Mask

This whips ass. They've got a dude who's probably a worse vocalist than me, the thinnest, shittiest production imaginable and they've swathed the whole thing in reverb. It's simply majestic as to the degree that this sucks, therefore it gets a maximum score from yours truly.

“Mask” by Bauhaus (1981) Never heard this album or group. I’m familiar with Bauhaus, the original early 20th century German art movement, and this group attempts to do a similar thing in the 1980s. Formal order to the point of monotony, accentuating the surrounding chaos. It’s cool. Fascinating, even. Proto-goth rock, anyone who enjoys both Jane’s Addiction and David Bowie will enjoy this album, if he or she has the patience for nearly unending minor keys and mechanical proto-disco rhythms. Thoughtful lyrics, even if frequently obscure. For example, in “Fear of Fear”, we get a hopeful message, encouraging the listener to overcome his or her insecurities or anxieties, bringing to mind that strange advice from Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, which is the silliest advice ever to receive public acclamation. I think Bauhaus would agree. Nice ‘tribute’ to Debbie Harry on “Harry”, although I’m not sure how she would feel about the line “They'll line you up and strip you down and then you'll see / That you're still the horny two-eyed bitch you used to be”. The song "1. David Jay 2. Peter Murphy 3. Kevin Haskins 4. Daniel Ash" is very cool. Actual backmasking as an art form on “4. Daniel Ash”. Wonderful fishcake recipe on “2. Peter Murphy”. Highly recommended. Musically, the album is inventive (this 1981, remember), and it is performed with exactitude, both in the solid grounding of the rhythm section and the sometimes ethereal melodies and harmonic flourishes. Lots of 1980s electronic experimentation. A good album, if somewhat dated. 3/5

Time to put on my darkest eyeliner, it's goth time

It’s somewhat reminiscent of Joy Division in that it has that Martin Hannett style wall of sound production that sounds like it was recorded underwater or in someone’s bathroom. Unlike Joy Division though, this was good, not as depressing and didn’t want to make me slit my wrists. It’s just balls to the floor straight ahead industrial post/punk no wave that often funks. It’s good stuff and you can dance to a lot of it. Even better, for once the bonus tracks are not just a bunch of shit demos slapped on the end as an afterthought, they actually add to the overall package, rather than detract from it. Winning!

Funhaus

Groovy haunted and so well paced

Haven't heard this record before. Love it. Maybe I should become a goth.

love my sad boi music this album feels so cohesive, there's not a song that feels out of place

FISHCAKES

2.84??? This is so awesome! Easy 5/5. Sad but wired stuff.

That’s what the point of the mask is

I like it and I’m really sorry that girl sold all your shit, Andy. Five stars.

Creepily good. The album cover is a masterpiece. Bass and guitar on ‘Dance’ is dope.

LCD Soundsystem for old people. Blatant biting makes 'Losing My Edge' even more enjoyable. Bauhaus 'Hair of the Dog' intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqXycgODO5Y LCDS 'Losing' intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xG4oFny2Pk Bauhaus 'The Man with X-Ray Eyes': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPGkSP2wnyo LCDS 'X-Ray Eyes': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PK1OcXp1t8 LCDS 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' live (2024) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iix7JmtArJw Extra star for revisionist history (TY LCDS).

Goth post-punk classic. Killer bass lines, shrieky guitar, driving rhythms and all the weird that Peter Murphy can summon.

Oh shit. This is actually playing weird and dark shit the right way. I think I really liked it actually.

I am digging the groove right off the bat. shit that started me on the third track! I am still digging the groove. THE PASSION OF LOVERS IS FOR DEATH!!! In Fear of Fear is another cool tune. Great album really toroughly enjoyed that.

Don't have much to say 'sides this being pretty decent. Solid 4 Stars.

Truly never heard of this band. Very interested to hear what they sound like. These guys are interesting, very cool stuff.

At best, a poor man's Cure. Yes, dark, but the sound is thin and tinny, as if it's being heard on a distressed cassette tape in an underpowered Japanese-made compact car with a weak stereo system in the early 1980s, which in one's case, indeed it was. "Of Lillies" is of some interest. One likes some of the shearing guitars (e.g., on "Dancing") but the overall feel of even the strongest moments ("Kick in the Eye") is of being quite dated.

