Rocktrospectiva: The Seminal And Influential "In The Flat Field" Turns 45

Released on 7 November 1980 "In The Flat Field" was the debut studio album by English gothic rock band Bauhaus. It was recorded between December 1979 and July 1980, and it was the first full-length release by 4AD. The cover artwork is a reproduction of Duane Michals' 1949 photograph, Homage to Puvis de Chavannes. 

The band recorded the album after releasing their first three singles, "Bela Lugosi's Dead", "Dark Entries", and "Terror Couple Kill Colonel", conceiving the record with influences from Post-punk bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees and Glam rock figures such as David Bowie.

Bauhaus initially saw success with their debut single Bela Lugosi's Dead, widely regarded as a pioneering gothic rock record. However, the band chose to leave their label, Small Wonder Records, citing a lack of support from the label.  Signing with the 4AD label, Bauhaus released two more singles, "Dark Entries" in January 1980 and "Terror Couple Kill Colonel" in June 1980, so after following a 30-date tour, Bauhaus went to Southern Studios in Wood Green, London, to record their first album. The band had a clear conception of how they wanted the record to sound, and so they opted to produce it themselves. While most of the album was completed in time for the planned release date of September 1980, the group found it difficult to record a version of "Double Dare" as good as the one they had performed on DJ John Peel's BBC Radio 1 programme. The band applied to the BBC for permission to use the Peel session version on the album, but due to obstruction from the Musicians' Union, the process took over a month.

About the music on the record, it had  a dark atmosphere which was reminiscent of contemporaries such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Adam and the Ants, and Joy Division. The album's lyrics feature many taboo subjects such as martyrdom, paranoia, madness, obsession and prostitution. "Stigmata Martyr", was about "a person whose religious obsession with Christ takes the form of a physical manifestation of the crucifixion, "Dark Entries", told the story of title character Dorian Gray from Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, which is Murphy's favorite novel. Murphy explained: "It was the first book with real substance that I chose for myself. It's a story of great narcissism and esoteric interior, and brilliantly written. It's a window into this personality, this Oscar Wilde chap I'd heard about. The language is so opulent. It's a rock star's story, really." The track "In the Flat Field" was inspired by "the quotidian mundaneness of life in Northampton, and the desire to escape that 'flat' existence."

The album initially received polarized reviews. It was met with a negative response from professional critics in the UK, but topped the UK Independent Albums Chart, also received positive reviews in fanzine publications, the album was "absolutely slated" by the British weekly music press according to Bauhaus biographer Ian Shirley. Over time, however, its standing has improved, and it is now highly regarded as one of the first and most influential gothic rock albums. 

 

In The Flat Field Track List: 

 

1. Double Dare

2. In The Flat Field

3. A God In An Alcove

4. Dive

5. Spy In The Cab

6. Small Talk Stinks

7. St. Vitus Dance

8. Stigmata Martyr

9. Nerves