader/vocalist/guitarist Robert Smith had the anchor that the band needed.Gallup could play the morbid, goth sort of basslines that the band cut their teeth on, but he could also manage a bright funk and pop sound.Ditto for drummer Boris Williams, who provided a fine foil for Gallup in the rhythm section.But just as key was the presence of guitarist Porl Thompson, who allowed Smith to construct shimmering guitar textures.The group is rounded out by founding member Lol Tolhurst, contributing on keyboards (although in the liner notes, his contribution is played down quite a bit).
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. College Rock    3. Goth Rock    4. New Wave    5. Pop    6. Post-Punk    7. Rock    8. Rock/Pop   

Reviews (7)

Loves It
A VAST fan since 1999, the newest cd is always my favorite and I think there's no way to top it...then the next one is even better. These songs were MP3's but the sound quality is still good. Ecstasy and Be With Me sound awesome in my car with the bass crank'd. I like the Turquoise disc best.

This is a great release for true Vast fans
A lot of people are recommending you skip NUDE and just buy this album.But those people must be deaf, because this album is completely different.Sure, there are songs on TURQUOISE & CRIMSON that were already released on NUDE, but people don't realize that these songs are the original MP3s.They sound a lot different than the tracks released on NUDE.Also, all of the songs that were not released on NUDE are fantastic.I was afraid that buying this album would be a mistake, but I was very pleased after just one spin.The previously released songs are different than on NUDE and there are plenty of new tracks that make it worth the buy.

Refreshing and just as powerful
I've always loved VAST since I discovered the music 9 years ago. Jon Crosby's self titled album was my favorite. When "Music For People" came out I was a little disappointed because it wasn't as emotionally charged, lyrically beautiful, and musically creative as the first. Then I picked up "Turquoise and Crimson" and it revived my faith in this band's talent. Songs like "Dead Angels" and especially, "Where It Never Rains", leaves you with a deep and soulful feeling. I don't find it to be VAST's best but it's definitely worth listening to and has a different, but just as impacting, sound as the first. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Metal    2. Goth Rock    3. Pop    4. Post-Grunge    5. Rock    6. Rock/Pop   

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (9)

Crazy, over the top, and brilliant
Robert Smith sounds likes he's losing his mind throughout this entire cd.
This Is A Psychedelic/Goth Masterpiece! -- A Note About The New Remaster . . .
Complaints that Rhino "screwed up the pressing" are flat out wrong. I queried Rhino directly about this release and "Dr. Rhino" subsequently informed me that Robert Smith himself took the opportunity to make some adjustments to certain aspects of the album he was unhappy with. The opening drum roll on "Shake Dog Shake" has been edited to meet Robert's original intentions and he also intentionally sped up "Bananafishbones" by a semi-tone.
Brilliantly Remastred Version of an Already-Amazing Album
I've read other customers' comments about "Shake Dog Shake's" drum roll being edited.I've been listening to this album for sixteen years now and have NO idea what they're talking about.It sounds perfect!
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. College Rock    3. Goth Rock    4. Pop    5. Post-Punk    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

Released in 1987, at the height of the compact-disc revolution, Read more

Reviews (86)

I wanna hold you like a doll...
I followed the infectious scent of Just Like Heaven (the greatest pop song ever written) to this album, and found myself listening to one of the greatest records I've ever heard. A few of my favorite songs on this record are as follows:
In response to SRS
"Breathe" and "A Chain Of Flowers" are available on the Join The Dots boxset.
Problematic
Firstly, the CD is still missing Hey You, even though modern CD players can play 80 minute discs. Further, it's missing the songs Breathe and A Chain of Flowers, which are B-sides that should have been included since they're better than songs that made the cut like Torture, Fight, and The Perfect Girl.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. College Rock    3. Goth Rock    4. Pop    5. Post-Punk    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

