A Kiss in the Dreamhouse
| A Kiss in the Dreamhouse | ||||
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| Studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees | ||||
| Released | 5 November 1982 | |||
| Recorded | June–August, 1982 | |||
| Studio | Playground Studios, Camden Town and Abbey Road Studios, England | |||
| Genre | Post-punk, neo-psychedelia | |||
| Length | 37:45 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | Polydor | |||
| Producer | Siouxsie and the Banshees | |||
| Siouxsie and the Banshees chronology | ||||
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| Siouxsie Sioux chronology | ||||
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| Singles from A Kiss in the Dreamhouse | ||||
| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Melody Maker | very favourable |
| NME | very favourable |
| The Quietus | very favourable |
A Kiss in the Dreamhouse is the fifth studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released on 5 November 1982 by Polydor Records. The record marked a change of musical direction, as the group used strings for the first time and experimented in the studio. Guitarist John McGeoch played more instruments, including recorder and piano. For Julian Marszalek of The Quietus, the release proved the Banshees to be "one of the great British psychedelic bands."
Both a critical and commercial success, A Kiss in the Dreamhouse peaked at No. 11 on the UK Albums Chart. The Banshees themselves claimed it to be their best, until the release of Peepshow in 1988. In August 2007 it was ranked No. 1 on Mojo magazine's list of the best albums of 1982. The album was remastered and reissued in 2009.
The band held back from writing after the success of 1981's Juju. During the spring of 1982, they went on tour in Scandinavia with three tracks completed: "Cascade", "Painted Bird" and "Green Fingers". When they returned to the studio in July, the group embarked on a week of improvisation sparked off by a tape-looped section of the orchestral version of "Fireworks", a non-album single they had released in May. Other numbers followed easily.Siouxsie didn't want to use synthesizers for the arrangements:
"Fireworks" indicated the direction we wanted for the album. We wanted strings [...] John [McGeoch] wanted a machine but Steve [Severin] and I said it had to be real strings. They give a real, earthy, rich sound. You could hear the strings spitting and breathing and wheezing. Me and Steve have always wanted our music to be performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. We've always thought our songs would suit orchestration. Real strings have a very physical sound".
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Wikipedia