BAUHAUS • Mask
OMNIBUS EDITION
Release date : 19 October 2009
Recording for Bauhaus’ sophomore long player commenced in early 1981 and the following nine months saw a broadening of their palette to construct a more ebullient album around the musical catharsis. Mask’s entangled genesis is chronicled in this limited edition box set which features unreleased early versions and rejected out-takes of many of the songs. Additionally this release includes a newly mixed, complete 1981 live show that captures the band at their incendiary best.
“Managing the sometimes hard-to-negotiate trick of expanding their sound while retaining all the qualities which got them attention to begin with, on Mask the members of Bauhaus consciously stretched themselves into newer areas of music and performance, resulting in an album that was arguably even better than the band’s almost flawless debut. More familiar sides of the band were apparent from the get-go; opening number “Hair of the Dog,” one of the band’s best songs, starts with a double-tracked squalling guitar solo before turning into a stomping, surging flow, carefully paced by sudden silences and equally sudden returns to the music, while Murphy details cases of mental addictions in pithy phrases. The energy wasn’t all just explosive angst and despair, though; the one-two punches of “Kick in the Eye” and “In Fear of Fear” have as much hip-shaking groove and upbeat swing to them as portentous gloom (Ash’s sax skronk on the latter, as well as on the similarly sharp “Dancing,” is a particularly nice touch). Elsewhere, numerous flashes of the band’s quirky sense of humour – something often missed by both fanatical followers and negative critics both – make an appearance; perhaps most amusing is the dry spoken-word lyric beginning “Of Lilies and Remains,” as David J details a goofily grotesque situation as much Edward Gorey as Edgar Allen Poe. Add to that three of the most dramatic things the band ever recorded – the charging, keyboard-accompanied “The Passion of Lovers,” the slow, dark fairy-tale-gone-wrong “Hollow Hills,” and the wracked, trudging title track, where the sudden appearance of an acoustic guitar turns a great song into a near-perfect blend of ugliness and sheer beauty – and the end result was a perfect trouncing of the sophomore-slump myth.” – Ned Raggett : All Music Guide
The re-mastered set includes Mask, a second disc of the non-album singles, previously unreleased demos and alternative versions plus a newly mixed 1981 live show on the third disc. This Omnibus Edition is presented as a limited edition box set with the three CD’s in Japanese-style paper sleeves, reproducing the original vinyl cover art, accompanied by a 48 page book that traces the development of the album with rare memorabilia and photographs and contains the complete lyrics.
CD 1 MASK
Hair Of The Dog
The Passion Of Lovers
Of Lilies And Remains
Dancing
Hollow Hills
Kick In The Eye (2)
In Fear Of Fear
Muscle In Plastic
The Man With X-Ray Eyes
Mask
CD 2 SINGLES & OUT-TAKES
Kick In The Eye (original single version A side)
Satori (single B side)
In Fear Of Fear (original version) *
In Fear Of Dub
Muscle In Plastic (rough mix version) *
Dancing (rough mix version) *
Hair Of The Dog (rough mix version) *
Monkey (Poison Pen) (rough mix version) *
Ziggy Stardust (rough demo version) *
Earwax (full unedited version) *
1-2-3-4 (single B-side)
Muscle In Plastic (rejected album mix) *
Hollow Hills (rejected album mix) *
Hair Of The Dog (rejected album mix) *
Poison Pen *
Kick In The Eye (single re-mix version)
Dave and Danny’s Waspie Dub (# 2) *
*Previously unreleased
CD 3 THIS IS FOR WHEN – LIVE
This Is For When…
The Passion Of Lovers
In The Flat Field
Silent Hedges
In Fear Of Fear
Terror Couple Kill Colonel
The Man With X-Ray Eyes
Dancing
Mask
Rosegarden Funeral Of Sores
Hair Of The Dog
Kick In The Eye
A God In An Alcove
Hollow Hills
Stigmata Martyr
Dark Entries
Bela Lugosi’s Dead
Previously unreleased
REVIEWS
And an excellent ‘Re-issue of the month’ in Record Collector
