Deep by Peter Murphy

Deep, Peter Murphy's third solo album, came out on 19 December 1989, on Beggars Banquet in the UK and RCA in the US, and it's the record that carried his brooding baritone onto the radio. Simon Rogers produced it, and Murphy's backing band, the Hundred Men, give him a sleek, sinewy frame to prowl around in.

Following Love Hysteria, this is darker velvet: glassy guitars, a rhythm section that throbs rather than pounds, and Murphy crooning like a matinee idol wandering through a haunted house. "Cuts You Up" is the one everybody knows, a slow-burning, stately hymn that hooks you with elegance instead of volume. It became a modern rock smash in 1990, holding the top spot there for seven weeks and crossing over to the Billboard Hot 100, where it reached number 55.

There were three singles in all. "The Line Between the Devil's Teeth (And That Which Cannot Be Repeat)" and "A Strange Kind of Love" also made the Modern Rock Tracks chart, peaking at 18 and 21. Holy Smoke came next.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.