Shockingly underwhelming. I think it’s completely fine for early goth, and there’s a decent amount of good stuff on Mask, but it’s never mind-blowing. There’s also a lot of elements that proved to be influential, but sound really awkward and poorly executed in Bauhaus’ hands. The spoken word gloomy poetry of “Of Lilies and Remains,” the Jim Morrison-esque crazed jitter of “Muscle in Plastic,” the effects-riddled closer/title track that makes you want to jump through the speakers and tell them to turn OFF the pedal board. The songs that do work, though, are still not the strongest goth songs in history. The grating vocals nearly ruin “Dancing” and “The Man with X-Ray Eyes,” and the annoying delay effects on “The Passion of Lovers” teaches us that there’s a such thing as too much aesthetics. Bauhaus is a good band, but rarely a great band. It seems like their biggest strength was just being early to the party and bringing a sound and an aesthetic that was damn near inevitable, given the post-punk scene at the time. The guitars can be cool when they aren’t washed out, the vocals can be good when it’s not riddled with spoken word tropes, and the rhythm section does evoke the right vibe when it’s not fighting to course-correct the previous two issues. It sounds like I hate Mask, when I don’t. It’s just a 60/40 album with a bad batch of tracks, and good tracks with bad habits sprinkled throughout. If it sounds like I hate Mask, it’s explicitly because everyone knows Bauhaus *can* write songs a million times better than this. In fact, they did!! The album’s biggest weakness is that it doesn’t have the seminal goth track “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” The issue is that “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” never ended up on a proper album, which means it couldn’t be included in this book, so in order to include Bauhaus, the book had to make a choice, and while Mask isn’t a bad album, I think it is a bad choice to include on this list. If you take the time to listen to “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” and immediately listen to Mask back-to-back, it’s clear that Mask isn’t even a fair replacement for that single. Honestly, I think the song “Hollow Hills” summarizes Mask best: it’s a good goth song if you have little to compare it to, but less than impressive if you’ve heard other seminal goth songs. And not to play the comparison game, but Juju came out 4 months before Mask! It’s sad that Bauhaus can’t reach the heights of their first single, but being first doesn’t absolve you enough to validate a mid-tier album.

Maybe Goth was scary and dark and menacing when it first hit the scene, but now it just feels kind of “spooky”, like the cheesy haunted house that used to petrify you as a kid.

A solid post punk album, one that made me want to hear live.

This was very....strange. I was expecting something like Joy Division or The cure (things that I like), but it was more...darker and strange. I liked it, but not too much.

A bit weird, it didn't wake up anything inside me, but also didn't bothered me to listen

🎧This thing is kind of a mess. Nothing against goths.

Fucking terrible to listen to. This did absolutely nothing for me.

Goth. Sounds super sloppy and incoherent and the vocals were wholly unenjoyable. Some passable beats occasionally. 2.0 stars.

So I saw Bauhaus at a music a festival a awhile ago, and thought their set was pretty decent… Now of course I was getting the “Best Of” set-list, so was curious how this album would sit with me… Turns out not-so-much… It is fairly original, but there’s not a whole lot you can really do with that “sound” as it gets pretty repetitive after a bit… The only tracks that were mildly interesting – and I emphasize the word MILDLY, were “The Passion Of Lovers”, & “Kick In The Eye”… I see people going on and on about the “David, Peter, Kevin, etc.” song – so I was kinda curious about that one, but what an utter waste of time… Gonna give this a 2 since seeing them live – albeit playing the best of their material over the course of their career, was at least interesting, and doubt they would have gotten to that place without albums like this that moved them along the process of developing their sound…

Des bruits bizarres puis d'autres bruits et encore des bruits bizarres, c'est vraiment pas le style de musique que je préfère. Reprends toi rapidement Robert.

Not a fan of this kind of music at all. Also, why did one of the final bonus tracks go from gothic to reggae?

I tend to listen to In the Flat Field most frequently out of Bauhaus's albums, but they've never put out one I dislike. Mask pushed their sound further, evolving it in fascinating ways. Really love the horns on "In Fear of Fear"; it, "Kick in the Eye" and "The Passion of Lovers" became staples of their live shows and sound equally good either way. The album is close to perfect. Maybe the 5 bonus tracks aren't needed, but they don't detract from the experience. Bonus points for "fishcakes". BTW, every Bauhaus studio album should be in this project. If it was my list you'd get all of theirs instead of every Smiths album.

