Spleen and Ideal
{{For|the poetry by Charles Baudelaire|Les Fleurs du mal}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Spleen and Ideal
| type = studio
| artist = Dead Can Dance
| cover = Dead Can Dance - Spleen and Ideal album cover.png
| alt =
| released = 25 November 1985
| recorded = September–November 1985
| venue =
| studio = Woodbine (Warwickshire, England)
| genre = {{flatlist|
- Neoclassical{{cite web |title=Dead Can Dance {{!}} Spleen and Ideal |url=https://post-punk.com/dead-can-dance-spleen-and-ideal/ |website=Post-Punk.com |access-date=27 January 2022 |date=25 November 2019}}
- world{{cite web |title=Dead Can Dance {{!}} Spleen and Ideal |url=https://post-punk.com/dead-can-dance-spleen-and-ideal/ |website=Post-Punk.com |access-date=27 January 2022 |date=25 November 2019}}
- gothic rock{{cite web |title=Dead Can Dance - Spleen and Ideal (album review ) {{!}} Sputnikmusic |url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/57207/Dead-Can-Dance-Spleen-and-Ideal/ |website=www.sputnikmusic.com |access-date=27 January 2022}}
- post-punk{{cite web |title=Dead Can Dance - Spleen and Ideal (album review ) {{!}} Sputnikmusic |url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/57207/Dead-Can-Dance-Spleen-and-Ideal/ |website=www.sputnikmusic.com |access-date=27 January 2022}}
- dark wave{{cite web |title=Dead Can Dance - Spleen and Ideal (album review ) {{!}} Sputnikmusic |url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/57207/Dead-Can-Dance-Spleen-and-Ideal/ |website=www.sputnikmusic.com |access-date=27 January 2022}}
}}
| length = 38:11
| label = 4AD
| producer = * Dead Can Dance
- John A. Rivers
| prev_title = Garden of the Arcane Delights
| prev_year = 1984
| next_title = Within the Realm of a Dying Sun
| next_year = 1987
}}
Spleen and Ideal is the second studio album by Australian band Dead Can Dance. It was released on 25 November 1985 by 4AD. The album spearheaded the group's sonic transition from their post-punk and gothic rock-influenced roots towards a neoclassical dark wave style.{{cite web |title=Dead Can Dance {{!}} Spleen and Ideal |url=https://post-punk.com/dead-can-dance-spleen-and-ideal/ |website=Post-Punk.com |access-date=27 January 2022 |date=25 November 2019}}
Musical style
Spleen and Ideal was produced by band members Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry together with producer John A. Rivers. The album saw the band abandon guitars in favour of a wider array of instrumentation, incorporating instruments such as cello, trombone and timpani, as well as the use of a drum machine and a sampler. The album included influences from medieval and classical music and has been described as having "an almost world-spanning monastic feel", while still retaining the post-punk and gothic rock elements from their 1984 debut album.{{cite web|url=https://thequietus.com/interviews/strange-world-of/dead-can-dance-review-strange-world-of/ |title=The Strange World Of… Dead Can Dance |author=Brazier, Lottie |publisher=The Quietus |date=5 June 2018 }}
Discussing the album's musical style, AllMusic commented that with Spleen and Ideal, Dead Can Dance "fully took the plunge into the heady mix of musical traditions that would come to define its sound and style for the remainder of its career. The straightforward goth affectations are exchanged for a sonic palette and range of imagination".{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/spleen-and-ideal-mw0000193492 |title=Spleen and Ideal – Dead Can Dance |last=Raggett |first=Ned |work=Allmusic |accessdate=2013-02-19}}
Title and cover image
The band's official website stated that the album title was taken "from 19th Century symbolist ideals". The title is directly taken from "Spleen et Idéal", a collection of poems by French poet Charles Baudelaire which form a section of his magnum opus Les Fleurs du mal.
The cover image shows the partial demolition of Grain Elevator No. 2 at Salford Quays, part of Manchester and Salford Docks.{{cite web |title=No. 2 Grain Elevator - I refuse to die |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1870572 |last=Allen |first=Chris |website=Geograph |accessdate=30 September 2020}}
Track listing
{{track listing
| all_writing = Dead Can Dance
| title1 = De Profundis (Out of the Depths of Sorrow)
| length1 = 4:00
| title2 = Ascension
| length2 = 3:05
| title3 = Circumradiant Dawn
| length3 = 3:17
| title4 = The Cardinal Sin
| length4 = 5:29
| title5 = Mesmerism
| length5 = 3:53
| title6 = Enigma of the Absolute
| length6 = 4:13
| title7 = Advent
| length7 = 5:19
| title8 = Avatar
| length8 = 4:35
| title9 = Indoctrination (A Design for Living)
| length9 = 4:16
}}
Critical reception
{{music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}
}}
In a retrospective review, AllMusic praised the album, calling it "amazing [...] 'haunting' and 'atmospheric' barely [scratch] even the initial surface of the album's power".
Release history
| class="wikitable" |
| Country
! Date |
|---|
| UK
| 25 November 1985 |
| United States
| 8 March 1994 |
Chart history
| class="wikitable" |
| Chart
! Position |
|---|
| UK Indie Chart
| 2 |
Personnel
- Lisa Gerrard – vocals, all other instruments, production
- Brendan Perry – vocals, all other instruments, production, sleeve art direction
- Gus Ferguson – cello
- Martin McCarrick – cello
- James Pinker – timpani
- Tony Ayres – timpani
- Richard Avison – trombone
- Simon Hogg – trombone
- Carolyn Costin – violin
- Andrew Hutton – soprano vocals on track 1
; Technical
- John A. Rivers – production, engineering
- Jonathan Dee – engineering
- Colin Gray – sleeve photography
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.deadcandance.com/discogs/spleenandideal|Spleen and Ideal at the Dead Can Dance official website}}
- {{MusicBrainz release-group|id=a9f6f32d-7f83-3067-8a85-642a9c2e0121|name=Spleen and Ideal}}
{{Dead Can Dance}}
{{Authority control}}