On November 25th, 1985, Dead Can Dance released their second studio album Spleen and Ideal—a transitional work that began the group’s foray into neoclassical and world music, incorporating a wider array of instruments such as cello, trombone, and timpani., while still containing strong elements of their post-punk roots.
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.
The album, produced by the duo Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, along with John A. Rivers, opens with the dirgeful “De Profundis (Out of the Depths of Sorrow)”, alluding to the seminal farewell love letter Oscar Wilde wrote to Bosie, and continues with an almost world-spanning monastic feel until the album’s closer “Indoctrination (A Design for Living)”, with perhaps “Avatar” but most certainly “Advent” retaining that strong gothic rock evoke by the band’s 1984 debut.
This was the last album with Scott Rodger and James Pinker, who departed the band in 1987.
Tracklist:
I’ve been swimming in an ocean of tears I went swimming in all of my fears And every day is…
Our entire life Was like a spell of beauty and despair This old delusion Hectic with our own selfish thirst…
Yesterday is history And today is just misery So we say "Long live the King" Oh, he ruined everything Hailing…
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