Superstition is the tenth studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees, released in 1991. The first single, "Kiss Them for Me" gave the band its first top-forty Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 hit in the United States, peaking at number 23. The band widened their musical influences with the arrival of Indian musician Talvin Singh

Talvin Singh

Talvin Singh Matharoo , is a producer and composer and tabla player, known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music and drum and bass...

, who was asked to play tabla

Tabla

The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...

s on the songs "Kiss Them for Me" and "Silver Waterfalls".

Reception

Q magazine

Q (magazine)

Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...

 hailed the record : "They pop it up with sweet string textures on the single 'Kiss Them For Me', bear down on the maritime metaphor of 'Drifter' with doomy foghorn and bells effects, give it the all but Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...

 dreamscape for 'Softly'." Melody Maker

Melody Maker

Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...

highly praised its first single: "Kiss Them for Me is gorgeous, wicked, and glamorous" NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

wrote : "With the delicious 'Kiss Them For Me' gracing the Gallup Top 40 with a touch of real class, the release of Siouxsie & The Banshees' 10th studio LP could not have come at a better time. 'Superstition' is a giant of a record, casting a sinister shadow over the listener in true Banshee style."

History

The album was produced by Stephen Hague

Stephen Hague

Stephen Hague is an American music producer most active with various British acts in the 1980s. He was an influential figure in the synthpop movement.-Early career:...

, known for working with New Order

New Order

New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...

 and Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....

 among many others. Hague used techniques that Siouxsie Sioux

Siouxsie Sioux

Siouxsie Sioux is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer of the critically acclaimed rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees and of its splinter group The Creatures . The Banshees produced eleven studio albums and a string of hit singles including "Hong Kong Garden",...

 did not approve of later, such as computer-based production. She stated: "There are still songs I like on it, like Kiss Them For Me and Drifter, but we were trying a different kind of working style, a different kind of discipline, during which I really built a strong case against computers."

Track listing

All songs by Siouxsie and the Banshees.

1. "Kiss Them for Me" – 4:37
2. "Fear (of the Unknown)
   Fear (of the Unknown)
   "Fear " is a song written and recorded by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees and produced by Stephen Hague. It was released in late 1991 as the third U.S. single from the band's tenth studio album Superstition...
   
   " – 4:10
3. "Cry" – 3:33
4. "Drifter" – 4:43
5. "Little Sister" – 3:21
6. "Shadowtime
   Shadowtime
   "Shadowtime" is a song written and recorded by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees and produced by Stephen Hague. It was released in 1991 as the second single from the band's tenth studio album Superstition....
   
   " – 4:28
7. "Silly Thing" – 4:41
8. "Got to Get Up" – 3:17
9. "Silver Waterfalls" – 4:24
10. "Softly" – 6:00
11. "The Ghost in You" – 5:01

Personnel

• Siouxsie Sioux
  Siouxsie Sioux
  Siouxsie Sioux is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer of the critically acclaimed rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees and of its splinter group The Creatures . The Banshees produced eleven studio albums and a string of hit singles including "Hong Kong Garden",...
  
  : vocals
• Steve Severin: bass, keyboards
• Budgie
  Budgie (drummer)
  -External links:*...
  
  : percussion, drums, keyboards
• Jon Klein: guitar
• Martin McCarrick
  Martin McCarrick
  Martin McCarrick is an English cellist, keyboardist and guitarist.He is best known for his work Siouxsie and the Banshees from 1987 until 1995. He recorded with them three studio albums : Peepshow, Superstition and The Rapture...
  
  : dulcimer, cello, keyboards
• Talvin Singh
  Talvin Singh
  Talvin Singh Matharoo , is a producer and composer and tabla player, known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music and drum and bass...
  
  : percussion, tabla, tavil
• Stephen Hague
  Stephen Hague
  Stephen Hague is an American music producer most active with various British acts in the 1980s. He was an influential figure in the synthpop movement.-Early career:...
  
  : producer
• Mike Drake: engineer
• Spike Drake: engineer
• Nigel Godrich
  Nigel Godrich
  Nigel Godrich, , is a recording engineer, record producer and musician. He is best known for his work with the English rock band Radiohead and is sometimes referred to as the "sixth member" of the band...
  
  : assistant engineer
• Abdul Kroz-Dressah: assistant engineer
• Will O'Sullivan: assistant engineer
• Siouxsie and the Banshees: design
• Donna Francesca: photography

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1991	Billboard 200	65

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1991	"Kiss Them for Me"	Hot Dance Music/Club Play	8
1991	"Kiss Them for Me"	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	19
1991	"Kiss Them for Me"	Modern Rock Tracks	1
1991	"Kiss Them for Me"	Billboard Hot 100	23
1991	"Shadowtime"	Modern Rock Tracks	13
1992	"Fear (Of the Unknown)"	Hot Dance Music/Club Play	6
1992	"Fear (Of the Unknown)"	Modern Rock Tracks	12