The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees

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The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees
Siouxsie & the Banshees-The Best Of.jpg
Greatest hits album by
Released12 November 2002
Recorded1978–1995
Genre Post-punk
alternative rock
Length57:13(Disc 1)
64:35 (Disc 2)
Label Polydor
Geffen (US)
Producer Various
Siouxsie and the Banshees
compilations chronology
Twice Upon a Time – The Singles
(1992)
The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees
(2002)
Downside Up
(2004)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Universal Music Group released The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees in 2002 as the first reissue of the Siouxsie and the Banshees remastered back-catalogue. The most successful singles of the band were presented in a non-chronological order.

Contents

Content

This best-of includes an unreleased track "Dizzy" (re-edited), only available on this CD; it was recorded in late 1994. The original version of "Dizzy" was included on a one track CD sold at the Seven Year Itch concerts of 2002. "Dizzy" would later feature in the 2006 film Notes on a Scandal .

The Best of also includes for the first time the complete version of "This Wheel's on Fire" with no fade out in the end. Also, the Mark Saunders mix of "Stargazer" was used instead of the original album version. All except for two of the tracks had previously been included on Once Upon a Time/The Singles and Twice Upon a Time – The Singles , although there were some minor differences in song versions on this collection.

The double CD edition also contains many remixes and an unreleased extended version of a non-album single from 1987, "Song from the Edge of the World". The bonus DVD includes music videos for all the featured songs on the main disc excluding "Dizzy".

Release and reception

The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees was released on 12 November 2002. It was issued in three editions; single disc, double CD and Sound & Vision double CD + DVD (the latter version was released in 2004 and re-issued on 1 October 2007).

Singer Spoek Mathambo selected the compilation in his 12 "favourite albums", explaining he discovered it during his formative years. "My friend gave me the Best Of album, and through college I just listened to it a lot: 'Israel', 'Dear Prudence', 'Hong Kong Garden', 'Peek-a-Boo'. [...] Siouxsie, for me, was very easy to listen to. Plus, the songs are super hooky". [2]

When reviewing the compilation, Billboard talked about an "adventurous, sumptuous, and contagious pop". [3]

Track listing

Disc one
  1. "Dear Prudence" (1983)
  2. "Hong Kong Garden" (1978)
  3. "Cities in Dust" (1985)
  4. "Peek-a-Boo" (1988)
  5. "Happy House" (1980)
  6. "Kiss Them for Me" (1991)
  7. "Face to Face" (1992)
  8. "Dizzy" (1995, previously unreleased)
  9. "Israel" (1980)
  10. "Christine" (1980)
  11. "Spellbound" (1981)
  12. "Stargazer" (1995)
  13. "Arabian Knights" (1981)
  14. "The Killing Jar" (1988)
  15. "This Wheel's on Fire" (1987)
Disc two
  1. "Spellbound" (extended 12" #2 version)
  2. "Song from the Edge of the World" (Columbus mix)
  3. "Kiss Them for Me" (Kathak #2 mix)
  4. "Peek-a-Boo" (Silver Dollar mix)
  5. "The Killing Jar" (Lepidopteristic mix)
  6. "Cities in Dust" (Eruption mix)
  7. "Dazzle" (Glamour mix)
  8. "Stargazer" (Mambo Sun remix)
  9. "Face to Face" (Catatonic mix)
DVD
  1. "Dear Prudence"
  2. "Hong Kong Garden"
  3. "Cities in Dust"
  4. "Peek-a-Boo"
  5. "Happy House"
  6. "Kiss Them for Me"
  7. "Face to Face"
  8. "Israel"
  9. "Christine"
  10. "Spellbound"
  11. "Stargazer"
  12. "Arabian Knights"
  13. "The Killing Jar"
  14. "This Wheel's on Fire"

A 2 cd + 1 dvd Deluxe : sound & vision edition was released in June 2004 in a long box. It was re-issued in a digipack format in October 2007.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siouxsie and the Banshees</span> British rock band

Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".

<i>Nocturne</i> (Siouxsie and the Banshees album) 1983 live album by Siouxsie and the Banshees

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siouxsie Sioux</span> English singer

Susan Janet Ballion, known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She came to prominence as the leader and main lyricist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, who were active from 1976 to 1996. They released 11 studio albums, and had several UK Top 20 singles including "Hong Kong Garden", "Happy House" and "Peek-a-Boo", plus a US Top 25 single in the Billboard Hot 100, with "Kiss Them for Me".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dear Prudence</span> 1968 song by the Beatles

"Dear Prudence" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles. The song was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. Written in Rishikesh during the group's trip to India in early 1968, it was inspired by actress Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence Farrow, who became obsessive about meditating while practising with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Her designated partners on the meditation course, Lennon and George Harrison, attempted to coax Farrow out of her seclusion, which led to Lennon writing the song.

<i>Kaleidoscope</i> (Siouxsie and the Banshees album) 1980 studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees

Kaleidoscope is the third studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released in 1980 by record label Polydor. With the departure of John McKay and Kenny Morris and their replacement by two new musicians, Budgie on drums and John McGeoch on guitars, the band changed their musical direction and offered an album containing a wide variety of colors. "It was almost a different band", said Siouxsie.

<i>Hyæna</i> 1984 studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees

Hyæna is the sixth studio album by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released in 1984 by Polydor. The opening track, "Dazzle", featured strings played by musicians of the (LSO) London Symphonic Orchestra, a 27-piece orchestra called the "Chandos Players"; it was scored from a tune that Siouxsie Sioux had composed on piano. Hyæna is the only studio album that guitarist Robert Smith of the Cure composed and recorded with Siouxsie and the Banshees.

