Siouxsie And The Banshees - Join Hands

Original Release Date

1979

Release Information

UK LP 1979 (Polydor - POLD 5024)
UK CD 2006 (Polydor/Universal Music Catalogue - 983 691-2)

1 Poppy Day 2:02
2 Regal Zone 3:47
3 Placebo Effect 4:37
4 Icon 5:26
5 Premature Burial 5:57
6 Playground Twist 2:59
7 Mother / Oh Mein Papa 3:22
8 The Lords Prayer 14:14
CD Bonus Tracks
9 Love In A Void (7" AA-Side) 2:35
10 Infantry (Unreleased Track) 3:16

Chart Placings

UK Chart Hit: 13, 5 wks

Credits

LP:

Siouxsie Sioux - voice, piano
John McKay - guitar, saxophone
Steven Severin - bass guitar
Kenny Morris - drums, percussion

Co-produced by Nils Stevenson and Mike Stavrou (For Air Studios)
Recorded at Air Studios, May/June 1979
Engineered by Mike Stavrou
Assisted by Ian Morais

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Additional CD Credits:

'Love In A Void' and 'Infantry' co-produced by Nils Stevenson and Mike Stavrou (For Air Studios), recorded at Air Studios, May/June 1979

Digitally remastered by Gary Moore at Universal Digital Mastering, London

Additional Credits

None yet

Reviews & Opinions

PUNKY GIBBON: Join Hands (which went unreleased in America until Geffen reissued all of their LPs in 1984) is so wrapped up in Gothic imagery ('Icons', 'Premature Burial') and draggy squalls of noise that it mostly defies proper entertainment, with six doomy minutes of 'Premature Burial' and a fourteen-minute version 'The Lord's Prayer' providing little in the way of respite. But as a superior blueprint for the first Adam & The Ants and Bauhaus albums it does its job admirably. 'Playground Twist' offers an interesting look at the sinister elements behind play (a common theme for the group) and 'Mother/Oh Mein Papa' makes intriguing use of a musical box, the first of later, similar experiments.

RED STARR, SMASH HITS, SEPTEMBER 1979: Final report: the music and playing are much better now and really good. Unfortunately the lyrics have got much worse and are now laughably po-faced and pretentious - with odd exceptions like Siouxsie's own 'Mother'. Siouxsie, unhappily, has also taken to foghorn impersonations instead of singing. Stilted and unnatural - I'll never know what held this band together. Includes 'Playground Twist' and a 13 minute 'Lord's Prayer'. Best trax: 'Poppy Day', 'Icon'. (6 out of 10.).

THE NEW MUSIC RECORD & TAPE GUIDE, 1987: The Scream seems positively cheerful in light of its follow-up, Join Hands, a plodding, depressive album notable only for the commission of the band's 'Lord's Prayer' butchery to vinyl.

DAVE THOMPSON, ALTERNATIVE ROCK, 2000: Dense where The Scream was brittle, swampily blurred where it was abattoir sharp, Join Hands trademarked the swooping guitar roar which would live on in the goth world for the next 20 years, and its only mistake was adding the 14-minute 'Lord's Prayer' to the brew. A live legend, its loose jam sensibilities were totally at odds with the focused miasma of the rest of the set.

Additional Notes

This wasn't released in the US until 1983 (Geffen - GHS 24047). The CD was also issued in a jewel case (Polydor, 984 072-6).

Images

UK LP 1979 (Polydor - POLD 5024). Click here for more

UK CD 2006 (Polydor/Universal Music Catalogue - 983 691-2). Digipak. Click here for more