Spleen and Ideal

Spleen and Ideal is the second studio album by Australian musical act Dead Can Dance. It was released on 25 November 1985 by record label 4AD. The album features a transition between the band's post-punk and gothic rock-influenced debut album towards a darkwave style.

Background

The band's official website stated that the album title was taken "from 19th Century symbolist ideals". The title is directly taken from "Spleen et Idéal", a collection of poems by French poet Charles Baudelaire which form a section of his magnum opus Les Fleurs du mal.

Discussing the album's musical style, AllMusic commented that with Spleen and Ideal, Dead Can Dance "fully took the plunge into the heady mix of musical traditions that would come to define its sound and style for the remainder of its career. The straightforward goth affectations are exchanged for a sonic palette and range of imagination".^[1]

Track listing

All tracks written by Dead Can Dance.

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"De Profundis (Out of the Depths of Sorrow)"	4:00
2.	"Ascension"	3:05
3.	"Circumradiant Dawn"	3:17
4.	"The Cardinal Sin"	5:29
5.	"Mesmerism"	3:53

Side B
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Enigma of the Absolute"	4:13
2.	"Advent"	5:19
3.	"Avatar"	4:35
4.	"Indoctrination (A Design for Living)"	4:16

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]

In a retrospective review, AllMusic praised the album, calling it "amazing [...] 'haunting' and 'atmospheric' barely [scratch] even the initial surface of the album's power".^[1]

Release history

Country	Date
UK	25 November 1985
United States	8 March 1994

Chart history

Chart	Position
UK Indie Chart	2

Personnel

Lisa Gerrard – vocals, all other instruments, production
Brendan Perry – vocals, all other instruments, production, sleeve art direction
Gus Ferguson – cello
Martin McCarrick – cello
James Pinker – timpani
Tony Ayres – timpani
Richard Avison – trombone
Simon Hogg – trombone
Carolyn Costin – violin
Andrew Hutton - soprano vocals on track 1

Technical

John A. Rivers – production, engineering
Jonathan Dee – engineering
Colin Gray – sleeve photography

References

1 2 3 Raggett, Ned. "Spleen and Ideal – Dead Can Dance : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 February 2013.

External links

Spleen and Ideal information at the band's fan page
Spleen and Ideal at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
Spleen and Ideal information at the band's official website

Dead Can Dance

Lisa Gerrard Brendan Perry Paul Erikson Simon Monroe James Pinker Scott Rodger Peter Ulrich

Albums	Dead Can Dance Spleen and Ideal Within the Realm of a Dying Sun The Serpent's Egg Aion Into the Labyrinth Spiritchaser Anastasis

Compilations	A Passage in Time Dead Can Dance (1981–1998) Wake Memento

Live albums	Toward the Within In Concert

Extended plays	Garden of the Arcane Delights

Related articles	Discography 4AD Records PIAS Recordings

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