BAUHAUS - Press The Eject And Give Me The Tape LP (White vinyl)

Label: Beggars Banquet

Recorded live at various venues between 1981 and 1982, 'press the eject and give me the tape' is a muscular set of some of bauhaus' best tracks. Incidentally, these tracks were recorded on the same tour that was filmed for the band's on-screen performance of 'bela lugosi's dead' in the 1983 film, 'the hunger'. The album features a striking version of john cale's 'rosegarden funeral of sores', a particularly spooky run-through of 'hollow hills' that out-creeps the studio version on 'mask', and the punk rock fuzz-out of 'dark entries'. Of course, 'bela' appears here as well, in a luxurious nine-and-a-half-minute version. Washed in feedback and ever-so-subtly accelerating and decelerating, this song is the true center of goth mythology. The cd is filled out with live tracks from the band's singles-the best of which is a blistering performance of 'double dare' - and an unreleased live version of mask's 'of lillies and remains'. The last track, a cover of the velvet underground classic 'waiting for the man', features sometime velvet's member nico on vocals. Some live albums are not worth the energy required to listen to them. 'press the eject and give me the tape' is not one of those albums.