Audio Cassette review:
Dead Can Dance - Spleen and Ideal

Dead Can Dance - Spleen and Ideal

Band: Dead Can Dance Title: Spleen and Ideal Rating: Release Date: 22 March, 1994 Media: Audio Cassette Tracks: 1: De Profundis [Out of the Depths of Sorrow] 2: Ascension 3: Circumradiant Dawn 4: Cardinal Sin 5: Mesmerism 6: Enigma of the Absolute 7: Advent 8: Avatar 9: Indoctrination (A Design for Living)

Customer Reviews A transitional album -- and a good one Spleen and Ideal, Dead Can Dance's second full album, can be best seen as a transition from their 80s new wave/dark pop beginnings towards the more orchestral/operatic sound of their next album, Within The Realm of a Dying Sun. Made up of the duo of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, Dead Can Dance melded their own unique and changing sound from a variety of influences. As such, it features some of the best of both these worlds. The two opening tracks feature strings, horns, and spine-tingling vocal work from Lisa, conjuring up associations of medieval liturgy, classical dirges and dark opera, and on Enigma of the Absolute, Brendan sounds a bit like a goth Frank Sinatra, crooning mythically-tinged lyrics over a background of harpsichord, thundering tympani and pulsing string section. By contrast, his songs The Cardinal Sin and Advent utilize more standard drums and bass backing, and the combination of crashing 80s backbeat, wailing vocals and shimmering Yang Ch'in (Chinese hammer dulcimer) turn Lisa's track Avatar into a thrilling dark wave headbanger anthem. If you think you may be interested in the group's early sound and/or their rich and distinctive middle period, this CD not a bad place to start your explorations. Brendan Perry's brooding romanticism makes him the modern Lord Byron The instrumentation is very well done with African drums mixed with violin and cello for a mellow string sound. This CD has a great mix of the voices of Brendan Perry with his masculine seductive baritone and that of Lisa Gerrard, whose voice reminds me of what ancient Greek and Roman priestesses must have sounded like as they chanted to the gods. However the trombones are powerful and strategically placed and the timpani adds a sense of the Mediterranean. Brendan Perry at times sounds brooding, romantic, and passionate like a contemporary Lord Bryon. His lyrics are usually more easy to understand that Lisa Gerrard whose voice is strongest when she evokes the Middle Eastern traditions. The five strongest works on the CD are De Profundis, Ascension, The Cardinal Sin, Enigma of the Absolute, and Indoctrination. Baudelair! not spleen Spleen et Ideal is the title of a section of XIXth century poet Charles Baudelair's Flowers of Evil (Les fleurs du mal). . You can see a complete list of all Dead Can Dance discography, or go back to the Dead Can Dance tabs