Dead Can Dance: SACD Box Set Limited Edition (9CD) 2008

               

Dead Can Dance are an Australian neoclassical darkwave band from Melbourne. Currently composed of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, the group formed in 1981. They relocated to London the following year. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described Dead Can Dance's style as "constructed

soundscapes of mesmerising grandeur and solemn beauty; African polyrhythms, Gaelic folk, Gregorian chant, Middle Eastern music, mantras, and art rock." Dead Can Dance combine elements of European folk music -- particularly music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance -- with ambient pop and worldbeat flourishes, touching on everything from Gaelic folk and Gregorian chant to avant-garde pop and darkwave.
              

Over the course of their career, Dead Can Dance have featured a multitude of members, but two musicians have remained at the core of the band -- guitarist Brendan Perry and vocalist Lisa Gerrard.

Perry had previously been the lead vocalist and bassist for the Australian-based punk band the Scavengers, a group that was never able to land a recording contract. In 1979, the band changed its name to the Marching Girls, but still wasn't able to get a contract. The following year, Perry left the group and began experimenting with electronic music, particularly tape loops and rhythms. In 1981, Perry formed Dead Can Dance with Lisa Gerrard, Paul Erikson, and Simon Monroe. By 1982, Perry and Gerrard decided to relocate to London; Erikson and Monroe decided to stay in Australia.
              

Within a year, Dead Can Dance had signed a record deal with 4AD. In the spring of 1984, they released

their eponymous debut album, comprised of songs the pair had written in the previous four years. By the end of the year, the group had contributed two tracks to It'll End in Tears, the first album by This Mortal Coil, and had released an EP called Garden of the Arcane Delights. In 1985, Dead Can Dance released their second album, Spleen and Ideal. The album helped build their European cult following, peaking at number two on the U.K. indie charts.
                      

For the next two years, Dead Can Dance were relatively quiet, releasing only two new songs in 1986,

both which appeared on the 4AD compilation Lonely Is an Eyesore. Within the Realm of a Dying Sun, the group's third album, appeared in 1986. In 1988, the band released its fourth album, The Serpent's Egg, and wrote the score for the Agustí Villaronga film El Niño de la Luna, which also featured Lisa Gerrard in her acting debut. Aion, Dead Can Dance's fifth album, was released in 1990. Also in 1990, the group toured America for the first time, earning rave reviews.
              

In the fall of 1993, they released Into the Labyrinth, which became their first proper studio album to

receive an American release. Into the Labyrinth was a cult success throughout the U.S. and Europe. It was followed by another American and European tour, which was documented on the 1994 album and film Toward the Within. In 1995, Lisa Gerrard released her debut solo album, The Mirror Pool. In the summer of 1996, Dead Can Dance released Spiritchaser and embarked on an international tour. The duo officially disbanded in 1999.
                     

The band embarked on a world tour in August 2012 in support of the release of a brand-new studio

album, Anastasis. The tour was documented on the 2013 release In Concert. Inspired by the rites and rituals of the Greek god of wine ecstasy, Dionysus, the group's 13th studio long player, arrived in 2018. Having temporarily disbanded in 1998, they reunited in 2005 for a world tour, and again in 2011 to release and tour the album, Anastasis. They released their most recent album Dionysus in 2018, and toured Europe in 2022.

                        

Dead Can Dance – SACD Box Set
Label: 4AD – DCDBOX 2
Format: Box Set, Compilation, Limited Edition, SACD, Hybrid, Album, Remastered, Audiophile Edition, DSD64
Country: Europe  
Released: Jun 30, 2008
Genre: Rock, Classical, Folk, World
Style: Ethereal, Experimental, Goth Rock, Medieval

              

Limited edition of 1500 copies. Housed in a white cardboard box, containing another black velvet box and all albums and the EP, re-mastered on hybrid stereo SACD in vinyl replica sleeves.

               

DISC 1.  DEAD CAN DANCE 1984

                          

Dead Can Dance is the debut studio album by Australian musical act Dead Can Dance. It was released on 27 February 1984 on the 4AD label. The musicians who performed on the album were Brendan

Perry, Lisa Gerrard, Paul Erikson, James Pinker and Peter Ulrich. The instrumentation consisted of guitars, bass guitar and drums, with added percussion and the very distinct sound of the yangqin, as played by Gerrard. AllMusic commented on the album's sound: "Bearing much more resemblance to the similarly gripping, dark early work of bands like the Cocteau Twins and the Cure than to the later fusions of music that would come to characterize the duo's sound, Dead Can Dance is as goth as it gets in many places".

