1001 Albums: Suicide

#386

Album: Suicide

Artist: Suicide

Year: 1977

Length: 32:07

Genre: Synth-Punk / Electronic Rock / Synth-Pop / Electronic / Minimalist

“Ghost Rider motorcycle hero

Hey baby, baby, baby he’s a-lookin’ so cute

Sneak around-round-round in a blue jump suit
Ghost Rider motorcycle hero”

Ghost Rider

How do you even begin to talk about an album like this? An album whose sole purpose was to shock and terrify the listener. When performance art duo Alan Vega and Martin Rev conceived of this musical idea, their goal was to scare audiences. Alan Vega would aggressively get into audience members faces in hopes that they would beat the shit out of him in response, screaming gutturally in their personal bubbles., all while Martin Rev was behind his keyboards playing droning bass synths that felt like they were trying to eat your soul and attacking synth sounds with his right hand that pierced through your ears like a sharp needle. As a whole this is not meant to be a pleasant experience, it’s supposed to be disturbing and horrible… and yet… it’s absolutely beautiful in its execution.

Hauntingly beautiful is the words I would use to describe it, because no matter how sinister the album gets, there’s always the strange ethereal beauty just underlaying the whole thing. The best example of this is Cheree, which feels like a love song for two haunted souls finding each other in the afterlife. It’s like the soundtrack to a demented rom-com taking place on a creepy graveyard and I’m here for this. For all of this. Maybe it’s the halloween-esque synth sounds that feel possessed or the added reverb to Alan Vega’s vocals that give it this haunting beauty. Whatever it may be, this is one hell of an experience in the world of synth-punk that you will truly never forget.

How does one even convince people of the dark, sinister beauty of this album? Any average listener would run screaming at the very mention of it. The name of the band is provocative enough, but if they even make it to their ten-minute opus “Frankie Teardrop” there’s no way this person you’re trying to sell the experience on will be by your side. The second Alan Vega’s blood-curdling screams exit his mouth and travel through the speakers into their ears, they’ll be done. Their souls shrivelling up and decaying on the spot. A shiver down your spine is an understatement and he does it not once but multiple times and all to the story of a man snapping and shooting his wife and kids before shooting himself, the horrifying screams replacing the gun shots… how do you sell an album like this to someone?!

I would like to say I can spread the word and convince everyone of the haunting beauty that is Suicide’s Suicide. But, alas, with a piece of music like this, there’s more chances of a rejection happening than an acceptance. I would urge everyone to listen to this album at least once in their lives and experience it for themselves. If I can get just one person to see the album’ for what it is’s haunting beauty then I know I will have done my duty.

Favourite Song: Ghost Rider

-Bosco