Into the Labyrinth (Dead Can Dance album)

Last updated

Into the Labyrinth
Into labyrinth - dead can dance.jpg
Studio album by
Dead Can Dance
Released13 September 1993
RecordedEarly 1993
Genre Neoclassical dark wave, world, neo-medieval
Length
  • 55:26 (CD)
  • 65:25 (LP)
Label
Producer Brendan Perry
Dead Can Dance chronology
A Passage in Time
(1991)		Into the Labyrinth
(1993)		 Toward the Within
(1994)
Singles from Into the Labyrinth
  1. "The Host of Seraphim / Yulunga"
    Released: 1993 ( Baraka promo)
  2. "The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove"
    Released: 1993
  3. "The Carnival Is Over"
    Released: 1993 (U.S promo)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]
Christgau's Consumer Guide D [2]
Entertainment Weekly A− [3]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]

Into the Labyrinth is the sixth studio album by Australian band Dead Can Dance, released on 13 September 1993, by 4AD. It marked a strong shift from their previous albums, putting ethnic music influences at the forefront, as would be the case in the later albums. It was their first album completed on their own without the aid of guest musicians, and their first album to have a major-label release in the US, thanks to a distribution deal that 4AD had with Warner Bros. Records. It featured the single "The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove". Into the Labyrinth was a major success, selling more than 500,000 copies worldwide. [6]

Contents

Overview

Into the Labyrinth was a marked change on many fronts from the previous album Aion , released three years earlier. Perry and Gerrard were now living far apart and writing music independently (Perry was living on an island in the middle of a river in Ireland, while Gerrard lived in Australia with her husband and daughter). For the album, Gerrard traveled back to Perry's studio Quivvy Church (in County Cavan, Ireland) where they merged their songs and recorded the album over a period of three months together. This was the first album where Perry and Gerrard played all instruments, without guest musicians. The lyrics are in English on tracks 2–4, 8, and 11. Gerrard sings in a self-created wordless vocal technique similar to glossolalia on tracks 1, 5–7, 9–10. Tracks 3 and 10 were performed a cappella.

In the UK, the CD album was simultaneously released along a limited edition double vinyl LP (featuring "Bird" and "Spirit", the two 1991 bonus tracks from A Passage in Time ).

The title alludes to the classic legend of Greek mythology about Theseus going into the Labyrinth against the Minotaur. While not necessarily a concept album, this link adds some conceptual cohesion to the album. This theme is reflected in several song titles: "Ariadne" (the legendary Ariadne giving her clew to Theseus); "Towards the Within" (of the Labyrinth, the Minotaur being at the centre); "The Spider's Stratagem" (waiting at the centre of her web like the Minotaur waiting at the centre of the Labyrinth—but also a Bertolucci film adapting a Borges short story from Labyrinths): and "Emmeleia" (the Greek dance of tragedy)

Track information

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Yulunga (Spirit Dance)"6:56
2."The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove"6:17
3."The Wind That Shakes the Barley"2:49
4."The Carnival Is Over"5:28
5."Ariadne"1:54
6."Saldek"1:07
7."Towards the Within"7:06
8."Tell Me About the Forest (You Once Called Home)"5:42
9."The Spider's Stratagem"6:42
10."Emmeleia"2:04
11."How Fortunate the Man With None"9:15

Tracks written by Dead Can Dance (Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry), except track 3 (words and music by Dr Robert Dwyer Joyce, traditional, arranged by Dead Can Dance) and track 11 (words by Bertolt Brecht, English translation by John Willett).

The 1993 (DAD 3013), 2008 and 2010 limited-edition double-vinyl LP releases had / 1–3 / 4–7 // "Bird" 8–9 / "Spirit" 10–11 / adding the following:

The 2016 double-vinyl reissue (DAD 3621) features the CD's track list over sides A, B and C; "Bird" and "Spirit" make up side D of this release.

They were the two earlier bonus tracks from the 1991 compilation A Passage in Time , and they were collected again on Dead Can Dance (2001).

Personnel

Musical

Instruments include: bongos (on 9), sitar (on 2, 7), tabla (on 7, 9).

