Join Hands

Join Hands is the second studio album by English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released by Polydor Records in the UK in September 1979. The final track is a studio recording of "The Lord's Prayer" *, the song that they are famous for playing in their debut live performance at the 100 Club Punk Festival in September 1976. Guitarist John McKay and drummer Kenny Morris left the band shortly after the album's release.

The opening track "Poppy Day" is based on John McCrae's poem In Flanders Fields. The poem was written in 1915 after the lost of a friend during a battle in World War I. The poppy reproduced on the sleeve later became a symbol of Remembrance Day.

Reception
Sounds magazine gave a very satisfactory rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars to the album. Pete Silverton noted a change in the sound and noted : "The mix is different to the last album. Now there’s a clarity which frames Sue’s voice like it was a thing of treasure". Silverton also wrote that some of the songs have "Siouxsie’s voice double-tracked with devastating effect".

In other papers like the Melody Maker, Jon Savage described the first track, "Poppy Day", as "a short, powerful evocation of the Great War graveyards in Flanders." He also wrote about "Placebo Effect": it "has a stunning flanged guitar intro, chasing clinical lyrics covering some insertion or operation." About "Icon", Savage wrote: "the brilliantly reverbed guitar is a perfect foil for Siouxsie's soaring and, for once, emotional vocal." Record Mirror also hailed the record and qualified it as "a dangerous and volatile work which should be heard."

Critic Kenneth Ansell of Blank Space described the band's version of "The Lord's Prayer" as not "a cathartic experience". In October 1979 he wrote, "The main problem I find in being confronted with 'The Lord's Prayer' at the tail of the album is that its inherent looseness of structure comes as something of a quantum jump from the carefully structured material that dominates the rest of the record. Nevertheless, it is a comparatively minor complaint. Join Hands is an outstanding album". The journalist then praised the other tracks of the record.

Legacy
Join Hands later marked other critically acclaimed musicians. LCD Soundsystem leader James Murphy has a special liking for it. The first albums he bought were "Siouxsie and the Banshees Join Hands, The Fall's Grotesque, and The Birthday Party's "Nick the Stripper", all in one day. And all three of those records are three of my favorite things I've ever heard." In late 2008, Morrissey chose the track "Mother" in his playlist when he was interviewed by Janice Long.

Personnel

 * Siouxsie Sioux – vocals
 * John McKay – guitars, saxophone
 * Steven Severin – bass guitar
 * Kenny Morris – drums, percussion
 * Nils Stevenson and Mike Stavrou – producers