Various ‎Artists "A Life Less Lived (The Gothic Box)" 💀💀💀💀💀

This is one of the most "luxe" pieces in my record collection. Some labels add a couple of demo or live recordings, maybe a CD-ROM containing a video or a booklet with a few photos and call it a "Deluxe Edition". Rhino really knows how to do it right, though. I have a number of box sets by them: Nuggets, of course, Los Angeles Nuggets, Left Of The Dial, and the Forever Changing Elektra Records anthology, to name a few. All impeccably curated and beautifully presented, with booklets containing cool photos and a multitude of interesting information. A Life Less Lived (The Gothic Box) is probably the most visually impressive of all, bound as it is in a laced leather "corset" sleeve. The contents include 3 compilation CD's and one DVD with videoclips, plus a beautiful 60-page book with interviews, illustrations, track-by-track commentary, essays on Goth and tongue-in-cheek instructions on how to run a Goth club, how to dance Gothic etc. The compilers include a very wide selection of music, most of which can hardly be considered Goth. Indeed there are bands that can better be categorized as belonging to other genres such as punk, post punk, new wave, industrial, alternative, shoegazing, emo etc. Curiously there are no bands from the metal end of the spectrum.

One wonders how bands like Type O Negative, Paradise Lost, Anathema or Tiamat have been left out. I suspect they would readily own up to the Gothic character of their music, while most of the artists included here vehemently reject it, as "Goth" has come to be identified with a superficial musical fad, and goth fans as posers and fashion victims of little substance. Well, Goth or not, we can agree that most of the important 80's post punk bands are present, especially the ones espousing a "darker" aesthetic. These include, for example, Nick Cave (both with the more lyrical Bad Seeds and nihilistic sound terrorists Birthday Party), pop bands like  The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen, Siousxie & The Banshees (and Siouxsie's more electronic side project The Creatures) etc. Joy Division, of course, predate Goth but they have doubtlessly influenced many of the bands here - Red Lorry Yellow Lorry being one of the most obvious examples. The Cult were hardly ever typical Goths, their psychedelic and hard rock roots evident right from their begining as Southern Death Cult to later incarnations as Death Cult and plain Cult. All incarnations of the band are included in the compilation. The same is true for Bauhaus side projects (of course they also reject the Goth label, even though they are often considered to be the quintessential band of the genre): we get the wonderful "She's In Parties" by the main band, the semi-acoustic (with shades of Bowie and Ferry) "Cuts You Up" by singer Peter Murphy and the more experimental/kraut-rock "His Box" by Dali's Car (a Peter Murphy/Mick Karn collaboration). The rest of the band chose a more dance-friendly, but still rather dark,-sound for "Christian Says" (as Tones On Tail) and "Mirror People" (as Love And Rockets). "Coming Down Fast" from Daniel Ash's solo album is similar to Love and Rockets, and rounds up the Bauhaus-related tracks here (5 in total). The Sisters Of Mercy's "Temple Of Love" is another example of what I call the "werewolf disco" sound, while spinoff band Mission has a Cure-like alternative rock style. A string of songs on CD2 (Cranes->Miranda Sex Garden->Cocteau Twins->Dead Can Dance) takes us through atmospheric dream pop territory, while bands like Lords Of The New Church, Flesh For Lulu and Jesus and Mary Chain play various kinds of guitar rock that can hardly be considered "goth". The Misfits, 45 Grave, Damned and early Christian Death are closer to punk than Goth, while a lot of bands on disc 3 (Einstürzende Neubauten, Throbbing Gristle, Skinny Puppy, Ministry) are more industrial. The inclusion of a contemporary group (AFI, covering The Cure's "Hanging Garden") provides a link to the emo generation but is otherwise irrelevant. No matter, it all still makes for a nice overview of the glamorous/gloomy side of 80's alternative rock (Left Of The Dial had already presented the more straight-ahead alternative guitar rock styles). Maybe the best move by the compilers was mixing the more famous bands of the time with the semi-forgotten ones which nevertheless perfectly personified the times: it's certainly nice to listen to The March Violets, Chameleons, Clan Of Xymox, Gene Loves Jezebel etc. again. Whether you call it goth, post punk, indie or new wave, the 80's produced some excellent music that shouldn't be forgotten. Probably even more than the music, though, it is the videos on the DVD that best showcase the Goth aesthetic: the clothes, haircuts, band posing, half-lit photography etc. It's also notable that many bands (e.g. Bauhaus, Fields Of The Nephilim, Mission, Jesus And Mary Chain, Echo & The Bunnymen) are represented by their most well-known songs on the DVD rather than the CD's. It'd be nice to include videos by some of the lesser-known bands as well (only 12 video-clips are included, when the DVD could fit more than twice that amount), but what is here is definitely among the era's best. There's no denying that, if you're at all interested in that era and sound, this is a box set worth buying. Music**** DVD*****, Overall package: A strong 💀💀💀💀💀!

***** for Joy Division-Dead Souls, The Cure-Charlotte Sometimes, Bauhaus-She's In Parties, The Sisters Of Mercy-Temple Of Love, Siouxsie & The Banshees-Spellbound, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds-The Weeping Song, Peter Murphy -Cuts You Up, The Cult -Rain, Christian Death-Romeo's Distress

**** for Tones On Tail-Christian Says, The Birthday Party-Mutiny In Heaven, The Southern Death Cult-Fatman, Love And Rockets-Mirror People, The March Violets-Snake Dance, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry-Walking On Your Hands, The Mission-Wasteland, Ghost Dance-The Grip Of Love, The Creatures-Exterminating Angel, Death Cult-God's Zoo, Gene Loves Jezebel-Heartache, Flesh For Lulu-I Go Crazy, The Lords Of The New Church-Open Your Eyes, Echo & The Bunnymen-All My Colours, The Chameleons-Don't Fall, The Jesus And Mary Chain-Fall, Daniel Ash-Coming Down Fast, Clan Of Xymox-Muscoviet Mosquito, Xmal Deutschland-Incubus Succubus II, Miranda Sex Garden-Ardera Sempre, Cocteau Twins-Blood Bitch, The Bolshoi-Away, Rubicon-Watch Without Pain, Virgin Prunes-Pagan Lovesong, 45 Grave-Party Time, Sex Gang Children-Dieche, Skinny Puppy-Assimilate, Misfits-Halloween, Ministry -So What, Killing Joke-Tomorrow's World, AFI-The Hanging Garden

*** for Fields Of The Nephilim-Power, Alien Sex Fiend-Now I'm Feeling Zombified, Specimen-Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Dali's Car -His Box, The Danse Society -Heaven Is Waiting, The Rose Of Avalanche-Dreamland, Cranes-Starblood, Dead Can Dance-The Arcane, Einstürzende Neubauten-Morning Dew, Throbbing Gristle-Hamburger Lady, Kommunity FK-To Blame, The Damned-Melody Lee, London After Midnight-Kiss
DVD (*****) The Cure-Lullaby, Bauhaus-Bela Lugosi's Dead, The Sisters Of Mercy-Lucretia My Reflection, Fields Of The Nephilim-Moonchild, The Mission-Deliverance, Love And Rockets-Ball Of Confusion, The Jesus And Mary Chain-Head On, Echo & The Bunnymen-The Killing Moon, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds-Where The Wild Roses Grow, Ministry-Stigmata, The Cult-Spiritwalker (Live), Siouxsie & The Banshees-Cities In Dust