The Scream
Siouxsie And The Banshees
1978
Album Summary
The Scream is the debut studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 13 November 1978 by Polydor Records. The album is considered a landmark recording: its innovative combination of angular guitar with a bass-led rhythm and machine-like drums played mostly on toms, made it a pioneering work of the post-punk genre. The Scream was met with widespread acclaim and was hailed by critics as an original musical development in rock music. It has been cited as a key influence on a number of succeeding post-punk, noise rock and alternative rock acts, including Joy Division, Killing Joke, the Cure, Big Black, Sonic Youth, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Faith No More and Massive Attack.
WikipediaDeserves some sort of extra credit for recording "Helter Skelter" exactly how Charles Manson heard it in his head ten years prior. Overall, this album is a delight. Shame on everyone I went to college with for not introducing this to me during my campus years. You can literally hear countless bands (the B52's, Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins immediately come to mind) forming just from hearing this. Dark, twisted, original and thoroughly enjoyable.
This album was the first that really conflicted me from a ratings standpoint. It's also the first one that is closer to what I normally listen to. The album itself isn't one I particularly enjoy. It's ok, in general, but not a sound I would listen to much. The conflict comes from the fact that this album was one of the most influential to the punk genre that most of my favorite artists of all time belong to. You can hear the influences that my favorite bands drew on and you can see where this album helped change the world in that way. With that, I gave it one more star than I would have otherwise because I believe this album helped pave the way for the future alternative and punk genres.
I've written this somewhere else, copying it. From 1978. This debut is a dark and heavy slice of post-punk. Heavy guitars, twisted lyrical poetry, and apocalyptic soundscapes. Lead singer Siouxsie Sioux lends these songs a heavy, doom-laden atmosphere- on the classic "Jigsaw Feeling," her bewitching declarations soar above crashing, biting guitars and a squirming bass line, while the epic "Switch" sees her building from an acidic croon to a deadly chant. Other highlights include "Carcass," which uses the image of torture and cannibalism as an extended metaphor for the psychological effects of unrequited love... over a ridiculously catchy surf-rock background. The handclaps in the final verse are nothing short of genius. "Suburban Relapse" is a harrowing portrait of insanity, wit an absolutely Wagnerian sense of drama.
In My Vinyl collection already this one. Siouxsie Sioux doing her indomitable best to change the face of women in rock music. I love their version of the Beatles "Helter Skelter" and of course "Hong Kong Garden" and "The Staircase (Mystery)" A real statement from one of the original "Bromley Contingent" just gotta love her chutzpah. Definately on my list of 1001 LP's to Hear Before You Die!
I feel like this is an album I "get" more than I truly enjoy. Made me wanna put on eyeliner and wear all black clothing. A song like "Hong Kong Garden" has NOT aged well, even if it means well. The Beatles cover is so on-brand for what I expected this to be: dramatic, over-the-top, artsy. Favorite tracks: "Jigsaw Feeling", "Carcass", "Suburban Relapse".
This album is sick. Kind of got a bit of Velvet Underground energy but sounds so dark... I don't really know what to think about it - it's good, really good, but it's definitely something you need to be in the mood for. That Helter Skelter cover was bizarre af
While I'm a fan of what I have heard of Siouxsie & The Banshees since high school, I've never had a full listen of their debut, The Scream. Siouxsie's emotionally charged vocals explode from the grinding guitar and punk-rich drum & bass rhythms. And I'm not gonna lie, a lot of the A-side is not for the faint of heart or ear, and wasn't easy to swallow today for me. But Hong Kong Garden and The Staircase peaked my interest above the rest of the record and are better examples of SATB's developing accessibility that bloomed in the 80s.
I'm not feeling very generous this morning, unfortunately. The music was really interesting, but the singing mostly annoyed me. Again, I know that's the style, and it's on purpose, but it just doesn't please me very much. 2 stars.
Je ne vais pas vous cacher que j'ai passé une demi-heure épouvantable en compagnie de cet album. Il s'agit tout simplement d'une notice de quarante-minutes destinée à expliquer tout ce qu'il ne faut pas faire quand on sort un disque. À croire que la chanteuse et les musiciens ne se sont jamais rencontrés tant la voix et les instruments n'arrivent pas à s'accorder une seule seconde. Ne me refais plus ce coup là, Robert.