Dead Can Dance – Dead Can Dance
Label: 4AD – WPCB-10070, 4AD – SAD 2705
Format: SACD, Hybrid, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered
Released: Jun 25, 2008
Genre: Rock
Style: Goth Rock, Ethereal

TRACKS

                         

01. The Fatal Impact    3:21
02. The Trial    3:42
03. Frontier    3:13
04. Fortune    3:47
05. Ocean    3:21
06. East Of Eden    3:23
07. Threshold    3:34
08. A Passage In Time    4:03
09. Wild In The Woods    3:46
10. Musica Eternal    3:51

MP3 @ 320 Size: 92 MB
Flac  Size: 239 MB

DISC 2.  GARDEN OF THE ARCANE DELIGHTS (EP) 1984

                        

Garden of the Arcane Delights is the first EP by Australian band Dead Can Dance. It was released in August 1984 on record label 4AD. The tracks were later added to Dead Can Dance's self-titled debut

album when it was re-released on CD. The naked blindfolded figure, representing primal man deprived of perception, stands, within the confines of a garden (the world) containing a fountain and trees laden with fruit. His left arm stretches out – the grasping for knowledge – towards a fruit bearing tree, its trunk encircled by a snake. In the garden wall – the wall between freedom and confinement – are two gateways: the dualistic notion of choice. It is a Blakean universe in which mankind can only redeem itself, can only rid itself of blindness, through the correct interpretation of signs and events that permeate the fabric of nature's laws.

Dead Can Dance – Garden Of The Arcane Delights
Label: 4AD – SAD 2706 CD, 4AD – WPCB-10071
Format: SACD, Hybrid, Stereo, EP, Reissue, Remastered
Country: UK, Europe & US
Released: 2008
Genre: Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Goth Rock, Ethereal

TRACKS

                        

01. Carnival Of Light    3:33
02. In Power We Entrust The Love Advocated    4:12
03. The Arcane    3:48
04. Flowers Of The Sea    3:27

MP3 @ 320 Size: 42 MB
Flac  Size: 103 MB

DISC 3.  SPLEEN AND IDEAL 1985

         

Spleen and Ideal is the second studio album by Australian band Dead Can Dance. It was released on 25 November 1985 by 4AD. The album spearheaded the group's sonic transition from their post-punk and gothic rock-influenced roots towards a neoclassical dark wave style. 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"

Dead Can Dance – Spleen And Ideal
Label:4AD – SAD 2707 CD, 4AD – WPCB-10072
Format:    SACD, Hybrid, Stereo, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Country:UK, Europe & US
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Modern Classical, Goth Rock, Ethereal

TRACKS

                      

01. De Profundis (Out Of The Depths Of Sorrow)  (Soprano Vocals – Andrew Hutton)   3:59
02. Ascension    3:05
03. Circumradiant Dawn    3:18
04. The Cardinal Sin    5:29
05. Mesmerism    3:52
06. Enigma Of The Absolute    4:14
07. Advent    5:17
08. Avatar    4:35
09. Indoctrination (A Design For Living)    4:13

MP3 @ 320 Size: 101 MB
Flac  Size: 252 MB

DISC 4.  WITHIN THE REALM OF A DYING SUN 1987

                  

Within the Realm of a Dying Sun is the third studio album by Australian band Dead Can Dance. It was released on 27 July 1987 by 4AD. By this time, Dead Can Dance were predominantly a duo of Lisa

Gerrard and Brendan Perry, along with Peter Ulrich, after the departure of Scott Rodger and James Pinker in 1987. On the sound of the album, the group commented, "We realised we had been limiting our musical visions [before], relying around guitar, bass and drums. These instruments weren't adequate to express a lot of the things we were hearing". On the making of the album, 4AD label owner Ivo Watts-Russell commented, "I think the relationship between them and [producer] John Rivers was at its peak with [Within the Realm of a Dying Sun]. It's probably my favourite record of theirs".

