Album · Siouxsie and the Banshees
The Scream by Siouxsie and the Banshees
The Scream is an album by Siouxsie and the Banshees, released in 1978. 6 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 15 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Jigsaw Feeling”, on 5 lists with a best position of #35.
The Scream, Siouxsie and the Banshees' debut album, came out on Polydor on November 13, 1978, and it sounds like nothing else that year. Riding the success of "Hong Kong Garden", which had reached number seven, the band went back in with co-producer Steve Lillywhite, cut the album at RAK in a week and spent three more mixing it.
Siouxsie Sioux's voice cuts like a siren, Steven Severin's bass carries the tunes, John McKay's guitar shreds everything into angular, jagged splinters and Kenny Morris pounds his tom-toms like a machine. The space is huge and the mood is claustrophobic, and songs like "Jigsaw Feeling", "Switch" and "Metal Postcard", along with a warped "Helter Skelter", sound like punk turned inside out. It reached number twelve in the UK, and reviewers hailed it as a landmark. Joy Division, U2, Killing Joke, Steve Albini and the Jesus and Mary Chain would all name it as an influence.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from The Scream on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jigsaw Feeling | 5 | #35 | – | 1978–1982 | |
| 2 | Switch | 5 | #38 | – | 1978–1982 | |
| 3 | Helter Skelter | 2 | #34 | – | 1978–1979 | |
| 4 | Overground | 1 | #38 | – | 1978 | |
| 5 | Mirage | 1 | #42 | – | 1978 | |
| 6 | Metal Postcard (Mittageisen) | 1 | #50 | – | 1978 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.