This is #day258 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… getting this album today was like a balm to my ears. The music speaks directly to my interests: early post-punk, goth, darkwave, and all that jazz. I did wonder at first why Mask and not In the Flat Field? But after relistening (or maybe really listening to Mask in its entirety for the first time (I honestly don't remember doing it before), I see it now. This is a more approachable album than the debut. The raw intensity and overall doom and gloom are still dominant, but there's a certain smoothness around the edges in the form of acoustic guitar, sax, and funky rhythms that can't be ignored. If you're interested in the gothfathers of the genre, this is one of those records to hear before you die. Some absolute bangers are "The Passion of Lovers," "Dancing," "Kick in the Eye," and "The Man with the X-Ray Eyes." But honestly, the whole record is amazing. This is a 5 out of 5. Looking forward to #day259.

One of the best goth-wave albums ever produced, it’s really quite difficult to find any objective flaws in this one. It’s perhaps a little more consumer friendly than Bauhaus’s first album, but it still hits all the right notes. In a world of Joy Division and the Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus put their own spin on the goth rock sound of the time, and really stood out. There’s no doubt that this album is still inspiring music being produced, and I don’t think that will ever change. Modern albums like Ceremony’s “The L Shaped Man” owe a lot to Bauhaus, and this record in particular. It’s an album that is equal parts a wonderful window into its own time, and timeless. Deep, dark, brooding, and just spooky enough. 5*

There really is nothing like Bauhaus. Moving from some sort of horror-synth pop to Clash-esque reggae punk to piano instrumental it's always weird and always interesting.

A very timeless gothic rock album. 5/5

Well damn if I didn't love this one. I had heard of Bauhaus obviously but had never listened to a full album, at least to my recollection. This is such a mood of an album. It's maybe a little more pop-friendly than the other stuff I've heard from them, almost like a gothic new wave. And that's definitely something I can get on board with. I don't know that I would want to play this all the time but when the mood strikes, this is perfect. 5/5

When I first listened to this record almost 20 years ago I didn’t like. So when it came up this morning I wasn’t really happy about it. But after listening to it I don’t remember why I didn’t like it. It’s simply awesome! Every song rocks.

hey kids, gothic rock is fun! so i only heard "Bela Lugosi's Dead" before, but now i somehow like this genre. 5/5

Still need to listen.

What a surprise. The masters of Goth on Halloween! Having been a Goth back in the 1980's, it's always a pleasure listening to something from the dark side. Mask has two fine singles in the shape of 'Passion of Lovers' and the album remix of ' A Kick in the Eye' (I do refer the single version). The album features the immense 'Mask' at the end which is so atmospheric. This lot were more on the camp/ glam side of Goth and plenty of ghostly death inspired lyrics, add together some great guitar work and funky bass playing, you end up with what is probably the best thing to come out of Northampton since Doctor Martens. 5 stars.

I knew that Bauhaus was seminal to if not the originators of goth music (and culture), but what I failed to recognise were the spin-offs of their breakup, including Love & Rockets and the one-hit wonderful Tones on Tail. I bopped to about 50% of this album (the part that sounded like vintage mid-70s Bowie) and got serious Joy Division vibes from the other 50%. I’ve 5-starred both of those, so what choice do I have?

Very cool

This album is so bizarre that I think I'm in love with it. Favorite track: Satori

Essential Bauhaus.

Good, really good. Twisted and dark and weird rhythms

Perfect. One of my favourite albums ever. In the Flatfield is also great of course, but this one contains Mask.

A great album that is really fascinating with its... groove. Yes, that's right. Bauhaus never wanted to be labeled as 'gothic rock'. While their music is dark and the title track shows this perfectly (as 'Hollow Hills', my favourite) other songs really put the drums and bass to the forefront and let it roll nicely. If you read up on the band it's not that surprising since they loved reggae. All in all, this album is an atmospheric journey that keeps you invested in each track. One of the highlights of this list.

Bauhaus makes goth music fun. This album was a blueprint for so many goth bands that followed but what makes it stand out is the total uniqueness of the music itself.

