The Scream (album)

The Scream
Studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees
Released	13 November 1978
Recorded	1978
Studio	RAK Studios, London, England
Genre	Post-punk
Length	39:04
Label	Polydor
Producer	Siouxsie and the Banshees Steve Lillywhite
Siouxsie and the Banshees chronology
The Scream (1978) Join Hands (1979)

The Scream is the debut studio album by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. Recorded in one week and mixed in three during August 1978, it was released on 13 November 1978 by record label Polydor. Before the album's release, the band had developed a strong reputation as a live act, and had achieved a Top 10 UK single with "Hong Kong Garden" (which did not appear on the original album).

Upon release, The Scream was widely acclaimed by critics. It was also a commercial success, peaking at No. 12 in the UK Albums Chart. The album is regarded as a landmark of post-punk.

Background

In late 1977 and early 1978, the band received major press coverage but were unable to secure a recording deal. A fan undertook a graffiti campaign in London, spraying the walls of the major record companies with the words "Sign the Banshees: do it now".^[1] Polydor finally signed them in June.^[2]

John McKay had become their guitarist in July 1977; music historian Clinton Heylin argued that the recruitment of McKay along with the formation of Magazine and PiL between August 1977 and May 1978 marked the "true starting-point for English post-punk".^[3] Several songs from The Scream had already been recorded on BBC Radio 1 for two John Peel sessions: "Metal Postcard", "Mirage" and "Nicotine Stain" premiered in November 1977, and "Overground" and "Carcass" three months later in February 1978.

Recording and music

The band in 1978, at the time of the recording: John McKay, Kenny Morris, Siouxsie and Steven Severin

The Scream was recorded in one week during August 1978, and mixed in three weeks.^[4] The band was in the studio while their debut single "Hong Kong Garden" was released, reaching No. 7 in the UK Singles Chart.^[5][6]

The reference points for the lyrics of The Scream were J. G. Ballard and William Burroughs.^[7] In a track such as "Suburban Relapse", the band wrote about suburbia, where they were born and raised. Steven Severin emphasized: "That's why J.G. Ballard resonated so much with us, because all his near-future tales were set in this bizarre suburban wasteland. Suburbia is a place where you can imagine any kind of possibility, because there's space, not urban clutter".^[8]

The opening cut, "Pure", had a spacious, atmospheric sound. Journalist Miranda Sawyer noted that Siouxsie's "vocals came from a distance", that "there was a lot of space" and that "the sound was big and slow".^[7] Kris Needs remarked that at the end, it seeps out into "Jigsaw Feeling", a "song of disorientation and bewilderment" with a "huge, sometimes awe-inspiring" sound".^[4] The last song, "Switch", was arranged in three different sections, "for the different people who swap jobs with terrible results - scientists, general practitioner and vicar".^[4]

Most of the songs were co-written with McKay. Only "Carcass" dated from the band's time with Peter Fenton, their guitarist from January to July 1977.^[9] Siouxsie wanted the Banshees' music to be "cinematic"; Bernard Herrmann's score to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho inspired the music of "Suburban Relapse", where the guitars echo the knife-screeching violins of the famous shower scene.^[10]

Sleeve

The idea of the cover was Siouxsie's. Photographer Paul Wakefield met her and the band to discuss the project: "The idea was to shoot disquieting and unnerving images underwater in a swimming pool – you can’t scream underwater. I wanted to be able to completely control the lighting, and so an indoor pool was the only option. I scouted quite a few pools, but when I saw this pool in the YMCA in Central London, which was dark blue tiled with light blue lane stripes instead of the normal reverse colors, I knew it was the ideal location. I wanted to give it an eerie underwater night-time feel, and this setting was perfect. We used a number of 1000K and 2000K lights around the pool edge. I used school kids as models and they pretty well ran riot."^[11]

Release

The Scream was released on 13 November 1978. It was an almost instant commercial success, peaking at No. 12 on the UK Albums Chart.^[12]

The Scream was reissued in the UK on 27 October 2005 (28 October in the U.S.) as part of Universal's Deluxe Edition series. The new edition featured a remastered version of the album on the first disc, while the second disc contained demo and live tracks together with the singles from that period. A single-disc edition of the reissue was released in 2007.

In November 2016, a vinyl picture disc edition was released, mastered from the original tapes by Kevin Metcalfe.^[13]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[14]
Record Mirror	[15]
Rolling Stone	very favourable[16]
Sounds	[17]
ZigZag	very favourable[4]

Upon its release, The Scream received critical acclaim. Critics in the British and American press generally agreed that the album was a landmark of its time and that the band's willingness to experiment made it a challenging listen.