Dir en Grey are very much like their Japanese horror movie counterparts for English speaking audiences. They may not be the goriest, but there is something creepy and sinister in the underlying disjointed quality of everything involved. Take this statement from their website:"Formed in 1997, with the sole purpose to spread the feeling of hurt and sorrow caused by weakness, shallowness and egoism of humanity." Are they combating these characteristics of humanity, or furthering them because they are in the middle of it? Read more

Reviews (11)

The Greatest Band This World Will Ever Hear
For years now, I have always been into the metal and hardcore scene. After a while, however, all the music started sounding similar to me, it started blending all together to the point where I was having trouble differentiating the bands. Then someone showed me the song Obscure (from the album Vulgar) and I fell in love.
Not a bad CD
Not one of my favorite CDs but it has a few songs that stand out and keep in my play list. I would buy another CD from this group.

Westernized... but still Diru
The first song I heard off this album was Dead Tree, and it raised hopes that had been not-so-high for a long time. I understand "Vulgar" was a hard, dark album underscored by the ripping sound of thousands of fans breaking away from the band, but I was not one of them. I still believe that is a very strong album.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Goth Metal    2. Goth Rock    3. Japanese Rock    4. Pop    5. Rock    6. Rock/Pop   

Reviews (21)

They should be huge.
As a music collector, i'm always pissed off when I hear some one who doesn't really listen to much music or look for new stuff complain "that they don't make good music anymore" or that "there's nothing interesting", or something along those lines.If your musical exposure is along the lines of whatever the radio or MTV,etc play i'm sure your view of music is that it is incredblely boring. However acts like the Birthday Massacre are direct evidence against the idea that music is going stale.I must admit I often do wonder myself why we can't have more interesting, young, creative, and very driven acts like this out today.
Something Different
I really like artists that aren't worried about which category their CD will be placed under at the record store.My only disappointment is that there isn't more music like this.It is difficult to describe but the best I can do is female vocals, a bit of retro 80's synths, crossed with some industrial.

Love at first listen.
First of all, a little history of how I discovered this group.My main musical background for the past couple of years has been mostly made up of hardcore/metalcore, bands such as As I Lay Dying, Hopesfall, The Bled, Norma Jean, etc and the whole warped tour scene, such as From Autumn To Ashes, My Chemical Romance and the likes.Anyone who listens to this genre knows that it has become completely saturated.I have discovered some fairly new bands that have impressed me however, such as Bleed The Sky, and Versus The Mirror, but for the most part, my favorites are the ones of old who seem to have left their legacy behind (such as Poison The Well).So, being one who always likes to discover new and great music, I began to try and think of other musical genres that I might like.One day, while I was listening to an old favorite of mine, Type O Negative's October Rust, I decided that I would like to look into more music that was similar to it, since no other cd I owned was comparable.Of course, I came on Amazon and began using the listmanias and so you'd like to.. lists which I find really handy in situations like this.Suddenly a whole new world of music was opened to me.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Goth Rock    3. Pop    4. Rock    5. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

Another brilliant set of obsessive musings pried from Robert Smith's fuzzy navel. Epic elegies ("From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea") and tuneful romps ("Friday I'm In Love") are classic Cure cuts--Read more

Reviews (76)

The logical successor to "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me".
The album that thundered the Cure into the collective consciousness courtesy of pop charting single "Friday I'm in Love", "Wish" puts aside the brooding soundscapes of "Disintegration" to make a more logical successor to the diversity of "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me".
Don't believe the naysayers
While this album is derided by many "real" Cure fans as being too "commercial", the truth is this album still mixes in plenty of moody sulkers amidst the flashier radio-friendly fare.
Solid Album
Alright, I've heard alot of people say that they don't like this album, purely because of the song 'Friday I'm In Love'. Well, this is quite possibly one of my most favorite albums ever recorded. The song 'Cut' is a great song. The quiet tone of the album makes it a great album to fall asleep to. In my opinion, a must for any Cure fan. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. College Rock    3. Goth Rock    4. Pop    5. Post-Punk    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop   

Reviews (36)

Classic Cure.

Extended more than remixed in most cases
How much you like this album probably depends on WHICH type of Cure fan you are: type A or type B.
Out lasting
After 15 years, I still look for this TAPE to hear it in my car. It is just outlasting all the rest of my tapes from 15 years ago. Through out the years I have thrown away multiple tapes, especially now that I use CD's. However, I could never force myself to thrown this tape away. That is why I am now going to purchase the CD. It excellent. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. College Rock    3. Goth Rock    4. New Wave    5. Pop    6. Post-Punk    7. Rock    8. Rock/Pop   

Reviews (209)

Vast is still amazing
Especially now in 2006 I find this album even more amazing. Pick this album up if you like good music. Jon Crosby is an amazing singer and song writer. The music just moves you. It's truly great.

Awesome CD
This has to be his best work.It is unlike any music you'll hear.The only problem I have with VAST's music is that you don't hear it in the clubs or radio enough.

Brooding Darkness Meets Rococo Enlightenment
I first heard Vast when "Free" was on mainstream radio...probably circa 1999 or so.I figured the band to be a one-hit wonder and was pleasantly surprised to find two tracks -"Touch" and "Candle" -featured in Riding Giants, a surf documentary.I have since become a full fledged Vast fanatic and have bought both Naked as well as Visual Audio Sensory Theater CDs.Other reviewers have compared Vast to NIN but that merely demonstrates the utter cluelessness of the reviewer.Reznor couldn't ever hope to possess even one-tenth of the musical talents of Crosby in this life or any other for that matter. Vast is a hybrid between the vocals and dark poetry of Jim Morrison combined with the dark synth soul of Echo and the Bunnymen.This CD is the best music I have heard in a long time.The only other album I liked this much was Echo's "Heaven Up Here."Other fans of this genre might also enjoy hearing the music featured on the soundtracks to Step into Liquid and Riding Giants surf documentaries.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Metal    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. Pop    4. Post-Grunge    5. Rock    6. Rock/Pop   

Features

• Original recording reissued
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (51)

After almost 2 decades still one of the best
The Cult is the best under appreciated band in history.They date back to 1982 where they were known as The Southern Death Cult.Unknown to most The Cult is the first Alternative Rock Grundge band.During the Big hair rock days they were so different that they had no category, they were to dark for rock, to heavy for pop and too slow for punk.
SONIC TEMPLE
I HAVE HUNTED FOR CDS BY THE CULT EVERY WERE
After Goth, music begins.....
Well, it certainly seems like the guitar player got tired of playing the semi-goth tunes of "Love" and "Electric", sat down one day and finally listened to a Led Zeppelin CD some friend gave him.This is an awesome project.This is real hard rock in the Zep tradition.If you are not a goth this is the recording of The Cult you are looking for.Power, pure power.I love early Cult, but this is something else, this is "sonic maturity"."Ceremony" is also very good, but not as coherent as "Electric" or "Sonic Temple".And I'm a goth......but I love great music....... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Hard Rock    3. Heavy Metal    4. Pop    5. Rock    6. Rock/Pop   

Reviews (46)

The Best
I have for a long time considered this Sisters of Mercy to be best. I never tire of listening to it. If anyone needs an intro to the Sisters then try this one! It is amazing!

My Personal Favorite
I bought FALAA after I had bought Floodland, and I was suprised when the former was so noticeably different from the latter. This is, in my opinion, the Sisters of Mercy at the top of their form; the album is an absolute treat.
Better then than now
When this album came out in the US in 1985, it seemed really interesting to me.The mood...Andrew Eldritch keeps the accelerator going up and down, always feels like the band has a terrific pent-up energy that is never released.Perfect innovation in a time when rock music was going either to simple basics or to wretched excess.This is dark without drone.It was appealing to a college student who didn't want any more sappy love music or "Slow Ride."I cannot highlight one song over another; the theme is consistent.Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. College Rock    3. Goth Metal    4. Goth Rock    5. Pop    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop   