Dead Can Dance – Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun
Label: 4AD – SAD 2708 CD, 4AD – WPCB-10073
Format:    SACD, Hybrid, Stereo, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Country: UK, Europe & US
Released: Jun 2, 2008
Genre: Rock, World, & Country
Style: Modern Classical, Ethereal, Goth Rock

TRACKS

                   

01. Anywhere Out Of The World    5:08
02. Windfall    3:32
03. In The Wake Of Adversity    4:14
04. Xavier    6:15
05. Dawn Of The Iconoclast    2:09
06. Cantara    5:58
07. Summoning Of The Muse    4:57
08. Persephone (The Gathering Of Flowers)    6:34       
    

MP3 @ 320 Size: 97 MB
Flac  Size: 254 MB   

DISC 5.  THE SERPENT'S EGG 1988

                

The Serpent's Egg is the fourth studio album by the Australian band Dead Can Dance, released on 24

October 1988 by record label 4AD. The album was the last produced while Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard were a romantic couple. A majority of the album was recorded in a multi-storey apartment block in the Isle of Dogs, London. Perry discussed the album's title: "In a lot of aerial photographs of the Earth, if you look upon it as a giant organism—a macrocosmos—you can see that the nature of the life force, water, travels in a serpentine way".

Dead Can Dance – The Serpent's Egg
Label: 4AD – CAD 2709 CD
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo
Country: UK
Released: Dec 22, 2008
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Modern Classical, Ethereal, Goth Rock

TRACKS

                   

01. The Host Of Seraphim    6:18
02. Orbis De Ignis    1:35
03. Severance    3:23
04. The Writing On My Father's Hand    3:49
05. In The Kingdom Of The Blind The One-eyed Are Kings    4:12
06. Chant Of The Paladin    3:48
07. Song Of Sophia    1:24
08. Echolalia    1:16
09. Mother Tongue    5:16
10. Ullyses    5:09

MP3 @ 320 Size: 90 MB
Flac  Size: 225 MB

DISC 6.  AION 1990

                     

Aion is the fifth studio album by the Australian band Dead Can Dance, released on 11 June 1990 by

4AD. The first album Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry wrote after the end of their romantic partnership, it was recorded at Perry's new estate, Quivvy Church in Ireland, with additional recording on "The Arrival and the Reunion" and "The End of Words" taking place at Woodbine Street Recording Studios in Leamington Spa. On this album, Dead Can Dance explored early music to a greater degree, including

medieval music and Renaissance music, as Perry noted, "synonymous with the Bosch period"; this included pieces like the 14th-century Italian dance instrumental ("Saltarello") and 16th-century Catalan ballad ("The Song of the Sibyl"), lyrics from 17th-century Spanish baroque poet Luis de Góngora ("Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book"), and instrumentation such as hurdy-gurdy and viols. The male soprano David Navarro Sust contributed vocals to tracks 1 and 7.

Dead Can Dance – Aion
Label: 4AD – SAD 2710 CD, 4AD – SAD 2710, 4AD – SAD2710, 4AD – WPCB-10075
Format:    SACD, Hybrid, Stereo, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Country: UK, Europe & US
Released: Jun 2, 2008
Genre: World, & Country
Style: Modern Classical, Ethereal

TRACKS

       

01. The Arrival And The Reunion   1:39
02. Saltarello   2:34
03. Mephisto    0:54
04. The Song Of The Sybil   3:46
05. Fortune Presents Gifts Not According To The Book   6:04
06. As The Bell Rings The Maypole Spins   5:17
07. The End Of Words   2:06
08. Black Sun    4:57
09. Wilderness    1:24
10. The Promised Womb   3:24
11. The Garden Of Zephirus    1:19
12. Radharc    2:49

MP3 @ 320 Size: 91 MB
Flac  Size: 221 MB

DISC 7.  INTO THE LABYRINTH 1993

        

Into the Labyrinth (1993) is the sixth album recorded by the Dead Can Dance duo, Lisa Gerrard and

Brendan Perry. It marked a strong shift from the previous albums, putting ethnic music influences at the forefront as would be the case in the later albums. It was their first album completed on their own without the aid of guest musicians, and their first album to have a major label release in the U.S., thanks to a 4AD deal with WEA. It featured the alternative radio hit single "The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove".

Dead Can Dance – Into The Labyrinth
Label: 4AD – SAD 2711 CD, 4AD – SAD 2711, 4AD – SAD2711, 4AD – WPCB-10076
Format: SACD, Hybrid, Stereo, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Country: UK, Europe & US
Released: Jun 30, 2008
Genre: World, & Country
Style: Modern Classical, Tribal, Ethereal

TRACKS

               

