One of the icons of the post-punk years, Peter Murphy fronted the dark art house crew Bauhaus. His charismatic and dangerous persona, combined with his stunning voice and razor-sharp cheekbones, saw him become one of the pin-ups for what was to be mislabelled Goth.
After ending his association with Bauhaus, Murphy released a series of solo albums and enjoyed adoration for his impressive solo output alongside laterly their intermittent back-from-the-dead reunions before the band sadly collapsed in 2023.
Now, through his own label Silver Shade Records via Cadiz Music, Peter Murphy adds two new live albums to his ever-expanding catalogue. Anyone paying attention will notice Murphy is now on volumes three and four, which we are delighted to have here.
First up is ‘Peter Murphy – Peter Live Volume Three – 4th & B. San Diego 2000’ featuring Kevin Haskins – BAUHAUS / Eric Avery JANES ADDICTION / Pete DiStefano – THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS, all helping to add their individuality and style to an already impressive array of tunes. The album begins with ‘Final Solution’, and the sonic attack begins. For the next sixteen songs, you are taken to the depths of darkness and back with a sonically impressive show that gives every ounce of energy and artistry Murphy has to offer with a muscular and impressive display. With the sound not being overly polished and sounding raw and huge, not in any small part to the impressive band he’s assembled and adding to that his instantly recognisable vocal delivery, it’s dark, powerful and above all quality and hearing these songs played this way is exciting and well worth investigating. The audience between songs is enthusiastic, and that seems to draw an extra percentage from the performance.
It’s not really until ‘Subway’ do we hit pause, and the energy drops, and the atmosphere gets intense with Murphy’s vocals soaring and sounding as good as they’ve ever sounded. With Volume One being just eight covers as good as they were and Volume Two also covering ‘Final Solution’, this lineup on Volume Three is definitely the pick so far, and the delivery just shades it for me. I’m glad there isn’t a rehash of ‘ Bela Lugosi’ and ‘She’s In Parties’, etc. I want to hear the rest of his incredible catalogue explored, and he doesn’t disappoint.
Sure, there is some overlapping like the epic and haunting ‘Marlene Dietrich’s Favourite Poem’ and ‘A Strange Kind Of Love’, but these are stripped back acoustic performances, almost bootleg in delivery and production, real goosebump moments. The ebb and flow works well like a real live show captured for all time, and closing your eyes is like being front row and centre, enjoy it, it’s only rock n roll.
The second release is ‘Peter Murphy – Peter Live Volume Four Chicago 1990’. Another fantastic previously unreleased live show from 1990, which rounds off this four-volume set nicely. It was the second of two shows that evening at Chicago’s Metro, with a young Nine Inch Nails in support. On the back of the ‘Deep’ album and the hit single ‘Cuts You Up’, Peter’s star was very much in the ascendancy in the States. The band features Peter’s long-time co-writer, Paul Statham, on guitar and keyboards. Features David Bowie & Magazine cover versions. The band sounds slick and in fine fettle with Murphy again, delivering the goods in his own unique way. With the minimum of crowd interaction, it’s ‘Marlene Dietrich’ that draws some scorn out of Murphy before delivering a powerful performance of real acoustic dark beauty.
Of the thirteen songs on offer here its a no-brainer for fans who’ve already invested in the previous three, so why stop here and hear a blistering ‘Funtime’ is worth the cost alone. Not sure how many, if any, are scheduled for volumes five and six and so on, but it would be nice to have a box set of the lot with additional artwork and words, maybe from the hand of Murphy, along with more of his intriguing artwork that adorns every volume so far.
Peter Murphy online HERE:
Peter Live – Volume Three – 4th & B San Diego 2000 – ORDER HERE
Peter Live – Volume Four – Metro Chicago 1990 ORDER HERE
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