CD: 531489-5
RELEASED: 2009
LABEL: Polydor

01. Dazzle
02. We Hunger
03. Take Me Back
04. Belladonna
05. Swimming Horses
06. Bring Me The Head Of The Preacher Man
07. Running Town
08. Pointing Bone
09. Blow The House Down
10. Dear Prudence *
11. Dazzle (Glamour Mix) *
12. Baby Piano Part 1 *
13. Baby Piano Part 2 *

* bonus tracks

2009 digitally remastered and expanded digipak edition of the classic Banshees album from 1984 featuring three bonus tracks and suitably ornate notes from Paul Morley features Robert Smith of The Cure. There had been considerable tumult in the Banshees' camp between the release of 1982's A Kiss In The Dreamhouse and 1984's Hyaena. Guitarist John McGeogh had been sacked; Robert Smith had replaced him on a long-term loan, and after a year of group solo projects (The Creatures and The Glove), Smith wanted to mark his time in the studio with Siouxsie. The resulting single (here as a bonus track), Dear Prudence, became their biggest UK hit in late 1983. Hyaena, the sole studio album this line-up recorded together, was released in 1984, just after Smith had left to return to the Cure full time. It is swirling, complex and frequently enchanting. Traditionally an album that has split the audience, it bridges the gap between the raga-like material on JuJu and their later, high-gothic period. With Budgie and Steve Severin playing like their life depended on it, and Siouxsie enchanting with the appropriate air of need and detached drama. It is the Banshees psychedelia running riot. There are sufficient theatrics and spills that make it akin to a thriller hanging on its final twist. "Hyaena" is in the psychedelic, experimental vein of "A Kiss In The Dreamhouse" in its variety of sounds and textures. The Cure's Robert Smith handled the guitar work on "Hyaena", and does an excellent job. "The Top", which The Cure released the same year as "Hyaena", is rather similar in style and worth checking out as well. Strange, atmospheric, moody and often bizarre, "Hyaena" is definitely worth picking up