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Superstition (Siouxsie and the Banshees album)

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Superstition
Studio album by
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Released10 June 1991
RecordedDecember 1990 – April 1991
StudioRAK, London
Genre
Length48:21
Label
ProducerStephen Hague
Siouxsie and the Banshees chronology
Peepshow
(1988) 		Superstition
(1991) 		The Rapture
(1995)
Siouxsie Sioux chronology
Boomerang
the Creatures
(1989) 		Superstition
(1991) 		The Rapture
(1995)
Singles from Superstition
  1. "Kiss Them for Me"
    Released: 13 May 1991
  2. "Shadowtime"
    Released: 1 July 1991
  3. "Fear (of the Unknown)"
    Released: 26 November 1991

Superstition is the tenth studio album by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 10 June 1991 by Polydor Records. The lead single, "Kiss Them for Me", gave the band their first top 40 Billboard Hot 100 entry in the United States, peaking at No. 23, with the album peaking at No. 65 on the Billboard 200 chart.[1] The band widened their musical influences with the arrival of musician Talvin Singh, who played tablas on the songs "Kiss Them for Me" and "Silver Waterfalls".

Background and promotion

[edit]

The band wrote the songs in a residential studio in Wales. The album was then recorded with producer Stephen Hague in London at RAK Studios. 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."[2] Steven Severin had a different perspective as he liked Hague's way of working, which was "all about honing and honing until you have something great".[3]

In 1991, the band 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 number 65 in the Billboard 200 for the week of 14 September;[4] it spent 21 weeks total on that chart.[5] It remained their best selling album in the US, with 358,000 sold copies as of 2004, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[6]

Release

[edit]

Superstition was reissued in a remastered CD version with bonus tracks in October 2014.[7] A 180 gram double-vinyl reissue of the original edition, with the fourth side etched, was half-speed mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios and released in September 2018.

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Melody Makervery favourable[9]
Q[10]
Select4/5[11]

Upon release, Q rated the album four out of five stars, 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'."[10] Melody Maker described "Kiss Them for Me" as "gorgeous, wicked and glamorous."[12] 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."[9] In a four out of five review, Select said that "Kiss Them for Me" was a "passionately laidback" single, "exotic" and "funky", with "an underlying hush of electro pulsebeat" making it dancefloor friendly. In the same review, "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 commented 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".[11]

Writing in the 2004 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide, Mark Coleman and Mac Randall said that Superstition shares Peepshow's integration of "synthesizers and a lighter pop touch with the Banshees' trademark howl." Unlike its predecessor, however, they added that the album benefits from the inclusion of a "great single", as "'Kiss Them for Me' weaves a bewitching electronic stitch through Siouxsie's familiar cloth."[13]

Legacy

[edit]

St. Vincent selected "Kiss Them for Me" in the episode 32 of her own radio show Mixtape Delivery Service, on Beats 1 Radio Apple Music.[14] Karin Dreijer of the Knife included and presented "Kiss Them for Me" in a 60-minute program they produced for Sveriges Radio in 2004.[15] Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio was inspired by the 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."[16] Girlpool included "Kiss Them for Me" in a playlist they did for The Fader magazine titled "Fantasie", among songs that "transcend time".[17]

Track listing

[edit]

All music composed by Siouxsie and the Banshees.

All lyrics are written by Siouxsie Sioux, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleLyricsLength
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"Steven Severin3:21
6."Shadowtime"Severin4:28
Side two
No.TitleLyricsLength
7."Silly Thing" 4:41
8."Got to Get Up" 3:17
9."Silver Waterfalls"Budgie4:24
10."Softly" 6:00
11."The Ghost in You"Severin5:01
2014 CD remastered reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsLength
12."Face to Face"Siouxsie4:25
13."Kiss Them for Me (Snapper Mix)" 6:24
14."Kiss Them for Me (Kathak #1 Mix)" 8:55

Personnel

[edit]

Siouxsie and the Banshees

Additional personnel

  • Talvin Singh – percussion, tabla, tavil
  • Stephen Hague – producer
  • Mike "Spike" Drake – engineer
  • Nigel Godrich – assistant engineer
  • Abdul Kroz-Dressah – assistant engineer
  • Will O'Sullivan – assistant engineer
  • Nigel Vichi – design
  • Siouxsie and the Banshees – design
  • Donna Francesca – photography

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Superstition
Chart (1991) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] 55
European Albums (Music & Media)[19] 39
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 25
US Billboard 200[21] 65

References

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  1. ^ "Siouxsie and the Banshees – Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 23 October 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ Gülden, Gitti. "If you knew Siouxsie." Rock World. 1 October 1992.
  3. ^ Paytress, Mark (2003). Siouxsie & the Banshees: The Authorised Biography. Sanctuary. pp. 193–194. ISBN 1-86074-375-7.
  4. ^ Billboard 200 – week 14 September 1991. Billboard. Retrieved 15 August 2015
  5. ^ "Siouxsie and the Banshees – Chart History Billboard 200". Billboard. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2015.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "Siouxsie and the Banshees relaunch archival campaign, new reissues due out in October". Consequenceofsound. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  8. ^ Chris True. "Superstition – Siouxsie and the Banshees". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  9. ^ a b Wilde, Jon. "The Mirror Crack'd" [Superstition – review]. Melody Maker. 8 June 1991.
  10. ^ a b Sutcliffe, Phil. Superstition review. Q. June 1991
  11. ^ a b Brown, Glyn. "Siouxsie and the Banshees Superstition – review." Select. July 1991.
  12. ^ The Stud Brothers. Melody Maker. 11 May 1991.
  13. ^ Coleman, Mark; Randall, Mac (2004). "Siouxsie and the Banshees". In Brackett, Nathan; with Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 740–41. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
  14. ^ "St. Vincent's Mixtape Delivery Service Playlist Ep. 32 St. Vincent's Mixtape Playlist". Music Apple. Retrieved 2 September 2021. St. Vincent selected "Kiss Them for Me" by Siouxsie and the Banshees
  15. ^ "Karin Dreijer 2004". Sverigesradio.se. 17 June 2004. Retrieved 2 July 2021. "Kiss Them for Me" is commented and broadcast around 31 minutes, the radioshow is also archived on Cash Box
  16. ^ "Icon: Siouxsie," The Fader Magazine, The Icon Issue 67, April/May 2010. Page 74
  17. ^ D'Souza, Shaad (9 July 2019). "Girlpool's Fantasie mix is a romantic trip through pop history". Thefader.com. Retrieved 23 January 2021. Girlpool's Current Mood playlist – titled Fantasie deals [...] On the Fantasie playlist, compiled by Tividad, newer songs like Charli XCX and Lizzo's "Blame It on Your Love" [...] rub shoulders with [...] Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Kiss Them For Me."
  18. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 254.
  19. ^ "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 26. 29 June 1991. p. 21. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  20. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  21. ^ "Siouxsie & the Banshees Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
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