Reviews (97)

completely blown away
I'm the kind of person who's open to all kinds of music... except for techno.I generally hate techno.But that's not the point.The point is, I had kinda heard of The Cruxshadows before attending STP at VMI, when one of my best friends let me listen to a mix CD he had of a bunch of Cruxshadows songs.I was immediately addicted to this work of art in music form.Many of you know that Linkin Park is my favorite band; The Cruxshadows has worked their way up to pass Godsmack as my second-favorite band now, due alot to my favorite song from them and my fav from this CD, Winterborn (This Sacrifice).If you listen closely to the lyrics, you can actually tell he's talking about Jesus ("In the fury of this darkest hour, he will be your light... I hear the angels call my name, for I am winterborn...")... all about being "winter-born".Rogue is an excellent vocalist and does some weird stuff on stage (i.e. climb up stuff; he also does some quirky dance moves for their music video "Deception").
Love Hate
ALright I have had a love hate thing for the band..let me give you some history 2001 or 2002 I saw the cruxshadows with seraphim shock and bella morte (two other great bands) When Cruxshadows came out I was unsure, of them. I was younger so maybe I wasn't into this style yet who knows? Anyways so rouge comes out and the song was Eurydice, and I was thinking what the hellis this a goth boy band? So later on rogue (the singer) puts his hand on my shoulder and pats me...next thing I know hes clmbing on top of me to get to the speaker on my left!! Thus later i found out about his obession with climbing on stuff while on stage. (makes it cool as hell to watch them live>) So i walked away from this show unhappy with what I thought the cruxshadows was. HOwever a few years later I got heavey into darkwave music so i thought who else is darkwave and I remembered good old rogue climbing on me. And Went to the site and listened to the music on it and heard the lyrics and I was blown away by the emoetion in the lyrics. So my point is don't judge this band by stage performance or whatever label we givce it as music fans. What we have to understand that this is art not just music but art! The lyrics will pull at you and get stuck in your mind for days. And best of all make you think about what it is they are saying. Which to me is beaitufal! SO my overall veiw of the cruxshadows??? ONE OF THE BEST BANDS I HAVE EVER HEARD. GREAT LYRICS WONDERFUL VOICE ROGUE HAS IT IS SIMPLY AMAZING!!!!

"Angels Never Die"-A View From A Non-Goth
I know very little about Goth music, my listening experience of the genre has been limited to 'Dead Can Dance' and 'This Mortal Coil.' However I do know what I like and 'Ethernaut' turned out to be a complete surprise! This is good stuff!!
Read more

Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Rock    3. Rock/Pop   

Features

• Original recording reissued
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (62)

LOVE
YOU
There was more to the 80's than U2...
As a longtime U2 fan, I believed that there was precious little else in the mid-80's. But this CD proved me wrong. While this is clearly an 80's production with all the sheen of the era, these songs are far stronger and diverse in scope. Not a bad song on the disc either. "She Sells Sanctuary" was the biggest hit (and still gets airplay!), but in reality most of the songs are even better.
As the wall gets taller as you get smaller yeayah!
Watching Jimmy Kimmel Live recently reminded me of this album and the Cult (They performed "She sells sanctuary" on his show about a week ago.)In 1987, a buddy of mine had seen them backing up Billy Idol in support of the "Electric" album.My friend couldn't stop talking about how great this band was (they apparently destroyed the set after their "set" and had a remake of Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild"), well the next day, my friend bought "Electric" and forced me to listen, and frankly, I have been hooked ever since.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Hard Rock    3. Pop    4. Rock    5. Rock/Pop   

Features

• Enhanced
• Special Edition

Reviews (36)

Chilling...

Ghost of a Rose
Ritchie and Candy struck gold again with this cd,a great blend of the old with the new.

