The first is the swirling Dazzle, a soaring melodic rock ballad that all by itself makes the album worthwhile. Swimming Horses is another classic of post punk psychedelic rock, quite an atmospheric number. Then there's their cover of The Beatles' Dear Prudence, where the arrangement and Siouxsie's voice turn a love song into an eerie noire affair.

We Hunger has a bubbling, jerky rhythmic backdrop whilst Take Me Back is a sparse, mid tempo ballad. Belladonna is another of my favorites and the 4th masterpiece of the album with its beautiful melody line and poignant mood. Bring Me The Head Of The Preacher Man is a long brooding piece of dense instrumentation and claustrophobic airs and Running Town has some interesting tempo changes and stunning guitar playing.

Hyaena has stood the test of time very well. The aforementioned great songs, especially Dazzle, Belladonna and Swimming Horses, rank amongst this legendary band's best songs. Fans of Siouxsie And The Banshees might also like Children Of God by Swans and the albums Thirteen Masks or Sacrificial Cake by Jarboe.


A Glittering Prize   November 13, 2002
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

"Hyaena" was the first Siouxsie album I ever bought, after hearing "Dazzle" on the radio. I was soon blown away by the rest of the tracks as well.

The album is an odd array of moods and styles. "Dazzle" - the opening track - is an over-the-top swirl of guitars, rattling percussion and strings. It's followed by "We Hunger", a tormented and frantic bit of misery with wailing, discordant guitars and tribal beats. Then they shift gears on "Take Me Back", a spare, stripped-down song in which the musical accompaniment consists of an organ and brush-style drums. The fourth track - "Belladonna" - prominently features an oboe, and is a rather pretty song. The rest of the album continues shifting around the same way - Spanish-style songs, Dervish-style songs, a Beatles cover - but, somehow, they manage to make it all fit together wonderfully.

"Hyaena" is in the psychedelic, experimental vein of "A Kiss In The Dreamhouse" in its variety of sounds and textures. As others have noted, The Cure's Robert Smith handled the guitar work on "Hyaena", and does an excellent job. "The Top", which The Cure released the same year as "Hyaena", is rather similar in style and worth checking out as well. Strange, atmospheric, moody and often bizarre, "Hyaena" is one of my favorite Siouxsie albums and definitely worth picking up (the generally disliked "Tinderbox" remains my favorite - go figure).


Another Classic   March 13, 2000
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

It initially took the Banshees over a year to complete this album and is another excellent release though muddled at times. The disc opens with "Dazzle" and right away gets your attention. The strings have a fury unmatched by guitars ( originally Siouxsie wrote the string section on her toy piano! ). "We Hunger" is an unassuming Banshees song though Sioux's vocal performance is flawless. "Take Me Back" is the weakest song on the album though that doesn't mean it's a bad song, it just sounds unfinished. "Belladonna" is a keyboard-heavy ballad which is a taste of future songs. In "Swimming Horses" you can hear the influence that Robert Smith has on the group, one of their finest moments. The Banshees interpretation of the minimal Beatles track "Dear Prudence" is utterly breathtaking. They took a pretty though forgettable song and produced a classic. "Bring Me The Head Of The Preacher Man" is without a doubt one of the most underrated Banshee songs ever. Sioux's vocal layerings and Budgie's pounding along with the fine acoustic guitar shows a progression from "Spellbound". "Running Town" is a good guitar pop song while "Pointing Bone" just isn't quite on it's level. The album closes with "Blow The House Down". Where "Dazzle" demonstrated the power of strings "Blow The House Down" explodes with a cacophonous woodwind arrangement, the track also contains one of Budgie's most amazing percussive arrangements. Just one of many examples of the brilliance of the Banshees.


my favorite   April 9, 2000
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

I recently bought this album and need my fix of it everyday. This was my first siouxsie and the banshees album I ever bought, I first heard them on a mixed tape from a friend who put Arabian Knights and Hong Kong Garden on my tape (which are phenomenal songs). I have been buying siouxsie and the banshees albums ever since. But I cant seem to find an album that beats Hyaena. My favorite song on this album is "bring me the head of the preacher man" it starts with the distant voice of Siouxsie sioux singing in a deep slow taunting voice and falls right into a strong instramental of eastern sounding melodies with hard drum beats and siuoxsie sioux's astral screams. It is a beautiful song, although it almost ties with "blow the house down" and "dear prudence". Even my least favorite song, "take me back" has grown on me from listening to the album so much. Siouxsie and the Banshees would not be one of my favorite bands if it wasnt for this album (although they would still be up there). I have Ju Ju, Peep show and Tinderbox, but I cant help but to put this particular album in whenever I want to hear siouxsie and the banshees. Her snarls and screams blend into a textured instramental and her haunting voice crawls under your skin. Definitely buy this album and if you dont like it the first time you hear it, give it another chance because it is sure to get better and better.


A Lazy Feel to the Album   November 27, 1999
 4 out of 7 found this review helpful

Hyaena has a lazy, almost boring, quality about it that makes it ideal for insomniacs. It's impossible to understand Siouxsie's hatred of guitar players but she seems to fire them after every album, and sacking John McGeogh after their magnificent release, Juju, was a huge mistake. They never again recovered that haunting, scary guitar work on classics like Spellbound,or Monitor. Robert Smith, of The Cure, attempts to take the controls but fails miserably, as each song's riffs sound like an acoustic, unplugged album. His greatest contribution is in the piano-playing on the superb Swimming Horses. Smith looks as though he is about to have a nervous breakdown in the album sleeve, and one can assume this is the fate in store for all guitarists on Banshee albums. The standout track is Dazzle, a great hybrid of classical music and gothic rock.