Not as impressive as *Juju* but still a historically important and seminal record in the post-punk genre (and one of the earliest of its kind). No one on Earth can sing like Siouxsie, with her instantly recognizable haunting voice. As for the instrumentation, Steve Severin's bouncing basslines bring a breath of fresh air to the claustrophobic mood of those tunes, and John McKay literally invented a playing style--if there was a patent for "angular" guitar lines, he should be its rightful owner. "Jigsaw Feeling" and "Mirage", along with the atmospheric and mysterious "Switch" are landmarks of the genre. And if it's too bad the band didn't include their all-time classic "Hong Kong Garden" in the original album tracklisting (a non-album single), I'm pretty sure most CD copies available out there now include it as a bonus track. So 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. A couple of songs are indeed a little difficult for non-fans of the genre, but given how ridiculously *low* the overall score of this seminal album is, I can't give it any less than that. Number of albums left to review: 657 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 171 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 82 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 96
I kept coming back to this album and listened it 5 times over the last 24 hours. What a crucial and amazing post punk record. I find it hard to word how this album has been impacting me, but songs like Jigsaw Feeling, Suburban Relapse and Switch make me listen close, to all sounds, cracks and noises. Amazing. I was washing up the dishes / minding my own business / when my string snapped. I had a relapse / a suburban relapse.
Cool Helter Skelter cover. Best songs: Switch, Hong Kong Garden and Nictone Stain.
Really enjoyed it. can see how the sound lives on today, "carcass" in particular sounds like a female-fronted Hives
I'd like to listen to this again to differentiate the songs? Bit samey but good
Good album, I like it a lot. definitely sounds ahead of it’s time. It does get a little samey tho. 8.
I quite liked most of Side 1 of this album. Jigsaw Feeling is excellent. Overground - not so much. My favourite might be Carcass - a song that it seems most people passed over. The thundering in your face bass lines do the trick for me. I have a habit of commenting on cover versions so I must say that The Banshees' cover of Helter Skelter is excellent. Side 2 doesn't start strong but again I liked the less popular songs Metal Postcard and Nicotine Stains. The driving bass lines in Nicotine Stains make the song. On the home stretch, Suburban Relapse and the first half of Switch were a little hard to listen to. Listening to this was a little bizarre since, before playing it, I thought we were easily heading to 4 or 5 territory since I remember liking this band. At the end of the day, I'm rounding up which is deserved imo since they influenced many bands I like, in particular bands fronted by females.
Raw and edgy goth post-punk. I much prefer her voice on later albums - she does a monotone drone a bit much but it's still really cool and interesting.
Energetic, lively, fully committed to what they were doing. A really fun listen.
4/5 only because I know with time I will like it more and more. Some really good dark rock on here. Standout: Helter Skelter.
Hell yes. Great 70's female punk album. Great cover of Helter Skelter. 4.5
Absolutely classic debut album from the Banshees. What punk was all about.
What an interesting listen. If I hadn't looked at the band title, I might have thought it was a Patti Smith album. The wiki article talks about how the vocals in this album are an instrument and I can definitely see that. It's hard to believe that it was recorded in 1978. I love this tidbit from wikipedia that shows that fandom sometimes does work. "A fan undertook a graffiti campaign in London, spraying the walls of the major record companies with the words "Sign the Banshees: do it now"." Also, this was interesting to learn about the title,"The title of the album was in part inspired by the 1968 film The Swimmer (starring Burt Lancaster), in which main character, Neddy Merrill, intended to swim home, using open-air pools. Climbing over garden fences, from pool to pool, his journey put him into a state of mental and physical exhaustion, and in the end, Goddard said, "all Neddy Merrill could think to do was scream, [...] as a scream of exhausted jubilance after a troubled, arduous journey". All around, a good album. Made me want check out their last album of 2004 to see where the band went.
I understand Juju, but I'm a bit shocked this was picked over Kaleidoscope, A Kiss in the Dreamhouse, or Tinderbox on the list. Am I complaining? No. I love post-punk and I love Siouxsie's vocals. What I love best about her vocals is best represented in "Metal Postcard," abrasive but fun and a little weird, reminds me of Cindy Wilson of the B-52s. There are some haunting gothic hints of where their sound will take, as in "Overground" and "Suburban Relapse." It seems like a lot of viewers give their points to the album's influence over how much they like it. I'm the opposite: their influence didn't explode until two albums later, but I find this to be a guilty pleasure of mine. I really enjoy all the songs; there's always something exciting happening that I wouldn't believe anyone who said they all sound the same. Before today, I only knew "Hong Kong Garden," and now I appreciate the song so much more now that I have context of how different this album is from their other work, and I like that. Again another example that reinforces post-punk as my favorite genre.
