A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box CD1 Poll

bimble is still too goth for this box

haha

The 'Charlotte Sometimes' VIDEO is one of the gothicsest things I can think of. In the sense I wish all gothics was, sexy and so forlorn plus everyone looking like they're in the fucking Sandman but w/more makeup. Great bass, that fake organ synth thing is super perfect gothics, he even has to sound heartbroken from 1,000 km away in the outro. All that is missing for 'this is gothics' element in my mind is some flange pedal. A great song to listen to while forcing yourself to cry by candlelight! (srsly, 17-yr-old-Abbott-approved for this task.)

(Plus like I said I thought this video was sexy as fucking fuck.)

Also I cannot believe this box set exists, or, more specifically, I cannot believe a box set w/that title was put out by a label other than Cleopatra.

i think i'm going to love this thread...

She's In Parties.

I really hope somgeone votes for Dali's Car, LOL

which version of Temple Of Love is it? this makes all the difference in the world to my vote.

The original

Hmm, this comp seems weirdly frontloaded

There are 2 other discs, although disc3 has some remarkably unfortunate stuff on it

The first seven songs are like my favorite songs by each of these bands

Are we voting for "most goth" or for our favourites?

Actually, either decision is too hard.

Oh god, She's In Parties, Christian Says (though that isn't actually my fave Tones On Tail song by any stretch), Spellbound, MU! TIN! Y! IIIIINNNN HEEAAAV-EN! (for a second I thought I was back down in the ghetto.)

It must be winter, I'm getting old gooey about old goth tunes.

Um, Bauhaus. She's In Parties was the first song I ever heard by them and just brings back memories of being miserable and teenage and sitting in my bedroom drinking illicit rum with my sisX0r.

(If my mum asked where either of us were, we'd scream back "She's in the POTTIE, she's ON THE CAN!!!")

Rats in Paradise!
I'll go with Mutiny.

I thought this would be a bimble poll

Actually, I am going to vote for Dali's Car. But hey thanks Dan.

(tho mind you, that particular song isnt the best one on the album I've just realised I confused it with "Cornwall Stone".)

Well, considering "Charlotte Sometimes" is probably the greatest one-off single of its decade...

Well, I hate to say it, but Joy Division should walk this. Maybe if it were a different song, but "Dead Souls"? I mean you can't put much up against THAT one.

I was quite amused to hear a Tones On Tail song in a health food store the other day. Haha. Sometimes Seattle is just too cool. :)

I fully expect Alien Sex Fiend & Ghost Dance to get zero votes, as it should be. I met this guy last weekend who had like WAY too many Alien Sex Fiend records. I couldn't even bear having one of them!

I was obsessed with Specimen's "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" for awhile when I was a teenager. I think it'd probably make me laugh now, though.

"dead souls" blew my tiny little college freshman mind when i first heard it but..."temple of love" is also on this thing...

I fully expect Alien Sex Fiend & Ghost Dance to get zero votes, as it should be.

As long as the Mission UK joins the club, all shall be fair and just in the world.

"Spellbound" seems like such an obvious standout, I'm surprised no-one else has picked it. Killer opener to "Juju", one of the key proto-Goth albums, and far and away my favorite Banshees LP, then and now.

Yeah I am really tempted to vote for 'Spellbound'

i already did

but OTOH... 'Charlotte Sometimes'...

i went "spellbound".

I think some of these pre-date gothdom as a subculture.

Yeah first half of this comp isnt really goth per se

Alien Sex Fiend weren't that bad, though Zombified is a piss weak track to put up against everything else on this disk. I think 'RIP' or 'Dead and Buried' or 'Ignore The Machine' could live quite happily on there.
(OMG I just remembered I had an ASF shirt with 'ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIFIED' on it)

I'm tempted vote for Power as it's such fun live.

The first stop in "Mutiny in Heaven", the first time I heard it, gave me a physical chill of fear. Just to be sure, I played it for a roommate, and the same thing happened to him. Still happens to me in the right conditions. Then those death rattles that get overdubbed in the second verse, then the rolling, rolling, rolling piano. Rock as terror.

