Bauhaus were the mother of all gothic rock bands, a seminal band that existed from 1978 to 1983 with two short-lived reunions and a final album, “Go Away White,” in 2008. Influenced by Joy Division, Bauhaus took the gloomy sound even further and became the first gothic rock band (although some date the birth of the gothic rock ballad to King Crimson’s “Epitaph” on their 1969 debut album). The stark austerity of their sound is adequately translated to the stage. “This is for When” documents the entire show at the Hammersmith Palais on November 9, 1981, including the encore of the band’s seminal track, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” In good sound quality, this release collects a best of from their first releases up to “Mask” (1981), plus “Silent Hedges” from “The Sky’s Gone Out,” which came out almost a year after the show. The fantastic bass riff of “Silent Hedges” marks it as one of the set’s highlights. Others include “The Passion of Lovers,” “The Man with X-Ray Eyes,” “Mask,” “Kick in the Eye,” the doom of “Hollow Hills” and the unexpectedly bouncy “Rosegarden Funeral of Sores.” This is dark post punk at its best – an abrasive Peter Murphy shouting out over the din of the guitar, while the solid rhythm section propels them onward.

by artistxite