Superstition (Siouxsie and the Banshees album)
| Superstition | |||||
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| Studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees | |||||
| Released | 10 June 1991 | ||||
| Recorded | December 1990 – April 1991 | ||||
| Genre | |||||
| Length | 48:21 | ||||
| Label | |||||
| Producer | Stephen Hague | ||||
| Siouxsie and the Banshees chronology | |||||
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| Siouxsie Sioux chronology | |||||
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| Singles from Superstition | |||||
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Superstition is the 10th studio album by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released in 1991.[1] The first single, "Kiss Them for Me", gave the band its first top 40 Billboard Hot 100 hit in the United States, peaking at No. 23, with the album peaking at No. 65 on the Billboard 200 chart.[2] The band widened their musical influences with the arrival of Indian musician Talvin Singh, who played tablas on the songs "Kiss Them for Me" and "Silver Waterfalls".
This album was reissued in a remastered version with bonus tracks in October 2014.[3]
History
The album was produced by Stephen Hague, known for working with New Order and Pere Ubu. Hague used techniques that Siouxsie Sioux did not approve of later, such as computer-based production. She stated: "There are still songs I like on it, like 'Kiss Them for Me' and 'Drifter', but we were trying a different kind of working style, a different kind of discipline, during which I really built a strong case against computers."[4]
The band then spent two months on the road, from July until August, in the United States as second headliners of the inaugural Lollapalooza tour. The last date took place in Seattle on 31 August. Two weeks later, the album reached its highest position at No. 65 in the Billboard 200 for the week of 14 September;[5] it spent 21 weeks total on that chart.[6] It remained their best selling album in the US, with 358,000 sold copies.[7]
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Melody Maker | very favourable[8] |
| Q | [9] |
| Select | [10] |
Superstition was well received by critics. Q gave it a 4-star rating, saying: "They pop it up with sweet string textures on the single 'Kiss Them for Me', bear down on the maritime metaphor of 'Drifter' with doomy foghorn and bells effects, give it the all but Twin Peaks dreamscape for 'Softly'."[9] Melody Maker highly praised the first single: "'Kiss Them for Me' is gorgeous, wicked and glamorous".[11] In the same paper, reviewer Jon Wilde described Superstition as "a giant record about obsession, phobia, perspective and emotional tyranny". Wilde said that the song "The Ghost in You" was "a furiously pretty six note refrain that haunts long after the needle has returned to safety".[8] In a 4 out of 5 review, Select praised the album, saying that "Kiss Them for Me" was a "passionately laidback" single, "exotic" and "funky", with "an underlying hush of electro pulsebeat" making it dancefloor friendly. The rest of the album was also reviewed favourably. "Drifter" was compared to the soundtrack of a Sergio Leone film with a touch of "ethereal sensuality", and "Silver Waterfalls" was qualified as "gorgeous". The reviewer noted that the album ends with the "delicate" "Softly", with lyrics bare and tender enough to be almost like Scott Walker. Glyn Brown concluded: [It is] "ambitious".[10]
Legacy
Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio hailed the group for their song "Kiss Them for Me". Sitek stated: "I've always tried to make a song that begins like "Kiss Them for Me". I think songs like "I Was a Lover" or "Wash the Day Away" came from that element of surprise mode where all of a sudden this giant drum comes in and you're like, what the fuck?! That record was the first one where I was like, okay, even my friends're going to fall for this. I feel like that transition into that record was a relief for me. Really beautiful music was always considered too weird by the normal kids and that was the first example where I thought, we've got them, they're hooked! I watched people dance to that song, people who had never heard of any of the music that I listened to, they heard that music in a club and went crazy."[12]
Track listing
All music composed by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
All lyrics written by Siouxsie Sioux, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kiss Them for Me" | 4:37 | |
| 2. | "Fear (of the Unknown)" | 4:10 | |
| 3. | "Cry" | 3:33 | |
| 4. | "Drifter" | 4:43 | |
| 5. | "Little Sister" | Severin | 3:21 |
| 6. | "Shadowtime" | Severin | 4:28 |
| 7. | "Silly Thing" | 4:41 | |
| 8. | "Got to Get Up" | 3:17 | |
| 9. | "Silver Waterfalls" | Budgie | 4:24 |
| 10. | "Softly" | 6:00 | |
| 11. | "The Ghost in You" | Severin | 5:01 |
| 2014 remastered reissue bonus tracks | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
| 12. | "Face to Face" | Sioux | 4:25 |
| 13. | "Kiss Them for Me (Snapper Mix)" | 6:24 | |
| 14. | "Kiss Them for Me (Kathak #1 Mix)" | 8:55 | |
Personnel
- Siouxsie Sioux – vocals
- Steve Severin – bass, keyboards
- Budgie – percussion, drums, keyboards
- Jon Klein – guitar
- Martin McCarrick – dulcimer, cello, keyboards
- Additional personnel
- Talvin Singh – percussion, tabla, tavil
- Stephen Hague – producer
- Mike Drake – engineer
- Spike Drake – engineer
- Nigel Godrich – assistant engineer
- Abdul Kroz-Dressah – assistant engineer
- Will O'Sullivan – assistant engineer
- Siouxsie and the Banshees – design
- Donna Francesca – photography
Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | UK Albums Chart | 25 |
| 1991 | US Billboard 200 | 65 |
- Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | "Kiss Them for Me" | US Hot Dance Music/Club Play | 8 |
| US Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | 9 | ||
| US Modern Rock Tracks | 1 | ||
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 23 | ||
| "Shadowtime" | US Modern Rock Tracks | 13 | |
| 1992 | "Fear (Of the Unknown)" | US Hot Dance Music/Club Play | 6 |
| US Modern Rock Tracks | 12 | ||
References
- 1 2 Chris True. "Superstition – Siouxsie and the Banshees". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
- ↑ "Siouxsie and the Banshees – Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ↑ "Siouxsie and the Banshees relaunch archival campaign, new reissues due out in October". Consequenceofsound. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
- ↑ Gülden, Gitti. "If you knew Siouxsie". Rock World. 1 October 1992.
- ↑ Billboard 200 - week 14 September 1991. Billboard. Retrieved 15 August 2015
- ↑ "Siouxsie and the Banshees - Chart History Billboard 200", Billboard.com, retrieved 15 August 2015
- ↑ Schwartz, Missy (17 December 2004), "Sioux City; New-wave goddess Siouxsie Sioux led the way for kick-ass frontwomen with bold style. And the Queen Banshee is still wailing", Entertainment Weekly
- 1 2 Wilde, Jon. "The Mirror Crack'd" [Superstition - review]. Melody Maker. 8 June 1991.
- 1 2 Sutcliffe, Phil. Superstition review. Q. June 1991
- 1 2 Brown, Glyn. "Siouxsie and the Banshees Superstition - review". Select. July 1991.
- ↑ The Stud Brothers. Melody Maker. 11 May 1991.
- ↑ "Icon: Siouxsie", The Fader Magazine, The Icon Issue 67, April/May 2010. Page 74