Joy Division

haha Trayce you get nothing but love from me, I am tempted to vote Alien Sex Fiend

There should be a "best of the Batcave" poll so we can all vote for Alien Sex Fiend!!!

...but then someone might have to mention the ghost of Sex Gang Children!

Hehe I voted Alien Sex Fiend, cos I love that song and reckoned no-one else would vote for it.

I think Red Lorry Yellow Lorry are pretty underrated but I'm not that into the track on this.

I could never get out of my head the idea that "Sex gang children" was a line from the Opal Fruits commercial...

Ha ha, I'm listening to BEASTS right now and yes, the drums are as good as I remember them - but honestly, did anyone ever understand a WORD that Andi Sex Gang ever sang?

God, if it gets any colder I'm going to break out the Virgin Prunes records. Yeah, where are *they* on this poll?

They're on... Disc 2? Maybe disc 3?

I've got Beasts stuck in my head now. Great.

I voted for Dalis Car out of SPITE ;P I dont even like "His Box", wtf did they choose that song for, it wasnt the single!?

Yeah, me and my brother used to think the bassline to that song was really funny, we'd play it just to have a laugh. It's certainly not representative of the rest of the album.

I like lot of (the first half or so of) this disc but "Mutiny" is a full head taller awesomeness-wise than its nearest competitors, which, in order, are "Spellbound," "Temple of Love," "Dead Souls," and "Charlotte Sometimes"

If I were being completely honest, it'd be "She's in Parties," but I am not honest, so I thought about "Temple of Love" and then tossed a slightly contrarian vote to "Now I'm Feeling Zombified."

btw I went and checked my copy of this and Virgin Prunes and Sex Gang Children are on disc 3

I feel much better now. THank you, Dan.

She's In Parties. Be really, really surprised if the 1st three don't walk away with this.

Watch ASF and Dali's Car get 90 votes between the two of them now!

Recommended for anyone who's a bit "I really like Joy Division, but why can't they just ROCK OUT more?"

Some RLYL kinda sounds like Big Black IMO

Haha, it occurs to me that someone who doesn't know Big Black would probably now think they were goth as well! Although that song on Atomizer called "Bad Houses" always did remind me of Sisters of Mercy...

In other news, this thread made me look up Green On Red in my Trouser Press Record Guide last night. I don't know if I ever actually heard them, though I've seen their name around since the early 80's and generally know what to expect from their music. So I'm gonna give them a try, why not.

Also, "Big Black" should have been the NAME of a goth band, for sure.

Recommended for anyone who's a bit "I really like Joy Division, but why can't they just ROCK OUT more?"

Um, you said this just to try to convince me to stop my Clarence Carter marathon, didn't you?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Voting for Red Lorry Yellow Lorry; only competition would be Joy Division. (Fwiw, I assume a likely common denominator between RLYL and Big Black is probably early Killing Joke. Where's Alex in NYC when we need him?)

Suddenly wondering, though, if March Violets were any good. (Didn't they come out around the same time as Sisters of Mercy? Who were okay.)

March Violets made a hard right in 1987 or so, going sort of poppish and landing two songs on the Some Kind of Wonderful soundtrack. I actually prefer that stuff to the often bleh earlier stuff.

Also, I love that this turned into something of a RLYL lovefest.

"Charlotte Sometimes" put up a fight though. "Dead Souls" may well deserve it but I've probably just listened to it too many times over the years.

Ah, LOL80s, mummy why is that man wearing a novelty keyring in his ear?

In the liner notes of Atomizer, Big Black cites 17 Seconds as the direct influence for "Bad Houses".

Anyway, if there had been a different Tones on Tail song, I might have gone with it. As it stands, Birthday Part cannot be fucked with!

the cure to walk it?

In the liner notes of Atomizer, Big Black cites 17 Seconds as the direct influence for "Bad Houses".

HAHAHA that fucking rules.

Also I do not mind at all if people go crazy over RLYL. They were a mighty cool ass band.

