Spleen and Ideal

Spleen and Ideal
Studio album by Dead Can Dance
Released	25 November 1985
Recorded	September–November 1985 at Woodbine Studios, Warwickshire, England
Genre	Dark wave, neoclassical dark wave, gothic rock, ethereal wave
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 25 November 1985 by record label 4AD. The album features a transition between the band's post-punk and gothic rock-influenced debut album towards a darkwave style.

Background

The band's official website stated that the album title 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.

Discussing the album's musical style, AllMusic commented that with Spleen and Ideal, 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 tracks written 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]

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

Release history

Country	Date
UK	25 November 1985
United States	8 March 1994

Chart history

Chart	Position
UK Indie Chart	2

Personnel

• Lisa Gerrard – vocals, all other instruments, production
• Brendan Perry – vocals, all other instruments, production, sleeve art direction
• Gus Ferguson – cello
• Martin McCarrick – cello
• James Pinker – timpani
• Tony Ayres – timpani
• Richard Avison – trombone
• Simon Hogg – trombone
• Carolyn Costin – violin
• Andrew Hutton - soprano vocals on track 1

Technical

• John A. Rivers – production, engineering
• Jonathan Dee – engineering
• Colin Gray – sleeve photography

References

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

External links

• Spleen and Ideal information at the band's fan page
• Spleen and Ideal at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
• Spleen and Ideal information at the band's official website