Goth Rock

[Lisnaholic]

the band I was in 4 years ago grew up and made hella thoughtful goth bangers :3

^ Thanks for sharing a track from your very own band, tristan ! That track has a very complete, professional sound and I like how it slowly builds (from about 3 mins) up to the end. I thought the video was more distracting than helpful to the music, then to make matters worse, all the credits at the end are about the video, not the band
_________________________________________________

I'm better able to identify Goth fashion than Goth rock, so I'm grateful to Lexi,  and then Guybrush for mentioning The Cure. I've just finished reading the autobiog of a Cure bandmember, but haven't dipped into their music yet, apart from one track (Faith) which I found disappointing.

I was wondering how long we can go without mentioning The Cure, but I'm breaking that spell.

What's your favourite song by Robert Smith & co?

Mine might be Close to Me. It was on one of the Now That's What I Call Music compilations from the very early 90s or so that I listened to.

...so I listened to this song with interest, and was very surprised to hear what I would describe as a sprightly, inventive pop song. Perhaps the goth part is in the lyrics, which I couldn't really work out, but after reading about their punk attitude and angst, I expected something very different from Robert Smith's smooth vocal style, which I find, tbh, kind of disappointing.

My next plan is to check out this thread and see if there are any artists who actually put some proper rock energy into Goth Rock.

[Guybrush]

@tristan_geoff nice! I also like your old band's song 😊

^ Thanks for sharing a track from your very own band, tristan ! That track has a very complete, professional sound and I like how it slowly builds (from about 3 mins) up to the end. I thought the video was more distracting than helpful to the music, then to make matters worse, all the credits at the end are about the video, not the band
_________________________________________________

I'm better able to identify Goth fashion than Goth rock, so I'm grateful to Lexi,  and then Guybrush for mentioning The Cure. I've just finished reading the autobiog of a Cure bandmember, but haven't dipped into their music yet, apart from one track (Faith) which I found disappointing.

...so I listened to this song with interest, and was very surprised to hear what I would describe as a sprightly, inventive pop song. Perhaps the goth part is in the lyrics, which I couldn't really work out, but after reading about their punk attitude and angst, I expected something very different from Robert Smith's smooth vocal style, which I find, tbh, kind of disappointing.

My next plan is to check out this thread and see if there are any artists who actually put some proper rock energy into Goth Rock.

For a gothier side of The Cure, here's Cold from the album Pornography 🙂

Ironically, I think they're very good at upbeat pop. Friday I'm in Love is another favourite!

For putting the ROCK in Goth Rock, how about a little more Sisters of Mercy?

Temple of Love might be their most well known song 🤔

[Lexi Darling]

@Lisnaholic The song Faith makes a lot more sense in the context of the album, it's the melancholy fade-out album closer and not really a song I'd enjoy as much if I just listened to it on its own. So perfectly fair.

And I'd describe the Cure as angsty, but I wouldn't really describe their music as having a punk attitude, at least not in the classic sense. They're a band who grip you with emotional atmosphere, especially in their mid-late 80s/early 90s period. Some of their early stuff has more of a punk beat to it, but they're generally more like just great pop songs with a strong sense of drama.

I'm not sure if I can think of too much goth I know of that has a lot of rock energy, haha. But as I said I'm no expert on the definition of goth. Sisters of Mercy is a good shout.

[Lisnaholic]

^ Thanks for the explanations, Lexi - and you make a very good point, that music should often be judged in its place as part of a longer listening experience, where its qualities shine out better. That's certainly true of many of my favourite musical moments.

For a gothier side of The Cure, here's Cold from the album Pornography 🙂

Ironically, I think they're very good at upbeat pop. Friday I'm in Love is another favourite!

^ I think this is the track I like best so far in the whole thread: it captures very well all my preconceptions of what Goth Rock should be: gloomy, thundering, a touch theatrical or overblown.

That, at any rate, is what you might expect from other Gothic creations, and one that captured my imagination was the glorious Gormanghast trilogy of books. They don't make for the easiest of reading experiences, but they create a world that could linger in your mind for years. They also, decades after they were written, inspired a short tv series, which was actually not well-received, because some things live best on the printed page and can look laughable when turned into film.

Anyway, not goth rock, I'm afraid,  but here's a short song with some images of the legendary Gormenghast Castle invented by Mervyn Peake:-

 

[tristan_geoff]

Yknow lol Im abt to blow ur minds.  The producer that did that Black Bouquet album and song also did songs like, idk... Your Love by The Outfield

[Gandalf]

For a gothier side of The Cure, here's Cold from the album Pornography 🙂

Funnily enough I was listening to Pornography as I opened up this thread. Pornography was my first taste of goth rock as an 18 year old, when I bought the 2005 reissue. I thought it was the darkest and most disturbing music I'd ever heard.

[Guybrush]

I won't go on about them, but the album Floodland by Sisters of Mercy is my goth rock album that I listened to way back when I first explored the genre 🙂

I've listened to Pornography and The Cure's greatest hit and a smattering of other songs, but I'm not well versed in their discography.. which is a little weird, come to think of it, because I like them a lot 🤔

[Lexi Darling]

I won't go on about them, but the album Floodland by Sisters of Mercy is my goth rock album that I listened to way back when I first explored the genre 🙂

I've listened to Pornography and The Cure's greatest hit and a smattering of other songs, but I'm not well versed in their discography.. which is a little weird, come to think of it, because I like them a lot 🤔

I think their best front-to-back album is definitely Disintegration, that's one of my personal favorite albums of all time.

For their earlier more post punkish era, Seventeen Seconds and Faith are absolute classics. But I think pretty much everything they put out from 1979 to 1992 is solid.

[Oriphiel]

I remember the first Goth Rock song that I fell in love with

Somehow the main guitar riff just perfectly encapsulated the way that I was feeling at the time, and had been feeling for years. I had no choice but to immediately tear up one of my black shirts and blind myself with smudgy gel eyeliner whilst doing my best Siouxsie howl

[Gandalf]

I won't go on about them, but the album Floodland by Sisters of Mercy is my goth rock album that I listened to way back when I first explored the genre 🙂

I've listened to Pornography and The Cure's greatest hit and a smattering of other songs, but I'm not well versed in their discography.. which is a little weird, come to think of it, because I like them a lot 🤔

The atmosphere on Floodlands by The Sisters of Mercy is amazing. The over-the-top production really adds to it as well.

I think their best front-to-back album is definitely Disintegration, that's one of my personal favorite albums of all time.

For their earlier more post punkish era, Seventeen Seconds and Faith are absolute classics. But I think pretty much everything they put out from 1979 to 1992 is solid.

Disintegration is my favourite album of all time, and has been for quite some time. But the Seventeen Seconds/Faith/Pornography trilogy is The Cure's best era. The mood across the three albums gets darker and more depressive, but they also get more creative.