OMG that Southern Death Club clip upthread is delicious.

Southern Death Cult I mean of course.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

i am happy that the birthday party did as well as they did :-)

Hee hee! It's a goth poll! How cute. I love it. I thought She's In Parties would place higher, though.

Also, really don't understand the Spellbound fetish. There are plenty of other better Siouxsie songs. It's okay. Nothing wrong with it, but not better than freaking Joy Division.

Better than "Dead Souls," tho.

i can agree with that

I love you all, but really. SOMEONE needs to put on Big Black's "Bad Houses" and tell Andrew Eldritch about it.

"I tell myself I will not go/
even as I drive there"

THAT IS THE FUCIKNIG GOTH

Also I seem to ahve developed a fetish for Ian Astbury mohawks on You Tube.

or whatever

Also, really don't understand the Spellbound fetish

come on! it's fab. the production on it is out of this world and it sounds incredible at high volume. i love the birthday party far more than the banshees but for me, "spellbound" is simply perfect and is the perfect song for a "gothic box".

voted for "charlotte sometimes" . quite surprised how many votes it got. i assumed it would be "dead souls" for the win.

All the people who voted for Birthday Party are my friends. Don't get me wrong.

Wow, surprise upset! That was unexpected. I really thought Bauhaus would walk it.

Surprising results - seems we have a whole lotta goth lurkers. Spellbound was mentionned once in the thread or sth. I though Temple of Love would place higher, since tbh it's the real goth anthem on this comp

Spellbound is the reason you could walk into any 'alternative' night in the early eighties and see 250 Siouxsie clones.

Splitters taught a lesson :)

15. Wasteland -- The Mission UK 0
9. Mirror People -- Love And Rockets 0

9. Mirror People -- Love And Rockets 0

This puts a tear in my eye.

Mirror People is a) NOT one of L&R's better songs, and b) NOT the slightest bit gothic, at ALL.

similarly, 'Power' is pretty fun but it would have been harder to pick if they had included, say, 'Psychonaut'

It's kind of funny listening to "Mirror People" now and thinking how seamlessly it would fit onto Love and Rockets with only minor production tweaks.

So who's going to suggest volume 2's poll?

13. Walking On Your Hands -- Red Lorry Yellow Lorry 1

Wait, so how did this happen?

That happened because this happened:

7. Spellbound -- Siouxie & the Banshees 13
1. Dead Souls -- Joy Division 12
2. Charlotte Sometimes -- The Cure 12
6. Mutiny In Heaven -- The Birthday Party 9
3. She's In Parties -- Bauhaus 6
4. Temple Of Love -- The Sisters Of Mercy 4
5. Christian Says -- Tones On Tail 4
11. Now I'm Feeling Zombified -- Alien Sex Fiend 3
10. Power -- Fields Of The Nephilim 3
8. Fatman -- The Southern Death Cult 3
16. The Grip Of Love -- Ghost Dance 1
14. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang -- Specimen 1
12. Snake Dance -- The March Violets 1
17. His Box -- Dali's Car 1

btw I resisted my urge to vote lol-ASF and they got three votes anyway!

alright let's get it on with CD2

"The Masterclass"

So who's going to suggest volume 2's poll?

i will do that one in one weeks time...doing Sire part II this week.

ok forget that. will run both polls and will start this one tonight when i get home from work, so in about 8 hours time it, part two, will be up.

this poll was fun!

Great thread: no LOL Goths and no " . . but THEY were NEVER Goths!". Looking forward to round 2.

voted Spellbound because I like that song better than Dead Souls and for the life of me couldn't remember what Mutiny in Heaven sounded like. Would have been harder if Spellbound was up against Interzone or übergoth anthem, Release the Bats or Big Jesus Trash Can or Dead Joe. Alien Sex Fiend are the goth Cramps and I love them in the same way. Will there be better Bauhaus tracks on the other discs? Hope so.

Temple of Love may be more anthemic, but Marian is imho more quintessentially goth: verse sung in German and "can you hear me calling from the grave"

Number one, my vote. Number two, my would have been.