''The Sky's Gone Out'' is the third studio album by English

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 an ...

band

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

, released in 1982 by record label Beggars Banquet.

Music

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' said about the music: " inger Peter Murphy comes across like

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

imitating

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world ...

declaiming a pastiche of Lautréamont backed by the early iouxsie and theBanshees."

Release

''The Sky's Gone Out'' was released in October 1982 by the record label Beggars Banquet. It featured a cover version of

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

's " Third Uncle", a new recording of "Spirit", and experiments with

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

, ska and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

. The initial limited edition included the live album '' Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape'' as a bonus. The compact disc reissue dropped the run-out speech from the final track "Exquisite Corpse" (which, like the snoring on the song itself, was done by the band's sound engineer Derek Tompkins). The full length track (6:50) was used for the version released as part of the 5CD box set BBQCD2110. The Canadian edition of this album also contained a free 12" vinyl single featuring " Ziggy Stardust", " Kick in the Eye" and " Lagartija Nick". This version did not have the distinctive artwork from the US and UK editions but was presented as a white field with the album title and band logo in the upper right corner.

Reception

In his retrospective review of the album, Ned Raggett of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote, "On balance it's quite a fine album, but unlike ''

Mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...

'' it misses the infusion of a more positive energy, and simply doesn't gel as perfectly, more notable for individual songs than as a whole."

Legacy

In their feature on the album in 2001 ''

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political r ...

'' described ''The Sky's Gone Out'' as one of the Top 10 essential goth albums.

Track listing

Personnel

; Bauhaus * Peter Murphy – vocals, additional guitar * Daniel Ash – guitars, backing vocals on "Exquisite Corpse," album cover painting *

David J David John Haskins (born 24 April 1957, Northampton, Northamptonshire, England), better known as David J, is a British alternative rock musician, producer, and writer. He is the bassist for the gothic rock band Bauhaus (band), Bauhaus and for ...

– bass, backing vocals on "Exquisite Corpse" * Kevin Haskins – drums, congas on "Third Uncle"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sky's Gone Out, The 1982 albums Bauhaus (band) albums Beggars Banquet Records albums Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios