The Rapture (album)

The Rapture
Studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees
Released	17 January 1995
Recorded	1993–1994
Studio	Studio Du Manoir (Léon, France) & Wessex (London)
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	54:13
Label	Polydor Geffen (US)
Producer	Siouxsie and the Banshees John Cale
Siouxsie and the Banshees chronology
Superstition (1991) The Rapture (1995)
Singles from The Rapture
"O Baby" Released: 28 December 1994 "Stargazer" Released: 6 February 1995

The Rapture is the eleventh and final studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees. The songs with cello arrangements, including the title track as well as "Fall from Grace" and "Not Forgotten", were produced by the band on their own in 1993. John Cale later produced the remaining songs in mid-1994.

This album was reissued in 2014 in a remastered version with three bonus tracks, including a previously unreleased song called "FGM" and "New Skin", a song recorded for the motion picture soundtrack of Showgirls.^[1]

Recording and release

After composing songs in Siouxsie and Budgie's house near Toulouse, France, in March and April 1993, the band went to Léon near Biarritz. They produced the first part of the album at Studio de Manoir in May. At the beginning of 1994, they recorded the final songs in London, this time with producer and former Velvet Underground member John Cale, who had previously produced albums that the band liked such as Patti Smith's Horses and the first Modern Lovers album. Cale also mixed one track, "Fall from Grace", from the previous recording session.

In the UK, Polydor only released the album on both CD and cassette, whereas in the US, Geffen also released it on vinyl LP. For the 2014 reissue, an unreleased and slightly different longer version of "New Skin" was included as a bonus track (the original version had been released in 1995 on the soundtrack for the Paul Verhoeven film Showgirls).

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Vox	7/10[3]

The Rapture was well received by critics. Melody Maker hailed the record at its release and wrote: "The Rapture is a fascinating, transcontinental journey through danger and exotica". Describing the arrangements, they added, "it's a vivid cornucopia of lush instrumentation, mandolins vying with cellos and bells, sweeping strings describing starlit oceans and sirens calling from jagged rocks, and attics that hide secret worlds."^[4] Steve Malins of Vox also liked the album. He said, "The title-track is a sublime melodrama recalling the experimentation of Peepshow and 1982's Kiss in the Dreamhouse", before concluding with this sentence, "The Rapture represents an intelligent twist on familiar Banshees obsessions".^[3] Liz Buckley of Sun Zoom Spark also praised it, writing, "How is a band that first formed almost two decades ago able to remain both vital and celebrated? Answer: Metamorphosis." Buckley also declared that "the album is able to excite the hairs on the back of your neck."^[5]

Track listing

All tracks produced by Siouxsie and the Banshees except tracks 1-2 and 7-8-9 produced by John Cale. Track 4 produced by Siouxsie and the Banshees and mixed by John Cale.

All music composed by Siouxsie and the Banshees, except bonus tracks "FGM" by Siouxsie/Jon Klein and "New Skin" by Siouxsie.

All lyrics written by Siouxsie Sioux, except where noted. 

Personnel

• Siouxsie Sioux - vocals
• Steven Severin - electric bass
• Budgie - drums and percussion
• Martin McCarrick - cello, keyboards and accordion
• Jon Klein – guitars

Additional personnel

• Renaud Pion - woodwind
• John Cale - producer and mixer
• Martin Brass - engineer
• Charlie Gray - engineer
• Mark Saunders - mixer
• Knox Chandler - guitar on "New Skin"
• Gary Barnacle, Peter Thoms, Luke Tunney and John Thirkell [uncredited] - brass section on "New Skin"

Charts

Album

Singles

References