Bauhaus “Bauhaus 1979-1983″ 1985, Beggars Banquet. I’m cleansing my palette after two days of soft rock with a spin of dark gothic post-punk, a double LP comp of many of Bauhaus’ best and some lesser known tracks. Bauhaus 1979-1983 went to #36 in the UK and Spin ranks it in the top 10 of the best and most essential goth albums.

Side A is simply amazing, five of my favorite Bauhaus songs back-to-back: “Double Dare,” “In the Flat Field,” (both on their debut In the Flat Field), “Dark Entries” (released as a single in ‘80),” “Stigmata Martyr” (also on In the Flat Field) and “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” (the live version from Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape, released in ‘82), which was the band’s first-ever released single in 1979 and widely considered to be the first goth rock record. Side B is just as strong, starting off with the great cover of T. Rex’s “Telegram Sam” (Bauhaus’ from ‘80, T. Rex’s from ‘72; I love them both). A couple of other favorites are the single “Terror Couple Kill Colonel” from ‘80 and “The Passion of Lovers,” which Bauhaus released as a single in ‘81, hitting #56 on the UK chart. Also on Side B are tracks from In the Flat Field “St. Vitus Dance” and “A Spy in the Cab” as well as the title track “Mask” from their second album released in 198. Side C kicks off with more from Mask: “Kick in the Eye” (which they released as the second single from the LP), “Hollow Hills” and “In Fear of Fear.” Next up is a fantastic cover of David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” and a single from ‘83 “Lagartija Nick” which went to #44 in the UK. Side D leads with a Brian Eno-penned song, “Third Uncle,” and then moves into two singles, “Spirit” from ‘82 (#42 on the UK chart) and “She’s in Parties” from ‘83 which also appears on Burning From the Inside. “She’s in Parties” was the band’s last single release; it went to #26 in the UK. Also on Side D is “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything” from The Sky’s Gone Out (1982) as well as “The Sanity Assassin” (a non-album fan club only single) and “Crowds.”

I feel so, so much better now.