For what it is, it's pretty good
This is the first of the Blackmore's Night records I have listened to, but I know more or less everything Blackmore and the various incarnations of Deep Purple, Rainbow and earlier stuff he did. Blackmore is still a fine guitar player, and the Perfect Strangers style is here again, but in a medievel guise. The lyrics aren't wonderful (they don't often pass the read-it-out-loud test) but the music is stunningly well-produced, the vocals are beautiful, and a couple of songs are just about perfect in every way, the Diamonds & Rust cover being the best. The great thing about Ritchie Blackmore is that he usually outclasses faster guitar players by playing just the right notes, and he does it here again. Nice. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. British Folk    2. Celtic Folk    3. Contemporary Celtic    4. Contemporary Folk    5. Folklore    6. Goth Rock    7. Guitar Virtuoso    8. Hard Rock    9. Heavy Metal    10. Pop    11. Rock   

Reviews (75)

Andrew's Musical Breakthrough
Floodland is a very lovely album, period.I simply love it.Having said that, let me now state that at times it is bogged down by some very uninteresting moments."This Corrosion" is a grandios Operatic masterpiece that is truly awe-inspiring at certain points but also includes about 5 minutes of horrible dullness."1959" is a slow piano driven composition that thinks about being mournful before being in any interesting.Gone is the sort of immediacy of Edrich's previous work, First and Last and Always; Floodland is the sort of album that feels at times over-thought and over-produced.The term "Self indulgent" probably best sums up these flawed tracks.But (and it is a large BUT) the great songs are really, truly great."Flood I" and "Flood II" are both moody works that completely fit the Sister's sensibilities, and the terrific "Driven like the Snow" is the complete antithesis of "1959," a song that is mournful but in a very sweet emotionally honest way, and will be especially meaningful to those sad romantics who have felt and lost true love.Now, is this gothic?I have no idea.I love Bauhaus.I love Tears for Fears.Forget this whole Goth nonsense and simply revel in the beauty of the experimental era of underground 80's music.I, for one, love it and hope that a similiar era of experimentation returns at some point.

floodland
the pouring rain. the great rusty railroad investing the huge dark city with its looming machines, alive with a soul of their own, their silhouettes frightening. the sky rips in several places from which, the lightning seeps, outlining the graceful form of a woman. she stands on the highest of the city's towers.
20 years later this CD still Explodes !
Back when I was in college this CD played a big part in my underground/goth/alternative life and then over the years, I kind of strayed away from that scene, but I just pulled this CD out again to convert it to my new iPod and as it was playing back, I just realized how completely amazing it still sounds. This is one of the genre that hasn't lost any of it's power and certainly doesn't seem dated in any way. Starts out powerful and then just builds exponentially, so that by the time they hit Lucretia My Reflection, I dare anyone listening to remain sitting still. It's a real crossover from dark goth to almost a goth-electric or dark wave sound. Very upobeat, powerful and dare I say, even danceable.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. College Rock    3. Goth Rock    4. Pop    5. Rock    6. Rock/Pop   

Reviews (23)

Deeply dark Eighties
While not an official Bauhaus album, this collection, with Volume 2, is the very best way to appreciate the musicianship and influence of what was one of the greatest early 80s post-punk bands.Yes, I would recommend this over In a Flat Field, but only because of the inclusion of the single "Bela Lugosi's Dead," and the fact that this cd is comprised of the best songs from the afore mentioned album, plus a few from their second: Mask.Of course, for compelete-ists like me, the full albums are definitely worth buying, but for the more casual listener this (AND the second volume) will supply enough of an experience to enthrall and educate, therefore making itself an essential addition to any music library."Dark Entries,""Double Dare" and "Mask" are some very, very great highlights in a compliation full of highlights.If you love this stuff, then by all means get the full albums.If Love is too strong a word for you, this should still be a highly enjoyable cd.

Fine Cd
Bought this a few weeks back but I was slightly disapointed when I realized that most of the songs on this album were taken from Swing The Heartache, The BBC Sessions...but honestly, I didn't mind much because the additonal songs that were inculded with it were one's that I hadn't heard yet (My collection of Bauhaus is depressingly small) so I feel that it was still worth it.

Great Music, Redundant Release
The review has nothing to do with the actual music, which is great. Rather, it's the "best of" collection status. It's really a redundant waste. Just buy In the Flat Fields and The Mask, and you have all that's o