Dead Can Dance - Spleen And Ideal LP

Label: 4AD

Dead Can Dance's seminal 2nd album stakes out their transition from goth rock and post punk to much farther flung coordinates. It's a classic of 4AD's now-legendary era, and has influenced a lot of musicians ever since. Effectively they ditched the guitars for a more classicist array of cellos, violins, timpani and trombone to match the dramatic delivery and feel of Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard's voices and lyrics; a rich mixture of shared Irish heritage, references to French poet Charles Baudelaire (the title itself is taken from his magnus opus, Les Fleurs du Mal), and a full spectrum of worldly, classical inspirations.