Technical

Artwork

Charts

Chart performance for Into the Labyrinth
Chart (1993)Peak
position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [12] 70
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [13] 54
UK Albums (OCC) [14] 47
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [15] 5
US Billboard 200 [16] 122

Release history

CountryDate
United Kingdom13 September 1993
United States14 September 1993
Spain1994
Russia2006
Japan, United Kingdom, United States, Europe2008
United States2010

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dead Can Dance</span> British-Australian music duo

Dead Can Dance are an Australian world music/darkwave band from Melbourne. Currently composed of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, the group formed in 1981. They relocated to London the following year. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described Dead Can Dance's style as "constructed soundscapes of mesmerising grandeur and solemn beauty; African polyrhythms, Gaelic folk, Gregorian chant, Middle Eastern music, mantras, and art rock."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Gerrard</span> Australian musician, singer and composer

Lisa Germaine Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer and composer and member of the music group Dead Can Dance with music partner Brendan Perry. She is known for her unique singing style technique (glossolalia). She has a dramatic contralto voice and has a vocal range of three octaves.

<i>Dead Can Dance</i> (album) 1984 studio album by Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance is the debut studio album by Australian musical act Dead Can Dance. It was released on 27 February 1984 on the 4AD label.

<i>Wake</i> (Dead Can Dance album) 2003 compilation album by Dead Can Dance

Wake is a compilation album by Dead Can Dance, released in 2003. It contains 26 tracks over two discs. It includes the song "The Lotus Eaters", recorded in 1998 as the last work by the band before their initial breakup.

<i>Duality</i> (Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke album) 1998 studio album by Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke

Duality is a collaborative album by Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke released in 1998. It was Lisa Gerrard's second post-Dead Can Dance album after The Mirror Pool from 1995. Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry released their last album in 1996 and had officially disbanded Dead Can Dance earlier in 1998.

<i>Spleen and Ideal</i> 1985 studio album by Dead Can Dance

Spleen and Ideal is the second studio album by Australian band Dead Can Dance. It was released on 25 November 1985 by 4AD. The album spearheaded the group's sonic transition from their post-punk and gothic rock-influenced roots towards a neoclassical dark wave style.

<i>Within the Realm of a Dying Sun</i> 1987 studio album by Dead Can Dance

Within the Realm of a Dying Sun is the third studio album by Australian band Dead Can Dance. It was released on 27 July 1987 by 4AD.

<i>The Serpents Egg</i> (album) 1988 studio album by Dead Can Dance

The Serpent's Egg is the fourth studio album by the Australian band Dead Can Dance, released on 24 October 1988 by record label 4AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brendan Perry</span> British singer and multi-instrumentalist (born 1959)

Brendan Michael Perry is a British singer and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work as half of the duo Dead Can Dance with Lisa Gerrard.

<i>Toward the Within</i> 1994 live album by Dead Can Dance

Toward the Within is the first live album by Australian band Dead Can Dance, released on 24 October 1994 by 4AD. It contains 15 songs, of which only four appeared on their previous albums, and two of which were later re-recorded and included on Lisa Gerrard's first solo album, The Mirror Pool. The others previously existed only in live performances and unofficial bootlegs, but were not officially released until Toward the Within. Along with Perry and Gerrard were a number of musicians who had performed with them on other occasions.

<i>Itll End in Tears</i> 1984 studio album by This Mortal Coil

It'll End in Tears is the first album released by 4AD collective This Mortal Coil, an umbrella title for a loose grouping of guest musicians and vocalists brought together by label boss Ivo Watts-Russell. The album was released on 1 October 1984, and reached #38 on the UK Albums Chart. It features many of the artists on the 4AD roster at the time, including Cocteau Twins, Colourbox, and Dead Can Dance; as well as key post-punk figure Howard Devoto, who sang "Holocaust", one of two covers of songs from the Third/Sister Lovers album by Big Star. The other Alex Chilton-penned track, album opener "Kangaroo", was released as a single to promote the album. Two key songs were performed by Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins, including Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren", which reached #66 on the UK Charts when released as This Mortal Coil's debut single a year before the album. The song remained on the UK Indie Chart for almost two years. Fraser also performed on "Another Day" by Roy Harper. 4AD would go on to release two further albums under the name of This Mortal Coil: Filigree & Shadow (1986) and Blood (1991).

<i>The Mirror Pool</i> 1995 studio album by Lisa Gerrard

The Mirror Pool is Lisa Gerrard's first solo album, released by 4AD in 1995.

<i>Spiritchaser</i> 1996 studio album by Dead Can Dance

Spiritchaser is the seventh studio album by Dead Can Dance, and would prove to be the last before the duo reunited fourteen years later for Anastasis. It expands on its exploration of world music, and like Into the Labyrinth, was recorded at Quivvy Church, Brendan Perry's personal studio in Ireland.