01. Yulunga (Spirit Dance)    6:56
02. The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove    6:17
03. The Wind That Shakes The Barley   2:52
Arranged By – Dead Can Dance
Words By, Music By – Dr Robert Dwyer Joyce
04. The Carnival Is Over    5:26
05. Ariadne    1:56
06. Saldek    1:07
07. Towards The Within    7:10
08. Bird    5:03
09. Tell Me About The Forest (You Once Called Home)    5:44
10. The Spider's Stratagem    6:41
11. Spirit    4:58
12. Emmeleia    2:06
13. How Fortunate The Man With None   9:15
Music By – Dead Can Dance
Translated By – John Willett
Words By – Bertolt Brecht

MP3 @ 320 Size: 159 MB
Flac  Size: 391 MB
   
DISC 8.  TOWARD THE WITHIN 1994

              

Toward the Within (1994) is the first official live album of Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard's group

Dead Can Dance. It contains 15 songs, of which only four appeared on their previous albums, and two of which were later re-recorded and included on Lisa Gerrard's first solo album, The Mirror Pool. The others previously existed only in live performances and unofficial bootlegs, but were not officially released until Toward the Within. Along with Perry and Gerrard were a number of musicians who had performed with them on other occasions.

Dead Can Dance – Toward The Within
Label: 4AD – SAD 2712 CD, 4AD – WPCB-10077
Format: SACD, Hybrid, Stereo, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Country: UK, Europe & US
Released: 2008
Genre: Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Modern Classical, Ethereal

TRACKS

                    

01. Rakim   6:25
Written-By – Perry, Gerrard
02. Persian Love Song   2:56
Arranged By [Trad. Arr.] – Gerrard
Written-By – Trad.
03. Desert Song   4:21
Written-By – Perry, Gerrard
04. Yulunga (Spirit Dance)   7:12
Written-By – Perry, Gerrard
05. Piece For Solo Flute   3:34
Written-By – Robert Perry
06. The Wind That Shakes The Barley   3:12
Arranged By [Trad. Arr.] – Dead Can Dance
Words By, Music By – Dr. Dwyer Joyce
07. I Am Stretched On Your Grave   4:39
Written-By – O'Donovan, King
08. I Can See Now   2:57
Written-By – Perry
09. American Dreaming   4:54
Written-By – Perry
10. Cantara   5:16
Written-By – Perry, Gerrard
11. Oman   5:49   4:32
Written-By – Perry, Gerrard
12. Song Of The Sibyl
Written-By – Traditional Version
13. Tristan   1:49
Written-By – Gottfried Von Strassburg
14. Sanvean   4:05
Written-By – Claxton, Gerrard
15. Don't Fade Away   6:16
Written-By – Perry

MP3 @ 320 Size: 164 MB
Flac  Size: 463 MB

DISC 9.  SPIRITCHASER 1996

                     

Spiritchaser is the seventh studio album by Dead Can Dance, and would prove to be the last before the duo reunited fourteen years later for Anastasis. It expands on its exploration of world music, and like

Into the Labyrinth, was recorded at Quivvy Church, Brendan Perry's personal studio in Ireland. The album was dedicated to Lisa Gerrard's deceased brother, Mark Gerrard. The track "Indus" contains a melody that is very similar to that of "Within You Without You", a Beatles song that George Harrison wrote and recorded with Indian musicians in 1967. Although their use of a similar melody was not deliberate, Perry and Gerrard were asked to contact Harrison for his permission to use it; he granted it, but the record company insisted that they give him partial songwriting credit on "Indus".

Dead Can Dance – Spiritchaser
Label: 4AD – SAD 2713 CD, 4AD – SAD 2713, 4AD – SAD2713, 4AD – WPCB-10078
Format: SACD, Hybrid, Stereo, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Country: UK, Europe & US
Released: Jun 30, 2008
Genre: Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Tribal, Modern Classical, Ethereal
     

TRACKS

                      

01. Nierika   5:45
Engineer – Klaus Vormehr
Percussion – Lance Hogan, Peter Ulrich, Robert Perry, Ronan O'Snodaigh
02. Song Of The Stars    10:13
03. Indus   9:23
Clarinet [Turkish] – Renaud Pion
04. Song Of The Dispossessed    5:00
05. Dedicacé Outò   1:09
Engineer – Klaus Vormehr
Percussion – Lance Hogan, Peter Ulrich, Robert Perry, Ronan O'Snodaigh
06. The Snake And The Moon    6:12
07. Song Of The Nile    8:00
08. Devorzhum    6:14

MP3 @ 320 Size: 128 MB
Flac  Size: 332 MB

Liza Gerrard & Klaus Schulze on Urban Aspirines HERE
Liza Gerrard & Pieter Bourke on Urban Aspirinrs HERE