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| Mantaray | 
 enlarge | Artist: Siouxsie
Label: Decca
Category: Music
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $7.81
You Save: $7.17 (48%)
New (40) Used (25) from $5.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  43 reviews
Sales Rank: 32089
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 000982702
UPC: 602517399556
EAN: 0602517399556
ASIN: B000S850GS
Release Date: October 2, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 WOW! October 10, 2007
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I am so glad Siouxsie is back. This album kicks [...]. Siouxsie can't be categorized, but synth neo gothic comes close to mind when I try to put this in a genre. There is variation as always in a project of hers. "Drone Zone" might have been something Sun Ra would have recorded. The ominous driving tones of "Here Comes That Day" make it my favorite on the album. This may have been what you'd expect the Banshees to have done next had they continued. It's a great evolution in her musical journey. I hope she puts out many more albums. If you like Siouxsies work at all then you definately need to get this album. It's a kaliedescopic turning of musical visions that will feed your head nicely.
Crikey, looks like she's got more fans there than in old London Town! November 14, 2007
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I guess that, in this day and age, if Amy Winehouse can get away with putting out an album barely over 40 minutes, then punk/goth/rock high priestess Siouxsie (apply whichever crusty old epithet you prefer) thinks she can do the same, and with one fewer track. Well, she's right!
Having been a little inattentive to her last couple of releases, this album has surely got to skyrocket Siouxsie into whatever music Halls of Fame she's not yet been inducted to. Except that might suggest a coda to a 30-year career which clearly isn't over yet.
Produced with Steve Evans and Charlie Jones, this, like Amy's bestseller from last year and Roisin Murphy's recent opus, is very much a unified album with an overall vision - the type that those Mercury Music Prize judges are so keen on, and Mantaray deserves to be appreciated with such concentration - only at a very HIGH VOLUME!
I can understand why some die-hard fans might be a little disappointed by its maturity and, for Siouxsie (if no one else), "poppiness". But we've already got Kaleidoscope, we've already got Juju, A Kiss In The Dreamhouse and Anima Animus, so why not embrace something new?
When I first heard them in isolation, I wasn't crazy about either the first single, Into A Swan, nor the (better) follow-up, Here Comes That Day; I thought they skated uncomfortably close to self-pastiche. But, cranked up loud, they really hit the spot. Lyrically, one or two of the tracks might seem a little flaccid in places (I think another reviewer has already noted the House of cards/feet of clay mixed metaphor on the current single), but they are delivered with such oomph, and are such well-crafted songs that it doesn't seem to matter after all. "Don't be bitter/Don't be gloomy/All your torment/Flowers blooming" could almost be from Kim Appleby's unlistenably trite "Don't Worry", except that it's from the quietly stunning If It Doesn't Kill You, which reminded me of nothing so much as Siouxsie's version - many years ago - of Strange Fruit, but with a much more epic sweep. So much so that any right-thinking person must think that, if there's a battle on to do the next Bond theme, Siouxsie must now be neck-and-neck with the aforementioned Ms. Winehouse (after Love Is A Losing Game... but I wonder who would generate more column inches?).
Seriously, though, I always thought there was something quite beautiful about Siouxsie's voice - in fact, getting this album made be go out and buy the remastered version of Juju, the mangled vowel sounds of which must be etched deep in my cerebral cortex - and they're all present and correct on Mantaray's compelling closing track, Heaven And Alchemy. Maybe we're "in love with the idea of her", but I when I was soaking up the energy of her stage performances 25 years ago, I never imagined she'd become such a grande dame of music, and still radiating the same energy as she grasped each new baton - the video for Here Comes The Day demonstrates that, and a ticket to one of her live shows is so much more than a vote for nostalgia.
Respect!
Siouxsie, You Can Do No Wrong October 2, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
It's strange to think that Siouxsie Sioux, a woman who has a long and illustrious career, with two bands that she lead, has just put out her debut solo album this year. So, what's it like? Is it the crushing black magic guitars and dark psychedelia of Siouxsie and the Banshees, or is it the magical, mystical drums 'n' marimba rhythms of The Creatures? Actually, it's something completely different, something that stands completely on its own in Siouxsie's catelogue. It's "Mantaray", and it's here to stay.
