Right on time for Halloween 2006, Rhino Records have once again gone above and beyond with the release of this massive box set dedicated to re-introducing the genre of goth rock to the world. <\/p>\n
Known for their creative and caring approach to packaging re-issues, Rhino continues that fine tradition with A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box<\/i>, a sprawling set of three CD\u2019s containing 53 songs that define goth rock, as well as an additional DVD of 12 videos (none of which are duplicates of cuts found on the CDs). <\/p>\n
As someone who has been closely involved with the gothic subculture for the past decade, I admit that I was skeptical about yet another collection. Most of the ones I\u2019ve seen before have been fairly mediocre attempts to accurately portray the genre, but this one is the best of them all. <\/p>\n
Of course, there are certain songs which must be included on any respectable goth compilation, such asBauhaus\u2019 \u201cShe\u2019s In Parties\u201d and Sisters Of Mercy\u2019s \u201c Sure, there are plenty of examples present containing goth rock\u2019s signature moody sound \u2013 jangly, neurotic guitars underpinned with nervously probing bass lines and robotic drumming, and nasal, croaking vocals broadcasting lyrics of inner turmoil, pain, sex, death and longing. To the set\u2019s credit, it also provides many glimpses of other musical directions, including the abrasive approach of \u201cMutiny In Heaven\u201d by the Birthday Party, the redneck psychobilly of \u201cPower\u201d by Fields Of The Nephilim, the trash glam of \u201cNow I\u2019m Feeling Zombified\u201d by Alien Sex Fiend, the upbeat dance pop of \u201cI Go Crazy\u201d by Flesh For Lulu, the avant-garde \u201cHamburger Lady\u201d by Throbbing Gristle, straight-up punk in \u201cHalloween\u201d by the Misfits and even industrial through Ministry\u2019s \u201cSo What?,\u201d a genre often considered goth\u2019s violent cousin. <\/p>\n What struck me the most while listening to this is how vital these forlorn anthems of anguish still are, much like the classic punk rock of which goth is an offshoot. By not pandering to the mainstream gimmicks and trends of the time, most of the songs found here are not only a snapshot of the vibrant \u201880s underground music scene but are timeless and do not sound like anachronistic throwbacks. <\/p>\n A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box<\/i> comes in packed with high-quality artwork full of dark themes and includes a 60-page book full of artist commentaries, photos, an essay on the history of goth music, track-by-track evaluations, and some rather tongue-in-cheek instructions based on timeworn clich\u00e9s on how to run a goth club and how to dance gothic (something that has become the butt of jokes within the scene itself). As if all that weren\u2019t enough, the set comes wrapped in an appropriately kinky faux leather lace-up corset! After all, a large aspect of the goth scene is the focus on dark beauty and elements of exotic sexuality. <\/p>\n Yet there are a few cases where one drinks too often from the same well. There are no less than 6 tracks from various permutations of Bauhaus (Bauhaus, Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, Dali\u2019s Car, Love And Rockets, Flesh For Lulu) plus another two on the DVD, so I\u2019d say there\u2019s a bit of over-representation in that sense, though to be fair the songs are quite different stylistically. <\/p>\n The other fault is the almost exclusive concentration on material from the \u201880s. Undeniably, that was when goth rock was new and fresh, but that doesn\u2019t mean it died once that decade ended. In fact, there was a popular revival in the mid-\u201890s but only three of those songs are here, including a Cure cover by AFI. More recent music would have been nice. <\/p>\n However, A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box<\/i> is the definitive goth-rock compilation, serving as a reminder of the wonderful music for fans and a great place to start for the uninitiated. Goth rock is well overdue for a revival, and I sure wouldn\u2019t mind seeing this set appear in my black velvet stocking for Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":28574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5827],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-40045","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-various-artists","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40045"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40045"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}