<i>Dead Can Dance (1981–1998)</i> 2001 compilation album by Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance (1981–1998) (2001) is a four-disc box set, containing three CDs of music spanning Dead Can Dance's career and a DVD of their 1994 video release Toward the Within.

<i>Garden of the Arcane Delights</i> 1984 EP by Dead Can Dance

Garden of the Arcane Delights is the first EP by Australian band Dead Can Dance. It was released in August 1984 on record label 4AD. The tracks were later added to Dead Can Dance's self-titled debut album when it was re-released on CD.

<i>Aion</i> (Dead Can Dance album) 1990 studio album by Dead Can Dance

Aion is the fifth studio album by the Australian band Dead Can Dance, released on 11 June 1990 by 4AD. The first album Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry wrote after the end of their romantic partnership, it was recorded at Perry's new estate, Quivvy Church in Ireland, with additional recording on "The Arrival and the Reunion" and "The End of Words" taking place at Woodbine Street Recording Studios in Leamington Spa.

<i>Eye of the Hunter</i> 1999 studio album by Brendan Perry

Eye of the Hunter is the debut solo album by Brendan Perry, previously the male half of the band Dead Can Dance. The album was released by 4AD on 4 October 1999 in the UK and a day later in the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Ulrich</span> British songwriter and recording artist

Peter Lawrence Ulrich is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, recording artist and author.

<i>Anastasis</i> (album) 2012 studio album by Dead Can Dance

Anastasis is a 2012 studio album by the British-Australian band Dead Can Dance. It is the eighth studio album by the band and the first after Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard disbanded in 1998. It was officially released on 13 August 2012 by PIAS Recordings, 16 years after the group's last album, Spiritchaser. It is also the band's first album since it left 4AD. "Anastasis" is the Greek word for "resurrection".

<i>Garden of the Arcane Delights - The John Peel Sessions</i> 2016 compilation album by Dead Can Dance

Garden of the Arcane Delights + The John Peel Sessions is a compilation coupling the re-issue of the first and only EP by Australian band Dead Can Dance and two different sessions for the BBC Radio One John Peel show. It was released in November 2016 on record label 4AD with the Peel-supervised recordings allowed by arrangement with BBC Music.

References

Sources consulted

Endnotes

  1. ↑ Raggett, Ned. "Into the Labyrinth – Dead Can Dance". AllMusic . Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  2. ↑ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Dead Can Dance: Into the Labyrinth". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s . St. Martin's Press. ISBN   0-312-24560-2 . Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  3. ↑ Jones, Anderson (15 October 1993). "Into the Labyrinth". Entertainment Weekly . p. 76. Archived from the original on 25 April 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  4. ↑ Ali, Lorraine (7 November 1993). "Dead Can Dance, 'Into the Labyrinth,' 4AD". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  5. ↑ "Dead Can Dance: Into the Labyrinth". Q (86): 116. November 1993.
  6. ↑ "The Quietus | Features | A Quietus Interview | as Wide as the Universe: Dead Can Dance Interviewed". 4 September 2012.
  7. ↑ Aboriginal Dreamtime Legends: "Yulunga and the Watagora", Burramadagal clan of the Dharrug tribe
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Into the Labyrinth press kit, op. cit.
  9. ↑ "Joy Division - Closer Lyrics - Full Album".
  10. ↑ "Ancient Greece and Rome 1200 B.c.e.-476 C.e.: Dance"
  11. ↑ In 1996, Ron Butters (Professor of English and Cultural Anthropology and a member of the Linguistics Faculty) was asked by a student if he could identify the language of "Emmeleia". Butters made a transcription but couldn't go further, then asked about it on the American Dialect Society mailing-list but received no answer. (Link to Butters' 1996 post with transcript at AmericanDialect.org.) Butters' transcription could possibly be the basis for all the current "Emmeleia lyrics" pages, but because the lyrics pages are much more precise, it is possible that the original Gerrard script was published somewhere or provided to fans.
  12. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Dead Can Dance – Into the Labyrinth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  13. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Dead Can Dance – Into the Labyrinth" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  15. ↑ "Independent Albums". Music Week . 2 October 1993. p. 20. ISSN   0265-1548.
  16. ↑ "Billboard 200 – Week of October 2, 1993". Billboard . Retrieved 29 August 2023.
About "Emmeleia" lyrics
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.