Peepshow (album)
Encyclopedia
Peepshow is the ninth studio album by the English band Siouxsie and the Banshees and their first as a quintet. With the arrival of multi-instrumentalist Martin McCarrick
, Peepshow was one of their most musically complex albums, including the singles "Peek-a-Boo
" and "The Last Beat of My Heart
".
wrote in its five-star review: "Peepshow takes place in some distorted fairground of the mind where weird and wonderful shapes loom." Melody Maker
highly acclaimed its first single "Peek-a-Boo" and called it "quite the most astounding British record" of 1988, and "a brightly unexpected mixture of black steel and pop disturbance." The paper also praised the band for the ballad "The Last Beat of My Heart". Chris Roberts said: "the infinite pinnacle is their one joint effort, the bravura hymn "The Last Beat of My Heart". As Martin McCarrick's accordian and Budgie's directly intelligent rhythms underlie its pathos, this elegy is translated by Sioux with capital beatitude. It's the Banshees' most courageous arabesque in some time." Record Mirror
also particularly enjoyed that song when reviewing the album. "The highlight is the restrained 'The Last Beat of My Heart', where Siouxsie's voice explores new ground as she caresses a haunting melody."
NME
noted a change of approach in the musical direction: "Peepshow is the best Banshees record since A Kiss in the Dreamhouse because it's the Banshees deciding to be a pop
band rather than a rock
group".
Spin
published a glowing review of the album in their November issue. Critic Tony Fletcher first insisted on "Peek-A-Boo" and wrote it is "a deconstruction and reconstruction of a backwards Banshees backing track, its mood fell in perfectly with their beloved London's summer fascination with the sparcity and confusion that call Acid House. Psychedelic and how! A crazed assortment of fairground accordians, abrupt horns, distant to-and-fro vocals-exotic, erotic, a dancefloor winner for sure and all of three minutes short. A return so victorious that the Banshees had their biggest homeland hit in years before most of us knew that it was out". Spin then talked about the other tracks in positive terms and said : there is "an almost lilting reggae feel to the beginning of "Killing Jar", a fragile, waiflike Siouxsie backed only by translucent guitar and a keyboard bass on the brief "RawHead and Bloody Bones", and a delightful, majestic ballad the likes of which it had been a safe assumption was beyond their reach on "The Last Beat Of My heart". There is a more familiarly foreboding rock approach to "Scarecrow" and "Burn-Up", which sounds like "Spellbound" reworked into a furiously frenzied finale, angry and unforgiving. As Peepshow ends with the drawn-out "Rhapsody", Siouxsie's operatic flings seem to be a celebration of her reawakened capacity to thrill." Fletcher concluded by this sentence : "she and the band sound as confident, abandoned and excited as when they started.
later covered
"The Last Beat of My Heart" on the suggestion of Arcade Fire singer Win Butler. The Decemberists
have also praised "The Last Beat of My Heart" as one of their favorite Siouxsie and the Banshees songs. In another genre, Sir Mix-a-Lot
used a sample of "Peek-a-Boo
" in his song "The (Peek-a-Boo) Game", from his 1989 album Seminar.
Singles
Martin McCarrick
Martin McCarrick is an English cellist, keyboardist and guitarist.He is best known for his work Siouxsie and the Banshees from 1987 until 1995. He recorded with them three studio albums : Peepshow, Superstition and The Rapture...
, Peepshow was one of their most musically complex albums, including the singles "Peek-a-Boo
Peek-a-Boo (song)
"Peek-a-Boo" is a song by English alternative rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released in 1988 as the first single from the band's ninth studio album Peepshow...
" and "The Last Beat of My Heart
The Last Beat of My Heart
"The Last Beat of My Heart" is a song written, produced and recorded by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released in late 1988 as the third and final single from the band's ninth studio album Peepshow....
".
Reception
Peepshow was received very warmly by critics. Q magazineQ (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
wrote in its five-star review: "Peepshow takes place in some distorted fairground of the mind where weird and wonderful shapes loom." Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
highly acclaimed its first single "Peek-a-Boo" and called it "quite the most astounding British record" of 1988, and "a brightly unexpected mixture of black steel and pop disturbance." The paper also praised the band for the ballad "The Last Beat of My Heart". Chris Roberts said: "the infinite pinnacle is their one joint effort, the bravura hymn "The Last Beat of My Heart". As Martin McCarrick's accordian and Budgie's directly intelligent rhythms underlie its pathos, this elegy is translated by Sioux with capital beatitude. It's the Banshees' most courageous arabesque in some time." Record Mirror
Record Mirror
Record Mirror was a British weekly pop music newspaper, founded by Isadore Green and featured, news articles, interviews, record charts, record reviews, concert reviews, letters from readers and photographs. The paper became respected by both mainstream pop music fans and serious record collectors...
also particularly enjoyed that song when reviewing the album. "The highlight is the restrained 'The Last Beat of My Heart', where Siouxsie's voice explores new ground as she caresses a haunting melody."
NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
noted a change of approach in the musical direction: "Peepshow is the best Banshees record since A Kiss in the Dreamhouse because it's the Banshees deciding to be a pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
band rather than a rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
group".
Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
published a glowing review of the album in their November issue. Critic Tony Fletcher first insisted on "Peek-A-Boo" and wrote it is "a deconstruction and reconstruction of a backwards Banshees backing track, its mood fell in perfectly with their beloved London's summer fascination with the sparcity and confusion that call Acid House. Psychedelic and how! A crazed assortment of fairground accordians, abrupt horns, distant to-and-fro vocals-exotic, erotic, a dancefloor winner for sure and all of three minutes short. A return so victorious that the Banshees had their biggest homeland hit in years before most of us knew that it was out". Spin then talked about the other tracks in positive terms and said : there is "an almost lilting reggae feel to the beginning of "Killing Jar", a fragile, waiflike Siouxsie backed only by translucent guitar and a keyboard bass on the brief "RawHead and Bloody Bones", and a delightful, majestic ballad the likes of which it had been a safe assumption was beyond their reach on "The Last Beat Of My heart". There is a more familiarly foreboding rock approach to "Scarecrow" and "Burn-Up", which sounds like "Spellbound" reworked into a furiously frenzied finale, angry and unforgiving. As Peepshow ends with the drawn-out "Rhapsody", Siouxsie's operatic flings seem to be a celebration of her reawakened capacity to thrill." Fletcher concluded by this sentence : "she and the band sound as confident, abandoned and excited as when they started.
Legacy
The band DeVotchKaDeVotchKa
DeVotchKa is a four-piece multi-instrumental and vocal ensemble. They take their name from the Russian word devochka , meaning "girl"...
later covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
"The Last Beat of My Heart" on the suggestion of Arcade Fire singer Win Butler. The Decemberists
The Decemberists
The Decemberists are an indie folk rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, fronted by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. The other members of the band are Chris Funk , Jenny Conlee , Nate Query , and John Moen .The band's...
have also praised "The Last Beat of My Heart" as one of their favorite Siouxsie and the Banshees songs. In another genre, Sir Mix-a-Lot
Sir Mix-a-Lot
Anthony Ray , better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot, is an emcee and producer based in Seattle, Washington. The founder of the Nastymix record label, he debuted in 1988 with Swass...
used a sample of "Peek-a-Boo
Peek-a-Boo (song)
"Peek-a-Boo" is a song by English alternative rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released in 1988 as the first single from the band's ninth studio album Peepshow...
" in his song "The (Peek-a-Boo) Game", from his 1989 album Seminar.
Track listing
All tracks written by Siouxsie & the Banshees.- "Peek-a-BooPeek-a-Boo (song)"Peek-a-Boo" is a song by English alternative rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released in 1988 as the first single from the band's ninth studio album Peepshow...
" – 3:12 - "The Killing JarThe Killing Jar"The Killing Jar" is a song written, produced and recorded by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released in 1988 as the second single from the band's ninth studio album Peepshow....
" – 4:04 - "Scarecrow" – 5:06
- "Carousel" – 4:26
- "Burn-Up" – 4:32
- "Ornaments of Gold" – 3:50
- "Turn to Stone" – 4:05
- "Rawhead and Bloodybones" – 2:29
- "The Last Beat of My HeartThe Last Beat of My Heart"The Last Beat of My Heart" is a song written, produced and recorded by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released in late 1988 as the third and final single from the band's ninth studio album Peepshow....
" – 4:30 - "Rhapsody" – 6:23
Personnel
- Siouxsie SiouxSiouxsie SiouxSiouxsie Sioux is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer of the critically acclaimed rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees and of its splinter group The Creatures . The Banshees produced eleven studio albums and a string of hit singles including "Hong Kong Garden",...
: vocals - Steven SeverinSteven SeverinSteven Severin , is an English musician, composer, bassist and co-founding member of Siouxsie and the Banshees....
: electric bass - BudgieBudgie (drummer)-External links:*...
: drums, percussion and harmonica - Martin McCarrickMartin McCarrickMartin McCarrick is an English cellist, keyboardist and guitarist.He is best known for his work Siouxsie and the Banshees from 1987 until 1995. He recorded with them three studio albums : Peepshow, Superstition and The Rapture...
: cello, keyboards, accordion - Jon Klein: guitar
- Mike Hedges: producer, engineer
- Siouxsie & the Banshees: producers
Charts
Album| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
68 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | "Peek-a-Boo" | UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
16 |
| 1988 | "Peek-a-Boo" | US Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
14 |
| 1988 | "Peek-a-Boo" | US Modern Rock Tracks Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs... |
1 |
| 1988 | "Peek-a-Boo" | US Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
53 |
| 1988 | "The Killing Jar" | US Modern Rock Tracks | 2 |
| 1989 | "The Killing Jar" | UK Singles Chart | 41 |
| 1989 | "The Killing Jar" | US Hot Dance Club Play | 37 |