Spleen and Ideal

For the poetry by Charles Baudelaire, see Les Fleurs du mal.
Spleen and Ideal
Studio album by Dead Can Dance
Released 1 September 1985
Recorded September–November 1985 at Woodbine Studios, Warwickshire, England
Genre Dark wave, neoclassical dark wave, gothic rock
Length 38:11
Label 4AD
Producer Dead Can Dance, John A. Rivers
Dead Can Dance chronology

Garden of the Arcane Delights
(1984)		 Spleen and Ideal
(1985)		 Within the Realm of a Dying Sun
(1987)

Spleen and Ideal is the second studio album by Australian musical act Dead Can Dance. It was released on 1 September 1985, by record label 4AD. The album features a transition between the band's post-punk and gothic rock-influenced debut album towards a greater darkwave style.

Background

On the album's title, the band's official website states that it 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.

On the album's musical style, AllMusic commented that with this album, 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."[1]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Dead Can Dance. 

Side A
No. Title Length
1. "De Profundis (Out of the Depths of Sorrow)"   4:00
2. "Ascension"   3:05
3. "Circumradiant Dawn"   3:17
4. "The Cardinal Sin"   5:29
5. "Mesmerism"   3:53
Side B
No. Title Length
1. "Enigma of the Absolute"   4:13
2. "Advent"   5:19
3. "Avatar"   4:35
4. "Indoctrination (A Design for Living)"   4:16

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [1]

AllMusic praised the album retrospectively, calling it "amazing [...] 'haunting' and 'atmospheric' barely [scratch] even the initial surface of the album's power."[1]

Release history

Country Date
Australia 1 September 1985
United States 8 March 1994

Chart history

Chart Position
UK Indie Chart 2

Personnel

Technical

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Raggett, Ned. "Spleen and Ideal – Dead Can Dance : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 February 2013.

External links