1. Into a Swan: The first single and probably the best-known song. Siouxsie unleashes her newly husky, cigarettes-laden voice on the listener, backed by a grinding, feedback-cluttered wall of sound.
2. About to Happen: A very danceble, lightweight piece of glam-pop fluff, this is the party-starter of the bunch. It boasts a thrashing punk guitar with some glittering synths and rhythmic handclaps.
3. Here Comes That Day: This song, the next single after "Swan", is like a cross between Amy Winehouse's "You Know I'm No Good" and Nina Simone's cover of "I Put a Spell on You". It just oozes the blues, with its spurting brass and slicing strings.
4. Loveless: The almost peaceful orchestral strings that introduce the song are soon blown away by ravaging bass, crashing drums, and ear-piercing guitars. Siouxsie sings about what is most likely her divorce, and her pain is impossible to conceal.
5. If It Doesn't Kill You: Probably the closest to a James Bond theme that Siouxsie's gotten, this is one of the album's standouts. Screeching feedback soon gives way to gentle piano and Siouxsie's gentle cooing. The weepy strings and backing vocals kick in, evoking the spirit of Edith Piaf.
6. One Mile Below: This song is slightly more straightfoward than the other ones. It's very similar to Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy", with a tribal rhythm and spaghetti western guitars. Actually, it's more like a insane asylum version of that song. It is Siouxsie, after all.
7. Drone Zone: Oh jeez, what a song. If it's released as a single, it will probably be regarded as a novelty hit, due to the goofy melody and mutant jazz rhythm. Add some buzzing basslines and honking saxophones and you've got the weirdest song on the album.
8. Sea of Tranquility: My personal favorite, it's just so pretty. It starts out with a distorted guitar noise (Siouxsie seems to have a thing for feedback on this album), and then gives way to an easygoing bossa nova rhythm and gorgeous piano and strings. Simply sublime.
9. They Follow You: A more electronic piece, with robotic feedback noises and carnival-ride keyboards. The introduction is pretty long and heavy on the atmospherics, but then Siouxsie starts singing a soothing lullaby melody, with lyrics about potions and wishing wells.
10. Heaven and Alchemy: Although I would have liked to have seen "One Mile Below" as the closer instead of this, this is a pretty good one. It's got a great melody, with piano being the dominant instrument and some gospel-esque bacing voices
Please buy this, you won't regret it!
Gorgeous. October 7, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
A collection of songs that beautifully demonstrates why Siouxsie Sioux is a legend. Textured, lush, and at times surprising, tracks twist then turn, to keep us on our toes, and just when we think we know what to expect. As a whole, 'Mantaray' is progressive enough for rabid 'new music' hounds, yet intimate and accessible so not to leave its audience behind in the dust.
Few offerings of 2007 can compare.
Siouxsie in perect form October 5, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic album - Siouxsie is back in peak form.
When I saw the release coming up, I pre-ordered it in a heart-beat. I was a bit aprehensive after some of the work her and Budgie did with the Creatures, but if you like Siouxsie, you take it all in.
I found the video online for "Into a Swan", and my nervousness went into a giddy impatience for this to arrive.
Not only is Siouxsie's voice in fantastic form, but I swear she has found the fountain of youth! It is hard to believe that she is 50!!!
Onto the music -
This cd is Siouxise's and you can tell - she is at her best on all of the tracks and we hear everything from some punkish tunes, to more electro beat, to rock, and some jazz and ballad nods here and there.
"Into a Swan" is just a song that you have to love - here she is, after surviving her life and she is singing about being transformed into a swan - what is there not to love or respect in that? I like every track on this album, but the favorites for me are "Into a Swan" because she uses some of her trademark vocal accents on it like she hasn't in years; "Sea of Tranquility" because of the almost Jazz Lounge sound it has that fits her voice amazingly well; "About to Happen" because it sounds like an upgraded version of classic Siouxsie; and "Heaven and Alchemy" because I am a sucker for her voice and it is right up front in this ballad that evolves nicely into something a little more - and the lyrics are just great - "you love the idea of me"... and it makes you wonder if it is directed towards anybody in particular...
Buy this if you are a Siouxsie fan - you will NOT be disappointed.
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