''Spleen and Ideal'' is the second studio album by Australian band

Dead Can Dance Dead Can Dance are an Australian music duo first established in 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 des ...

. It was released on 25 November 1985 by 4AD. The album spearheaded the group's sonic transition from their

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

and

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

-influenced roots towards a

neoclassical dark wave Neoclassical dark wave is a subgenre of dark wave music that is characterized by an ethereal atmosphere and soprano vocals as well as strong influences from classical music. Historical context In the middle of the 1980s, the bands Dead Can Dan ...

style.

Background

The band's official website stated that the album title was taken "from 19th Century symbolist ideals". The title is directly taken from "Spleen et Idéal", a collection of poems by French poet

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

which form a section of his magnum opus ''

Les Fleurs du mal ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; en, The Flowers of Evil, italic=yes) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First publish ...

''. Discussing the album's musical style,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

commented that with ''Spleen and Ideal'', Dead Can Dance "fully took the plunge into the heady mix of musical traditions that would come to define its sound and style for the remainder of its career. The straightforward goth affectations are exchanged for a sonic palette and range of imagination". The cover image shows the partial demolition of Grain Elevator No. 2 at Salford Quays, part of Manchester and Salford Docks.

Track listing

Critical reception

In a retrospective review, AllMusic praised the album, calling it "amazing ..'haunting' and 'atmospheric' barely cratcheven the initial surface of the album's power".

Release history

Chart history

Personnel

Lisa Gerrard Lisa Germaine Gerrard (; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian musician, singer and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with music partner Brendan Perry. She is known for her unique singing style technique ( ...

– vocals, all other instruments, production *

Brendan Perry Brendan Michael Perry (born 30 June 1959) is a British singer and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work as half of the duo Dead Can Dance with Lisa Gerrard. Early life Perry was born in Whitechapel, London, England, UK, in 1959 to a mot ...

– vocals, all other instruments, production, sleeve art direction * Gus Ferguson – cello *

Martin McCarrick Martin McCarrick (born 29 July 1962) is an English cellist, keyboardist, guitarist and composer. Aside from being a live and recording artist, he is also a teacher and visiting lecturer in music. Career His first recording in the pop/rock ar ...

– cello * James Pinker –

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

* Tony Ayres – timpani * Richard Avison – trombone * Simon Hogg – trombone * Carolyn Costin – violin * Andrew Hutton – soprano vocals on track 1 ; Technical * John A. Rivers – production,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Jonathan Dee – engineering * Colin Gray – sleeve photography

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Dead Can Dance albums 1985 albums 4AD albums Albums produced by John A. Rivers