Goth music recommendations

[Jeivar]

Can someone recommend some goth bands/songs? Specifically something similar to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9z8vBlJhcM), this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlbVgl-4pSw)or this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi9GkI5kBu0&feature=related)?

I'm not well versed in the genre but I came across these on a V:tM collection and I really like those.

[Raistlin1040]

Not to be overly pedantic, but those bands (especially Cruxshadows and Sunshine Blind) are Darkwave (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkwave), not strictly Goth. Darkwave is usually more danceable and often involves a synthesizer, orchestrated elements, or both. This is because it's more common in the CyberGoth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybergoth) subculture, which is about EDM and raves as much as anything else. However, I'll hit you up with some classic and original recipe Goth music and such just in case.

Joy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHYOXyy1ToI) Division (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVc29bYIvCM) were one of the first "Gothic" bands. Their sound was characterized by Ian Curtis' deep, somber vocals and a sound that was more drum and bass based than most of their guitar-based punk contemporaries. Ian Curtis committed suicide in 1980 and the band renamed itself New (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ahU-x-4Gxw) Order (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftJZomwDhxQ), a substantially more poppy outing without Curtis. Still, their music retained some of their early sound and is maybe worth checking out, especially because it hits on some more Darkwave elements.

Joy Division were fundamentally a punk band throughout their entire career, just a minimalist and kind of creepy one. Bauhaus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKRJfIPiJGY) were the first true "Goth" band. They expanded on Joy Division's formula by making a really creepy atmosphere and keeping the drum and bass elements at the forefront of their music. Their single Bela Lugosi's Dead was the first great Goth song. They eventually became more of a "guitar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu71oq_IfQk) band" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoE_HcpzrBI) after absorbing influences from 1970s British Glam like Marc Bolan and David Bowie. These influences manifested as more traditional "rock" choruses, glam rock guitar tricks, and the development of the Goth aesthetic (lots of black clothes, makeup) that ultimately made "Goth" as much a visual experience as a sonic one. After a handful of albums, Bauhaus split up with lead singer Peter Murphy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHYdJ8izRfs&feature=related) and the remainder of the band (now calling themselves Love and Rockets (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4Nf6gYn4rY)) both going in more commerical directions, although Love and Rockets retained some of their Goth elements for a while.

The (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZwVgQ4Wq7E) Cure (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSRKhfolyd0&feature=related) are one of my favorite bands of all time and one of the greatest Goth bands ever. Like most early Goth bands, they started out punk and got darker and darker until the Pornography (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_pTSrOKNKs) album, which is the darkest thing they've ever done. They go back and forth between Goth and Pop records, but Pornography, along with the albums Bloodflowers and Disintegration (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggP5YDziMSY) are what gives them their reputation as a great, gloomy band with lots of buildup and amazing soundscapes.

Siouxsie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLP35SNOSDY) and the Banshees (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6lxuYme-8c) were often more Punk in terms of musical style, but their aesthetic and the vocals of lead singer Siouxsie Sioux more closely resembered Robert Smith of The Cure than Johnny Rotten. Robert Smith was in The Banshees for a while and was friends with Siouxsie Sioux and his influence can be heard in their darker (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7JHA-WXnvY&feature=related) material (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXgQ3TJJZVQ).

The Sisters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6Oh4aaLCFM) of Mercy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgifFdi8eio) are, in my opinion, the last great Goth band from the first-wave of Goth music. Although singer Andrew Eldritch doesn't consider the Sisters "Goth", they are and he is wrong. Like The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy are prone to long songs with a lot of buildup and use the bass guitar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VuzkzlqP9A) and a drum machine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiYNFP7zxhI) to drive their songs. Even though there were obvious differences between The Cure and Bauhas, and Siouxsie and The Sisters, towards the end of the 80's, Goth was still a pretty unified idea. In the early 90s, it branched pretty hard.

Fields of (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYYy862KFyE) the Nephilim (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAnGyWaRbYU&feature=related) stuck to the methods of The Cure and The Sisters, for the most part, albeit with a few more rock elements. Although they formed in the mid 80's and were only a few years after the other early bands, they bridged into a lot of what would happen in the 90's and have a somewhat different sound with smatterings of metal, folk, and darkwave elements that would continue to break Goth music into little subcultures.

Type O (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFwYJYl5GUQ) Negative (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3lzHpbB33E) was one of the first, and certainly one of the best, "Gothic Metal" bands. They utilized lead vocalist Peter Steele's powerful deep vocals in the same way that Andrew Eldritch or Ian Curtis had, but used heavy metal to enhance their sound and make them "heavier". Unlike more recent Goth Metal bands, Type O Negative rarely used orchestra sounds and were more like traditional metal than Symphonic Metal.

Artists like Voltaire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC6UtsPa13o) went in the opposite direction (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcON9ZmGDBc&feature=related). Instead of getting heavier, the so-called "Dark Cabaret" subgenre took the aesthetic and wit of Goth music and turned it into something based around acoustic guitars, big band instruments, or vaudeville stylings. The Dresden (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tqvbgads1E&feature=related) Dolls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBtWA5f2AA8&feature=related) are another example of the "Dark Cabaret" genre.

