Siouxsie & The Banshees Hyaena CD

 sweet sixteen
Dazzle and Swimming Horses are wonderful. Goth at its best.
Submitted by quat (encino, ca, usa)
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 strong effort that could have been brighter
This album suffers abit from hard feelings. When Smith left to concentrate on the Cure, the rest of the Banshees mixed the gtr. parts way down and covered the mixes up with keys and strings with diluted the power of much of the material, even the voicings and the rhtyhm sections are muddier sounding they usual. Whatever the reason, if you can get past the mix, there are some truly great tunes on Hyaena, some of the Banshees best in fact. While it doesn't have any of the pyschedelic feel the b-sides from this same period have, and there is little of the Smith stamp here, it's classic Banshees and it's tension upon tension to a fervored pitch. For that alone, and for the songs themselves, this is a must have.
Submitted by paul p. (everett, ma)
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 It Could Have Been Great
Robert Smith was such a great replacement for McGeoch (who I was sad to see leave)and his work on "Dear Prudence" is stunning. Hyaena though, is a very miserable record and part of the blame goes to Robert for not seeing the production through to the end and part of it goes to the other Banshees for trying to re-create the looseness of A Kiss In the DreamHouse. Alot of the songs were created in the studio- not a good sign. However, Robert Smith and Steve Severin were attempting to make a very heavy record here but the track slection and mix-down are appalling. The strings on "Dazzle" weaken a brilliant track and "Running Town" sounds like it was mixed in a cave. I suspect Robert was treated as a hired hand here and the freedom of his other band, the Cure, caused him to neglect what could have been a brilliant moment.
Submitted by a reviewer (Detroit,MI)
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 Dazzling but not extraordinary
The much hyped collaboration of SATB with Robert Smith of The Cure. Given the considerable talent of both of these teams, this is a somewhat disappointing effort. This is not a bad record by any means, it just doesn't have much of Smith's stamp on it. But this is after all, a SATB record and it is a pretty good one. It would have been interesting (and exciting for fans of both) to see what a closer collaboration between Smith and the group could do. It was also Smith's last gasp of goth before his descent into pop Top 40 throwaways.
Submitted by a reviewer (Milwaukee, WI)
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 An album of unique brilliance
Hyaena is a classic record (although Dear Prudence doesn't belong on it). The best tracks are Dazzle, We Hunger, Preacher Man, and Running Town. Take Me Back and Belladonna are great, too. Some of SATB's best music is on this album. Robert Smith's guitar work is impressive on Running Town and Preacher Man, and Budgie's drumming is superb. The whole band, despite internal strife, is excellent.
Submitted by a reviewer (Oxford, OH)
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