The queen of goth polished her sound and released this powerful transitional album with yet another new guitarist. With a half dozen albums under their belt (The Scream in 1978, Join Hands in 1979, Kaleidoscope in 1980, Juju in 1981, A Kiss in the Dreamhouse in 1982, and Hyæna in 1984), Siouxsie and the Banshees recruited John Valentine Carruthers to replace Robert Smith, who had quit after having a nervous breakdown playing full time with two bands. When Siouxsie broke her kneecap during a live performance, the band settled into the studio to work on this dark and vibrant bridge between their more aggressive punk roots and the pop sheen that they would ultimately embrace.
Siouxsie says: "I rarely delve into anything...I usually have a head-on collision with it...[My knee] dislocated completely and came out the other side. It was painful, but it looked much worse -- this kneecap hanging out where it shouldn't be. Complications set in, because I carried on the tour -- the leg was in plaster five weeks when it should only have been two. The plaster came off and it wouldn't bend, it was real horror story stuff. They told me 'yes, well of course the ligaments, have been torn out and they've bled and healed, so there's a lot of gunge and it won't bend', and I was threatened with being put under anaesthetic to have an 'assisted bend'. So I worked really hard with some weights at home, I'd rather be in pain on my own than have a doctor hear me go 'ouch'.... It's called ['Tinderbox'] because everything seemed to happen either around situations or the effect of weather, and the word conjures up something explosive that's to do with something being combustible, by the fact that the sun's there and it's made it that way, it's not man made. It has that theme to it, although it's all very diverse...We started recording it last May, for a month in Hansa and had problems with the producer...We're survivors because we turn disadvantages into advantages. There've been so many instances where catastrophe has struck the Banshees, but it motivates you once the feet have been put back on the ground again. We probably attract disaster for a very specific reason, it's totally out of our control. It's only in retrospect you realise it, at the time you're devastated. Maybe I'll look back and think 'thank God I dislocated my knee that time'. Certainly it made me sit back a bit... oh no, Godzilla's packed up again, I'll have to ask for a light... it's a good pick-up line ... is there someone handsome here?"
'Cities In Dust'
"Water was running
Children were running
You were running out of time"
'Candyman'
"Sickly sweet, his poison seeks
For the young ones who don't understand"
'The Sweetest Chill'
"Enchantment ebbs and whirls"
'Partys Fall'
"The smile in the mirror grows weaker
The laughter you heard is growing fainter"
'92 Degrees'
"Long ago in the headlines they noticed it too
But too late for the loved ones and nearly for you..."
'Cannons'
"Once more in the line of fire
Hovers the preying sky"
'This Unrest'
"Ah, we meet again, my trusty friend
Demanding new favours for old time's sake"
'Tinderbox'
full album:
01. Candyman (single) 0:00
02. The Sweetest Chill 3:44
03. This Unrest 7:51
04. Cities in Dust (single) 14:10
05. Cannons 18:03
06. Party's Fall 21:17
07. 92° 26:16
08. Land's End 32:18
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