Extensive 5CD / 48 page book set exploring the evolution of the Goth movement, from the glacial post- punk of the late 1970s through positive punk and into the Batcave era, dark electronica and beyond. Features over 80 classics, rarities, album tracks and hidden gems from The Cure, Joy Division, Sisters Of Mercy, PiL, The Birthday Party, Adam And The Ants, The Mission, Southern Death Cult, Fields Of The Nephilim, All About Eve, Alien Sex Fiend, Bauhaus, Ausgang, Nico and many more The 48 Page A5 book format contains many artists’ own sleeve notes, previously unseen photographs and essay from Natasha Scharf (The Art Of Gothic, Worldwide Gothic, Prog, Metal Hammer). An intense journey through the shadowy underside of the UK’s post-punk alternative culture. In the wake of punk rock, and after twenty years of carefully packaged pop and rock fantasy, cold reality finally kicked in the doors of the music industry. Overnight, a generation raised on aspirational boy meets girl tales, the clichés of rock ‘n roll excess and the unreachable otherworldliness of glam and progressive rock were freed to pour truth and their everyday experience into their music. In no time at all, a dark, brutal sensibility crept into the UK’s post-punk wasteland, reflecting the political, social and spiritual situation. Thoughts and feelings that pop music had repressed for decades were at last unleashed as the anger, the frustration, the self-loathing and the disenchantment flowed. The instrumentation, imagery, appearance and attitudes varied wildly from tribe to tribe in this primordial, year zero atmosphere, but by the late 1970s a gothic sensibility had taken root which reset the boundaries of musical and lyrical expression forever..
Release Date 3/12/21