In the muggy serenity of a red sky morning, I revisit this dichromatic glam rock gem, which I first heard on a chilly, acid soaked night/morning thirty three years prior. Still high. Not as high. Still high, though. Different times, ya see. "Goth", as I came to understand, signifies nothing but black and white silver screen teenage glam. As a genre of popular music, its useful to understand that these sorts of labels are the inventions of critics who, regardless of other ideological considerations about the phenomenology of music, all want to be great taxonomists: the Coiner of a Genre Name. A band like Bauhaus, like the punks before them, were studied in the same artists and records. The Velvets, The Stooges, Bowie, Roxy Music and all the great Dub Reggae that were floating around the UK. In the US, the latter really wasn't a thing; Aside from the phenomenal Christian Death out of LA, The Doors got substituted for the Dub, and well, if you like Jimbo Lizardpants, have at it. The difference is depth and proportion; The original punks, by and large, loved the immediacy of what can be done with four rock n roll chords when played fast. The best, in my opinion, went from there. The rest got mohawks and established the official sartorial choices. Bauhaus went hard into the weird psychodramas of early Bowie, communed with the deep cut VU, favorited masochistic love songs, Bryan Ferry's silver screen louche and ennui stricken debonair, the absolute basslines of Dub. And, clearly, explored the rabbit holes only fans will follow. Bowie hero Scott Walker. The art rock of John Cale, Nico, and Eno. All of it theatrical. All Glam. Theatrical kids are drawn to the theatrical, the dramatic to the dramatic. Throw in silent and mid-century art films. Bauhaus. That first impression was of the self-contained universe the album created. It had its own physics. The bass is rainbow gravity, and everything else bounces around, with songs forming like cloudshapes, instruments and sounds objects in the sky, death ray guitars, Peter Murphy, sounding like Iggy Bowie at their most decrepit and spent, offering commentary. Vapor trails. Disquietude. Exiliration and the ecstasy of the psychic connection one can have with a record: the mind meld. Bauhaus. These years later, and still high, though different shit, different times (fuck you teenage me; I got a license to Ill), and, aside from time permitting me to really explore the same rabbit holes as Bauhaus; proceeding from the same sources. That exploration led me to same places, a, and I am able to spot the same influences. Edge Lords, naturally, would declare this as derivative and therefore, shit, and return to glaring women out of the record store. Edge Lords are Rogans—obvious and obtuse. Tree-spotters, if you like. What Bauhaus do, song to song, is take those things, and remake them inside of their universe. What if John Cale had Dub as inspiration. What would the low end on "Sister Ray" sound like? And what would the imagined black and white movie look like? Theatrical. Glam. One of my absolute all -time favorites "The Passion of Lovers" is the second track, all melodrama and with a huge hook, and all of it sounds new. "Of Lillies and Remains" teleports the VU's "Lady Godiva's Operation" into a twisted Victorian parlour drama starring Conrad Veidt. "Hollow Hills" is pure pagan horror. Everything on this album is completely compelling. My first impression was the correct impression, and my appreciation has only deepened for this epic dichromatic glam classic. Within its universe, I find myself appreciating the fine details, the nuances, the shifting context of then and now. I guess I haven't mellowed—at least not in the important ways. Me and my licensed Mowie Wowie found the experience amazing.

the perfect mix of sad dance music, going on my repeat listen list

Goth boiz

I had a really good time listening to this. Bauhaus have always just escaped my listening so I'm glad to have finally sat down and had a crack and this weas really just a great album. What a fantastic voice for all of the spoken word sections as well, gave me chills at times

Chaotic but pleasant. Kinda like clown core but British

Godfathers of Gothic. exceptional album

"In Fear of Fear" was my favorite. This is a little Joy Division and a little Siouxsie Sioux. It was raw, simple, and a great, dark listen. Good stuff.

After sitting through 2 weeks of mediocrity I'm probably rating this higher than I would normally, but it is also some really interesting post punk

9/10 wonderful album from beginning to end I liked this a little bit more than their first album too

Great album to get in October, definitely get spooky vibes. Great album overall.

Fantastic!

Good goth fun.

I love this type of sound, absolute genius

very cool

Kamalt El Hadra 8.M Rbo3 Etheleth M 3l Bouheli Mte3 Dostoevsky.

Spooky scary!!!!!

Brand new band to me, loved it - goth new order

Low 4

Weird yet beautiful. Cavernous and drenched in reverb yet still articulate. Upbeat and depressingly grim at the same time. Took a couple plays through to really sink in, but once it did, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Not a perfect 5/5, but certainly a solid 4/5 for me

Interesting sound. I really like the dark sounding guitars and bass, along with unusual stylings throughout (Of Lillies and Remains has very 80s King Crimson-esque guitar sounds - the high-pitched warbling sounds hovering behind much of the track). I also like the unusual vocals. A little out there, but that alone isn't a negative for me. Probably the biggest issue is that the second side gets a little repetitive - driving tracks with cool bass lines, but not quite as unique as the first side. Of course, the final track, Mask, breaks that mold. It sounds like something I should add to my Halloween playlist. Cool ending. Finally, they seem to have influenced a ton of subsequent acts, which puts this as one of those "you have to hear it to understand the development of indie/alternative music." Favorite tracks: Hair of the Dog, The Passion of Lovers, Dancing, Kick in the Eye (I hear Bowie and Fripp stylings in this one).