Really enjoyable post-punk record. Wasn't familiar with this group but it feels right at home with other artists/bands that I love from the same genre and period. Some great noise-rock guitar sounds. Will try to revisit this one again soon.
1978? You can hear this album's influence in late 80s synth pop, 90s college rock, on and on. This was a pleasure to listen to and this album in particular is an example of the post-punk sound's influence. Bonus: what a great version of Helter Skelter.
Essential album for goth, post-punk, new wave. Great sound. Some mysterious bass, guitars flowing with anxiety and stress. Siouxsie's moans and shouts are just immaculate. Fav track: Switch.
Encore une fois, en terme de face A et de face B, la face B est vraiment meilleure. La première écoute était moins évidente, mais une fois que j'ai "sizé" le groupe, j'ai complètement embarqué. Ce n'est pas une écoute de tous les moments, mais quand t'es dans le mood, c'est parfait. Un peu comme Sonic Youth. J’aime beaucoup les guitares sur cet album. Étrangement, c'est la dernière pièce que j'aime le plus, The Staircase (Mystery). Je trouve ce single de cette époque qui a été ajouté à la réédition de 2005 plus abouti et plus original. J'adore le jeu des guitares sur cette pièce. Pour ce qui est de la reprise de Helter Skelter, je trouve que c'est ce que dois être un cover, une adaptation au style du groupe. Si tu connais la chanson, cool, tu as la référence, mais sinon, tu l'apprécies comme n'importe quelle autre chanson de l'album. Ça fonctionne ici. Un album important qui a sa place sur cette liste. Pièces préférées: The Staircase (Mystery), Switch, Metal Postcard (Mittageisen), Nicotine Stain
Genre: Post-Punk 4/5 Siouxsie and the Banshees, one of the first groups regarded as truly post-punk, released their debut album in late 1978. The turn of the decade was nigh, and groups such as these brits right here were beginning to push the limits of rock into the 80s. This album, The Scream, was one of my favorite listens throughout this exercise. Incredibly forward thinking, heavy as hell, and clearly a major influence on the genre, this album is an album not just full of killer jams, but one that’s a big moment for rock and post-punk. Once Jigsaw Feeling started, I knew I was in for a good time. The album continued to pump out jam after jam, with Carcass shortly following it, their take on Helter Skelter (which is quite good), and with songs like Metal Postcard and Suburban Relapse filling out the back end of the album. All of these tracks do a great job of executing their own unique style, and after the album finished, I genuinely just wanted to start it over and listen again. The vocals were wild and great, the guitars are top-notch sludge, and the rhythm section in this swings between tribal and punk styles like it’s no problem. Really great stuff here, very pleasantly surprised!
I really enjoyed listening to this album. I had heard individual songs but never the entire album in a listen-through.
I'm starting to think I like Siouxsie and the Banshees. I was originally listening on laptop speakers and halfway through Jigsaw Feeling I wanted to go listen to this on headphones. Some very Can-like guitar playing here, reminds me of their track "Father Cannot Yell". I definitely appreciate the dark post-punk here. Fun to know that they originally didn't know how to play anything really on their first gig, that's as punk as it can get. That Helter Skelter cover surprised me as well. Overall it falls a bit down as it goes along for me, but overall still good stuff. Metal Postcard did kind of annoy me though.
More familiar with her later material but I really enjoy this rawer/punkier debut. I'm a closet goth.
A band that has always somehow been in orbit around me, plenty of people love them, but I have never sat down and given a listen. Pretty fun album, and I dig the vibe a lot. Will explore more of their records.
A beautiful and gothic debut from Siouxsie and the Banshees. While they would surpass this album with bigger, more iconic music this is still fresh as hell.
Has its own sound regardless, then we remember this work was completed in 1978. This group was pioneering and it shows. Really cool, out there yet not so out there it had no melodic or harmonic sense. Tough to hit that balance and they did. Very nicely done.
