Journey’s End - Siouxsie and The Banshees 1987-1996

From 1988with tranches of time between activities becoming increasingly prolonged, itbegs the question: have Siouxsie and The Banshees, a band that have stayed thecourse against often insurmountable odds since 1976, finally reached theirjourney’s end?

With JonKlein and Martin McCarrick now full-blown members, Siouxsie and The Banshees embarkon one of its most creative and ambitious odysseys, culminating in themultidimensional complexities of the 1988 album Peepshow. Both lyricallyand musically, the Banshees continue to confound expectation with theirprogressively sophisticated and erudite artistry, yielding the groundbreakingsingle ‘Peek-A-Boo’ and propelling the Banshees to number one on the AmericanBillboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Live, the Banshees continue to be a breathtaking entity;the theatricality of their stage shows paralleling the grandiosity of theirsongs. However, the revolving door of personnel changes again threatens toderail the band, this time in the form of their (mis)management, until TimCollins starts to unpick and stabilise the Banshees’ shambolic financialaffairs. Amplifying the strained relations, the first majorrupture between founder members Siouxsie and Steven Severin, while on tour,leads to the Banshees’ hiatus between the end of the Peepshow gigs in December1988 and the release of  ‘Kiss Them ForMe’ in May 1991, reaching the Modern Rock Tracks number one slot for the secondtime; a noticeable divergence from their volatile chart fortunes in the UK. There is a resurgence of The Creatures’ activity, and thealbum Boomerang is released in 1989. At the same time, Severin composesthe film score for director Nigel Wingrove’s Visions Of Ecstasy film. Invited to play the inaugural Lollapalooza tour in Julyand August 1991 alongside bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Jane’s Addiction andButthole Surfers, the Banshees consolidate their growing popularity in the USAand go down a storm! Convening for two more studio albums, Superstition(1991) and The Rapture (1995), as well as the 1992 Twice Upon A Time:The Singles compilation album, the Banshees go to Hollywood, co-writing thesong ‘Face To Face’ with composer Danny Efman for the 1992 Tim Burton-directedfilm Batman Returns. With tranches of time between activities becomingincreasingly prolonged, it begs the question: have Siouxsie and The Banshees, aband that have stayed the course against often insurmountable odds since 1976,finally reached their journey’s end?