The Scream was hailed as "the best debut album of the year" by Sounds.^[18] Critic Peter Silverton gave the album 5 stars out of 5,^[17] and the paper listed it at No. 2 in its end-of-year best album list.^[19] Record Mirror also published a 5-star review, saying: The Scream "points to the future, real music for the new age. [...] It is vital, it's moving. It's a ... landmark." Chris Westwood praised the cohesion between the words and the music: "The album's lyrical frame of mind is perfectly reflected in the work of [guitarist] McKay. [Bassist] Severin and [drummer] Morris; constantly shifting, restless, controlled agression, they are as essential as Siouxsie."^[15] Melody Maker described the sound as "strong, abrasive, visceral and constantly inventive, with a thrust that makes the spaces equal partners to the notes", with the critic comparing the album's textures to that of Wire and Pere Ubu.^[20] ZigZag qualified it as a "magnificent record", with reviewer Kris Needs writing: "I can't think of another group who could have made an LP so uncompromising, powerful and disturbing, yet so captivating and enjoyable [...] It is certainly a special classic to join milestones like [David Bowie's] Diamond Dogs, Roxy [Music]'s first and [Lou Reed's] Berlin. This is music of such strength and vision that you just can't not be moved by the time they swing into the final climactic passage of 'Switch', the closing track." Needs qualified the sound as "huge, sometimes awe-inspiring" and commented that drummer Morris created "one of the best drum sounds I've ever heard – the deep echo and floor-shuddering mix accentuating his muted Glitter Band stomp".^[4] Critic Adam Sweeting began his review by saying, "This is a chilling, intense masterpiece". Sweeting then noted that the musicians "have perfected a group sound which is powerful but streamlined", adding that "the words and music combine to produce coolly dazzling images".^[21]

Several journalists from NME also praised the record. Nick Kent first stated that the band sounded "like some unique hybrid of The Velvet Underground mated with much of the ingenuity of Tago Mago-era Can." He then focused his attention on the opening track, saying: "'Pure' takes the sound to its ultimate juncture, leaving spaces that say as much as the notes being played. Certainly, the traditional three-piece sound has never been used in a more unorthodox fashion with such stunning results."^[22] In December 1978, another critic from NME, Paul Morley, described the music on The Scream as "unlike anything in rock":

It is not, as some would say, chaotic – it is controlled. Each instrument operates within its own space, its own time, as if mocking the lines of other instruments. Known rock is inverted, leaving just traces of mimickry of rock's cliches – satire that often bursts with glorious justification into shaking celebration (as on "Helter Skelter"). It is easy to gain attention by doing something which is crudely obviously out of the ordinary, but the Banshees have avoided such futile superficialities: it is innovation, not revolution, not a destruction but new building. It has grown out of rock – Velvets, Station to Station, Bolan. And Siouxsie's staggering voice is dropped, clipped, snapped prominently above this audacious musical drama, emphasizing the dark colours and empty, naked moods.^[23]

Kurt Loder gave a very favourable review in Rolling Stone, remarking that The Scream was a "striking debut album"; and that its "sound, stark though fully realized (thanks partly to a most simpatico co-producer, Steve Lillywhite), is lent added intellectual dimension by a series of disturbingly ambiguous lyrical images".^[16]

One year later, critic Ronnie Gurr wrote about the album: "The Scream, a masterpiece that, for six months, I failed to recognise as such, was a harrowing listening experience."^[24] Writer Don Watson of NME later described the album's music as "something that whipped the past into a great whirlpool of noise, pulling the future down".^[25]

Legacy

Since its release, The Scream has received a number of accolades from the music press. NME rated it at No. 51 in their "Writers All Time 100 Albums" list in 1985.^[26] Uncut magazine placed it at No. 43 in their list of the 100 greatest debut albums.^[27] It was featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[28]

The Scream placed the group among the pioneers of post-punk, as peer Robert Smith of The Cure contended:

"When The Scream came out, I remember it was much slower than everybody thought. It was like the forerunner of the Joy Division sound. It was just big-sounding."^[29]

The Scream had a strong impact on other musicians. Massive Attack covered and sampled "Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)" on their song "Superpredators (Metal Postcard)" in 1997 for the soundtrack to the movie The Jackal.^[30] Morrissey had "Mirage" played during intermission before all concerts of his 1991's Kill Uncle tour.^[31] Morrissey's main composer, Boz Boorer, also rated The Scream highly, ranking it second in his "Top Five Desert Island Album Selection".^[32] Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson cited it as one of her all-time favourite records.^[33][34] The Scream was also hailed by the singer of Suede, Brett Anderson.^[35] Faith No More covered "Switch" in concert^[36] and cited this first Siouxsie and the Banshees' album as one of their influences.^[37] Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran said: "The Scream [...] is a brilliant record – so enigmatic and different".^[38]

Track listing

Personnel

Siouxsie and the Banshees

• Siouxsie Sioux – vocals, production
• Steven Severin – bass guitar, production
• John McKay – guitars, saxophone, production
• Kenny Morris – drums, percussion, production

Technical

• Steve Lillywhite – production

References

Sources

• Heylin, Clinton (2006). Babylon's Burning: From Punk to Grunge. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-102431-3. 
• Paytress, Mark (2003). Siouxsie and the Banshees: The Authorised Biography. Sanctuary Publishing. ISBN 1860743757.