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Juju is the fourth studio album by English alternative rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released on 6 June 1981, through record label Polydor. It is considered one of the first and most influential gothic rock records.

Background

After a slightly electronic bent made on a few tracks of their previous album, 1980's Kaleidoscope, the Banshees returned to a guitar-based sound for Juju, due to the now-official guitarist John McGeoch. The album also featured prominently the intricate percussion work of band member Budgie.

According to Steven Severin:

Juju was the first time we'd made a "concept" album that drew on darker elements. It wasn't pre-planned, but, as we were writing, we saw a definite thread running through the songs; almost a narrative to the album as a whole. The African statue on the cover, which we found in the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, was the starting point for a lot of the imagery. The imagery was the most confident and fully-realised up to that point, which makes it one of the most enduring in people's perceptions of the band.

Release

Juju was released on 6 June 1981. It reached No. 7 in the UK Albums Chart, remaining in the chart for seventeen weeks.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Piero Scaruffi	6.5/10

In their retrospective review, AllMusic wrote, "The upfront intensity of Juju probably isn't matched anywhere else in the catalog of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Thanks to its killer singles, unrelenting force and invigorating dynamics, Juju is a post-punk classic."

Reissue

Juju was remastered and re-issued in May 2006.

Goth influence and association

Juju, alongside Bauhaus' In the Flat Field (1980) and The Cure's early work (most notably 1982's Pornography), is considered one of the first and most influential gothic rock albums. The band themselves have disputed this categorisation. According to Siouxsie Sioux:

Gothic in its purest sense is actually a very powerful, twisted genre, but the way it was being used by journalists—"goff" with a double "f"—always seemed to me to be about tacky harum scarum horror, and I find that anything but scary. That wasn't what we were about at all.

Guitarist John McGeoch said of the categorisation: "The Banshees would never call themselves a goth band, because it's simply not true." According to Phil Oakey, "It wasn't the band's fault, but I do think they invented goth as we know it. They were archetypally what it became – especially those intense vocals and Kenny's terrific tribal drumming. It established the pattern." Banshees associate Billy Chainsaw saw it differently: "I never understood why they hated being described as goth. You only have to look at the lyrics, particularly some of the stuff that Severin used to write. I'm not talking about bats and ghosts. I'm talking about Gothic literature as an artform. C'mon, the band's name comes from a Hammer horror movie – Cry of the Banshee! That root had always been there. It just happened that a genre came along that later called itself goth. It didn't really matter, because the copycat bands were imitators. Nothing was ever going to be as good as the original."

Legacy

In 1995, Melody Maker writer Cathi Unsworth described Juju as "one of the most influential British albums ever". In 2007, The Guardian placed Juju on its "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die" list, writing, "Perennial masters of brooding suspense, the Banshees honed their trademark aloof art-rock to its hardest and darkest pitch on Juju."

John McGeoch's guitar playing in particular was singled out for praise. Mojo honoured him in 2006 by placing him in their list of the 100 greatest guitarists ever for his work on "Spellbound". Johnny Marr of The Smiths said on BBC Radio 2 in February 2008 that he also rated McGeoch highly for his work on "Spellbound". Marr qualified it as "clever", with a "really good picky thing going on which is very un-rock'n'roll". In Uncut, Marr also rated McGeoch at his tenth favourite guitarist for his work on Juju and Real Life by Magazine.

Another member of The Smiths, singer Morrissey, commented on "Spellbound" during an interview for the US KROQ-FM radio station in 1997:

another great single. A hit in England. Certainly not here, I don't think. But they were one of the great groups of the late '70s, early '80s, and very underrated, I think. Siouxsie and the Banshees were excellent "

Morrissey later cited Juju as an influence in an interview with GQ in 2005.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Siouxsie Sioux, except as noted; all music is composed by Siouxsie and the Banshees (Sioux, Steven Severin, Budgie and John McGeoch)

Personnel

Siouxsie and the Banshees

• Siouxsie Sioux – vocals, guitar on "Sin in My Heart"
• Steven Severin – bass guitar
• Budgie – drums, percussion
• John McGeoch – guitar

Technical

• Nigel Gray – production

References

1. ^ Paytress 2003, p. 106.
2. "Siouxsie & the Banshees | Artist | Official Charts". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
3. ^ DiGravina, Tim. "Ju Ju – Siouxsie and the Banshees : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
4. Scaruffi, Piero. "The History of Rock Music. Siouxsie Sioux: Biography, Discography, Reviews, Links". scaruffi.com. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
5. Unsworth, Cathi (14 January 1995). "Baby, Come Back". Melody Maker.
6. Petridis, Alexis (21 November 2007). "Artists Beginning with S | Music | guardian.co.uk". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
7. "Rocklist.net...Mojo Lists..." rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
8. "Spellbound: The Story of John McGeoch (4/6) – YouTube". YouTube. 7 January 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
9. Marr, Johnny (November 2004). "Top Ten Guitarists". Uncut.
10. "Morrissey – KROQ Interview, 7-6-97 (pt. 4/4)". morrissey-solo.com. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
11. Deevoy, Adrian (October 2005). "Men of the Year". GQ. Retrieved 11 March 2013.

Sources

• Paytress, Mark (2003). Siouxsie & the Banshees – The Authorised Biography. Sanctuary Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-86074-375-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Juju at Discogs (list of releases)
• Juju (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)

• Pages with empty short description
• Siouxsie and the Banshees albums
• 1981 albums
• Polydor Records albums
• Albums produced by Nigel Gray
• Post-punk albums
• Gothic rock albums