I first heard of Siouxsie and the Banshees back when Gerard Way would cite them as one of the many influences to My Chemical Romance. Makes total sense now that I listen to them. This is dark, apocalyptic, and pretty demented. I don't have much of the vocabulary to describe an album like this, so I'll leave it on the opinion that this sounds good and I liked it quite a bit. Undoubtedly influential to a whole bunch of other artists, too. Favorites are Overground, Carcass, Mirage and The Staircase. It could be a five star record, but (to me, at least) that cover of Helter Skelter is unfortunately bad.
Great bit of punk. slow start and short album and definitely has an unfinished feel about it but that's all part of the charm. 3.7
A very good debut album. While not Siouxsie’s best, it still belongs in the top tier of the Post-punk canon.
"Overground", "Metal Postcard", and "Suburban Relapse" were the standouts on this very good album. Very cutting edge music from a band that doesn't get the credit that it deserves for all the 80's new wave/punk bands that it influenced. This sounds like a perfect mix of The Smiths and X.
I'm generally here for Siouxie and her Banshees but this album is admittedly a bit of a mess. Despite that, it's a lot of fun. It's just so raw and wild. Compelling. I'm not going to make excuses for the riot grrl. She doesn't need it. She can stand on her own. For my part, I'm just going to bask in the post-punk madness.
Denna plattan gillar jag, kanske mest av nostalgiska skäl. Hong Kong Garden är en stark favorit. Nicotine Stan kanske bästa låten! Bra poplåtar.
Pretty good. At first this didn't stand out to me all that much as it kinda seemed similar to a few post-punk albums I've heard in the list. I originally sort of dismissed this as another post-punk album from the late 80s or early 90s, but then looked again and noticed this was an album from 1978, and that makes it really impressive to see what they were doing, and the influence this must have had on later bands. While I'm not sure if this is something I'll listen to again and again, as post punk has never really been my sort of thing, I greatly appreciate this. Favourite: Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)
Landmark punk recording. Changed the game for women in rock music. That droning guitar and bass, those Jefferson airplane-turned-punk vocals. The driving drums. Very important album to listen too. Bands like Joy Division and Sonic Youth obviously took much inspiration from this. And that version of Helter Skelter is just sick.
I love Siouxsie and the Banshees, so this was great to see on the list. Not their greatest stuff, but even in this first album of theirs, there's hints of the greatness they'll later achieve.
The dark side of Siouxsie. I absolutely love Hong Kong Garden and their cover cover of Helter Skelter, but it's a bit too brooding for me. I am happy to see post punk/new wave on this list...we need more of it. 3.5 stars
Straight forward rock tunes that are elevated by some serious attitude and incredible voice.
Great punk album, with a very good singer. She s coming to Brussels soon but unfortunately it s already sold out. Nice discovery. I already knew some songs of them, but nothing of this album. You can here a lot of other bands who got inspiration from this band. Like the young fly s guitar play of U2, like on songs as i will follow. Great mix of punk and new wave. Also the yeah yeah yeah s are not far away from this album.
Just another piece of proof that girls can rock out rough and rowdy just like anyone else.
Although I feel Siouxsie and the Banshees would find their footing better on later albums (particularly Juju and Kaleidoscope), this is a really strong debut, one that apparently helped launched a whole genre and probably a hundred other bands. Equal parts alluring and unsettling. Powerful angular guitar and rhythm-forward sound. Striking, commanding vocals from Siouxsie Sioux. Fave Songs: Overground, Switch, Nicotine Stain, Suburban Relapse, Jigsaw Feeling
Not bad. A bit more avant garde than I expected, considering what I've heard from them.
Solid. Nothing stood out, but I didn't feel like turning it off. 2 and 1/2 if I could give it that.
Blir bara en trea till sist. Fanns vissa riktigt bra låtar men sången var inte riktigt upp i min allé över ett helt album.
I like it, so far this list has done little other than solidifying my love for punk. This project doesn't sound super different than other punk albums, but it did come before many so it gets a pass. Favorite song helter skelter, 6/8.
Souixsie Souixe has a very strong set of vocals. The album contains Hong Kong Garden which is has unique guitar riffs.
Mirage- OOF! SWITCH! Major sleater kinney vibes off of this they must have inspired them. Go back to this when you want something messy and releasing I think
I think it's been pretty well established that punk isn't my genre but I liked this better than anything else in that vein so far. Siouxsie Sioux pulls off the vocals in a style that usually grates for me.