<i>Tinderbox</i> (Siouxsie and the Banshees album) 1986 studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees

Tinderbox is the seventh studio album by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released on 21 April 1986 by Wonderland and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and by Geffen Records in the United States. It was the band's first full-length effort recorded with then-new guitarist John Valentine Carruthers; Carruthers had previously only added a few parts on the 1984 EP The Thorn. The first recording sessions for the album took place at Hansa by the Wall in Berlin in May 1985.

<i>Peepshow</i> (album) 1988 studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees

Peepshow is the ninth studio album by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released in September 1988 on Polydor. It was their first record as a quintet. With the arrival of multi-instrumentalist Martin McCarrick and guitarist Jon Klein, the group recorded a multifaceted album with a variety of influences. It included the singles "Peek-a-Boo", "the Killing Jar" and "The Last Beat of My Heart". The record was a commercial success, peaking at No. 20 in the UK, and No. 68 on the US Billboard 200 chart in the week of 3 December 1988. It spent a total of 20 weeks on that chart. "Peek-a-Boo" reached number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and "the Killing Jar" got the number two spot.

<i>Twice Upon a Time – The Singles</i> 1992 greatest hits album by Siouxsie and the Banshees

Twice Upon a Time - The Singles is the second singles compilation released by Siouxsie and the Banshees. It follows the same format as Once Upon a Time/The Singles, presenting the songs in chronological order. Twice picks up where Once left off, and it includes several hits not included on regular Banshees studio albums. Instead of the studio version released as a single, "The Last Beat of My Heart" is presented as a live recording, from their performance at Lollapalooza in Seattle. Also appearing on CD for the first time here is "Face to Face", a song from the soundtrack of the film Batman Returns. "Fear of the Unknown" also appears as a "House of Fear" remix which is significantly different from the original version. The collection is missing the 1987 single "Song from the Edge of the World", which was included on a later hits collection.

<i>The Seven Year Itch</i> (Siouxsie and the Banshees album) 2003 live album by Siouxsie and the Banshees

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<i>Downside Up</i> 2004 box set by Siouxsie and the Banshees

Downside Up is a four-disc box set collecting B-sides and bonus material from the catalogue of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Also included is The Thorn EP, originally released in 1984. Most of these songs were classics of the band's live repertoire like "Pulled to Bits", "Eve White/Eve Black", "Red Over White", "I Promise", "Something Blue", "El Día de los Muertos" and "B Side Ourselves". The box set was also released on iTunes.

The discography of Siouxsie and the Banshees, an English rock band, consists of eleven studio albums, three live albums, four compilation albums, one extended play (EP), and thirty singles. This list does not include material recorded by band members with the Creatures or the Glove, or solo work by Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peek-a-Boo (Siouxsie and the Banshees song)</span> 1988 single by Siouxsie and the Banshees

"Peek-a-Boo" is a song by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released in 1988 as the first single from the band's ninth studio album, Peepshow. Melody Maker described the song as "a brightly unexpected mixture of black steel and pop disturbance" and qualified its genre as "thirties hip hop". "Peek-a-Boo" was rated "Single of the Week" in both Sounds and NME. Sounds wrote that it was a "brave move", "playful and mysterious". NME described it as "Oriental marching band hip hop" with "catchy accordion." They then said : "If this nation was served by anything approaching a decent pop radio station, "Peek A Boo" would be a huge hit."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Killing Jar</span> 1988 single by Siouxsie and the Banshees

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stargazer (Siouxsie and the Banshees song)</span> 1995 single by Siouxsie and the Banshees

"Stargazer" is a song written, produced, and performed by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released as the second single from the band's 11th studio album, The Rapture. It was the band's last single released, due to their disbandment the following year.

<i>Dreamshow</i> 2005 video by Siouxsie

Dreamshow is a live DVD by Siouxsie, released in 2005. It was filmed at the Royal Festival Hall in London in October 2004. The songs are performed on stage with the Millennia Ensemble orchestra. The setlist incorporates music from her bands Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Creatures.

<i>At the BBC</i> (Siouxsie and the Banshees album) 2009 box set by Siouxsie and the Banshees

At the BBC is a live box set containing three CDs and a DVD by alternative rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released in June 2009 by record label Universal International.

<i>Finale: The Last Mantaray & More Show</i> 2009 video by Siouxsie

Finale: The Last Mantaray & More Show is a live DVD by Siouxsie, released in 2009. It is the last show of the Mantaray and More Tour, which took place on 29 September 2008 at London's KOKO in Camden.

"Tattoo" is a song written by Siouxsie and the Banshees that was first released as the B-side of the "Dear Prudence" single in 1983. It was included on two compilations: 2004's Downside Up and 2015's Spellbound : The Collection.

<i>All Souls</i> (album) 2022 compilation album by Siouxsie and the Banshees

All Souls is a compilation album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on vinyl on 21 October 2022. It is a collection of singles, album tracks and curated B-sides. It was conceived by Siouxsie Sioux as a seasonal compilation "to celebrate the autumn equinox and its festivities".

References

  1. Wilson, MacKenzie. "The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees – Siouxsie and the Banshees review". AllMusic . Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  2. Phillips, Lior (30 August 2017). "Beat Codes: Spoek Mathambo's Favourite Albums". The Quietus. Archived from the original on 10 March 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  3. The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Billboard, 16 November 2002, retrieved 5 May 2010