GHOST Vinilo y CD

Review: Ghost are sadly an easily confused band - doubly so, for the fact that there is now a wildly popular masked metal troupe of the same name, *and* because there is, uncannily, a 1984 film named Ghost, also rather well known. This confounding is apparently so prevalent that the obligatory Wikipedia entry on *this* Ghost is titled
'Ghost (1984 band)'. We wouldn't usually mention it, save for the fact that this perhaps not so wilful obscurantism actually works in their favour. With Drag City's reissue of Ghost's first album on griseous vinyl here, it's safe to say that this Japanese experimental psych/acid record's aura as a hidden gem feels rare to come by. It's almost as if Ghost (1984) is 'haunting' the other aforementioned cultural touchstones of the same name. Don't get it twisted, though: Ghost formed in the early 80s, but this debut recording didn't make it to the pressing plant until 1990. What explains the gap in their CV, you ask? Legend has it that the band led a truly nomadic existence - as a "band" should, in all senses of the word - roving, drifting from ruined ancient temples to disused subway stations near Tokyo. With that all checked, the album itself is truly free-spirited and eerie, and not what you'd expect from contemporary notions of space rock, with prepared tinkerings and strange readymade detritus seeming to fill each piece at every twist and turn.

Review: The famously and always theatrical nameless ghouls Ghost have been reissuing all their biggest albums of late. Their debut in 2010 set the wheels in motion for the unlikely success with its camp rock thrills, satanic lyrics and huge, arena-ready hooks. That template was tweaked and revisited a number of times including with Ceremony And Devotion which features recordings made on the band's critically acclaimed Popestar tour during the summer of 2017. It is packed with fan favs that span the entirety of the band's catalogue.

Review: Much-hyped Swedish rock band Ghost re-present their fourth studio album, following an original release in 2018. The masked, formerly anonymous supergroup made an initial splash as progenitors of modern heavy and doom metal, amping up the theatrics and rampaging lyrically through such themes as the plague, apocalypse, demon sigils and the antichrist. Prequelle continues the charge, bolstering their Anti-papal image by streamlining their creative process and concluding on a Faustian theme of eternal life.

Review: Phantomimea arrives through Loma Vista Recordings and is a brilliant new five-track cover EP from Ghost. Each and every tune is epic in its own way with material by Television, Genesis, The Stranglers, Iron Maiden and Tina Turner all chewed up and sat out in their own inimitable way. Though some of these sources are rather unlikely given Ghost's style they are all reworked with great respect. Ghost is in a great run of form having just won Best Rock Album of the Year at the iHeart Radio Music Awards, which itself came off last year's international chart-topping success Impera.

Review: A fresh, rare EP by Swedish rock band Ghost; Phantomime is an impressive side-stint for the band, its gimmick being five covers of standards by other prominent groups throughout the rock continuum. Flaunting their impressive and eclectic tastes, the EP contains covers of Television's 'See No Evil', Genesis' 'Jesus He Knows Me', The Stranglers' 'Hanging Around', Maiden's 'Phantom Of The Opera' and, yes, Tina Turner's 'We Don't Need Another Hero'. A fan service for the band's devilishly cultish followers, we're sure this'll successfully function as both a history lesson and fan initiation ritual.