A bit gloomy. Kinda sounds Bowie-ish sometimes

Dark Wave experimental album. With the characteristic voice of Peter Murphy.

Yeah, good shit; I want to play it some more as I feel like it's one that will get better with time as well. 4/5

cool album. i really liked the dark vibes this one gave. sometimes it got a little growly and aggressive, and sometimes it was sort of softer and dour. i could definitely see myself getting more into this on subsequent listens.

78/100. Mask by Bauhaus is a good dance-punk/post-punk record with nice grooves and solid writing. The album blends dark, atmospheric tones with energetic rhythms, creating a unique and engaging listen.

Bauhaus expands on their original vision and goes even darker and weirder. Their willingness to experiment is apparent, and Mask plays like walking through a house of horrors, each new room unveiling something lurid and ominous. There are no real lows to this album, just a silly song near the end ("FISHCAKES"), but even this song is sung with enough conviction to make it seem ominous and strange.

An exercise in beautiful simplicity whilst striking the right tone, this album explores space and repetition to paint the right picture. And what a picture it is. Rarely does moving through an expression of gloom and frustration feel this good.

I've a lot of time for goths. Once I saw a group of them playing swingball in the sunshine of a local park and it really brightened up my day. Anyway, I enjoyed this album quite a bit. I'll definitely give it a few more listens.

Overall, this record is pretty fuckin rad. Peter Murphy is terribly underrated. The music is interesting and unexpected. The arrangements are more sophisticated than they might seem. This whole record is way, way better than expected. Thought it would be a drag. But it’s a bop.

Gothic Rock Ein wenig ausgefallen, gefällt mir aber!

Liked it lots of David Bowie influence

Of Lilies and Remains is an obvious standout to me. Catchy bass-line carries this one forward with some nice theremin-ish warbles and crass guitar sound. Dancing keeps things marching forward nicely, before we sink into darker realms on Hollow Hills. Honestly I'm loving the midsection of this album. The run from Of Lilies and Remains through In Fear of Fear has been great. I really enjoyed this album. Solid production through and through and I will never not enjoy some thick post-punk bass in my face. As I said above the midsection is really solid. Never felt like a chore. And for once, the bonus material was actually worthwhile. Wasn't expecting the dubby influences here, but they were really nice (although the David Jay > Peter Murphy bit was a little kooky at times). Satori is a solid instrumental jam outro. Solid 4 / 5.

For some reason or another I recently put on “Bella Lugosi’s Dead” and thought “man I don’t actually like this as much as I remembered. Have I lost my youthful cool? Is it all over for me?” Luckily I found this album to be a lot of fun. It has the sorta dark and spooky vibe that I associate with Bauhaus but also unexpectedly has some really funky bass lines. There were a couple of duds in there but this album feels like a house party when house parties were still fun.

4/5

Great gothic rock. The original goth, Edgar Allan Poe, would be proud.

I am such a fan of tones on tail and love and rockets, it's crazy I never bothered to listen to Bauhaus much. I'll be going back to this one.

Enjoyed this one, I'm a fan of the style and sound and will revisit again.

Really cool and dark. I need to give this one a re-listen for sure. Could maybe move up to a 5

Cool gothic album some classics songs.

goth. awesome

This album punks. I actually love this, it's so fresh for me because I've never in my life heard of this band before. Music from 1981 sonds new and different.

Is this really goth? More like EDM rock. Somehow enjoyed it. Maybe because Peter Murphy is my homeboy(Ankara:).

Heard another Bauhaus album before but not this one. Kind of weird but really good. Fav tracks: 1. David Jay 2. Peter Murphy 3. Kevin Haskins 4. Daniel Ash, Mask, The Passion of Lovers

Not totally my style but I like freaky kid music.

I don't know what to say except I have a soft spot for this kind of thing - early new wave with hints of punk rock that you can dance to. Joy Division, New Order, Cure, & these guys.

Finally some edge

One of the better Bauhaus albums

I saw these guys live at Cruel World 2022, and it was absolutely incredible. Kick in the Eye is definitely a favorite, and the rest of the album is dark goulish goodness. 4 stars for being godfathers of goth and for a memorable live experience.

Fantastic album. Always worth a re listen.

++: Hair of the Dog, Of Lillies and Remains, Dancing, In Fear of Fear +: The Passion of Lovers, Hollow Hills, Muscle in Plastic, The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, The Mask 7,8/10

Spooky!