And, most recently, artists like Tying (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9y5glBsV4k) Tiffany (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnoqhY36fKo) have begun blending traditional Goth Rock with Darkwave, effectively creating a Darkwave that is heavier and less poppy. Elsewhere, Feeding (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umxXxdJ3-_E) Fingers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yexkzDeKx4o) take part in a first-wave Goth revival (with really surreal music videos), modeling their style closely on the early work of The Cure and The Sisters of Mercy.

[Moff Chumley]

Raist hit on most of the bands I was gonna mention, except one.

The Birthday Party (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgFQbphdq4s&feature=related) aren't really considered part of goth proper, but they were so influential to it that they're worth mentioning. Although they got louder and noisier than Goth ever really did.

[Jeivar]

Not to be overly pedantic, but those bands (especially Cruxshadows and Sunshine Blind) are Darkwave (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkwave), not strictly Goth. Darkwave is usually more danceable and often involves a synthesizer, orchestrated elements, or both.


Well, goes to show how much I know about music. :smallsmile:

And wow, what a thorough and informative reply. Thanks a lot.
I'm really digging those Type O Negative guys.

[Nameless]

( Raistlin: I don't want to be nitpicky, but although Joy Division are heavily associated with the Trad Goth scene, where they really ever "Gothic"? I'm pretty sure that they were Post-Punk. )

Nevermind, I missed the rest of that.

Anyway, Pedantic nit picking aside, to the OP:

"Goth music" is an extremely broad term and covers many different styles and genres. I don't want to start dissecting it all up. I'll be here all day and probably end up in some sort of silly debate. What is and what isn't "Goth" has been argued about since the 80's.

I won't go into the history of it either, since Raistlin's sort of covered most of theat, but The Goth scene today (At least here in the UK) seems to have a general split down the middle. The Trad (Traditional) Goth scene, and the Cyber (or Industrial) scene, which is then split into many funny little scenes and cliques.
Musically speaking, the Trad Goth scene tends to comprise mostly of Dark Wave, Goth Rock, Dark Cabaret, New Wave, some Synth pop etc, whilst the Industrial scene tends to focus more on EBM, Aggrotech, Synthpop, Futurepop, Trance etc. There's many pretentious little splits in both scenes, some people within the Industrial scene tend to stick mainly to the Industrial side of electronic music, whilst others enjoy listening to Futurepop and Trance, for example. In the Trad scene, some embrace Scynth pop and Gothic Electro-Industrial bands (such as Blutengel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyHnQ0bsrZw)), some won't touch anything Industrial at all. Many, (like myself :D), like both scenes and listen to everything.

You seem to be more interested in the Trad stuff, so here's a few bands/artists I love that are associated with that scene (in other words, music that would be played at a Trad Goth club):
(apologies if some of these bands have been covered already)

London After Midnight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm2J4slYb3s)
Prententious, Moi? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TuIfu5Va3U)
The Cure (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGgMZpGYiy8&ob=av2n) (Can't have a Goth list without The Cure :smalltongue:)
Joy Division (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHYOXyy1ToI)
Sisters of Mercy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evu3I0ZoERc)
Abney Park (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMqzOhuUw1s)
Bauhaus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUDjhyrjDes)
Eurythmics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJE_Sc1Wags)
Billy Idol (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgFh4RHgn0A)
Siouxsie and the Banshees (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeBMHnJqAvM)
The Frozen Autumn (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qin3D1-pg5o)

These are some more bands and artists I love. I'm separating them because they might sound a little different the kind of bands you linked in your post. Either way, they're all fantastic.

The 69 Eyes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvbzI-ZVe2M)
Type O Negative ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ3aiM8K6D0)
Birthday Massacre (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLOfluH8mgQ )
ASP (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8kvrYuQHOo )
Sopor Aeternus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwsJlUdklmk )
Marilyn Manson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypkv0HeUvTc )
Emilie Autumn (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQCAo5tKFyc )
Down Below (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgMcXGOO3AI )
Lacrimas Profundere (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSUbMQWWeJY )
HIM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMD1k16baVE&ob=av2e )
Voltaire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYKekg61EGw )

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

For what it's worth, I'd consider Trust (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wl2IcjWkqw&feature=fvst) a good example of a modern electronic take on goth?

[Marillion]

The Cruxsha-

this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlbVgl-4pSw)

Oh, ok, you've found them already. What about Volt-



Voltaire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC6UtsPa13o)
Hmm. Well, there's London Aft-



London After Midnight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm2J4slYb3s)
NERTS.

[Feytalist]

Yeah, pretty much all the good bands have been mentioned. I'll add a few as well:

Diary of Dreams (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bxAezAF4h0)
Das Ich (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SxGWruH0Bc)
Lacrimosa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih9rIRtlt-g)
Deine Lakaien (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X2QHIbIuuE)

These are darkwave or NDT (Neue Deutsche Todeskunst), a German offshoot of darkwave. Check them out, maybe.

(I was wondering if I should also mention Faith and the Muse (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyVVfGh-7G0). Should I? Guess I already have. They've got a more folky influence going on. But it's headed by William Faith, one of the old goth/punk giants.)

[Marillion]

I can actually contribute! Recently stumbled upon Thou (www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqjIMsLRz94)shalt (www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDabi24AO4U&)not (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uae8Zr8uhPg), and they're a lot of fun.

[twinkletoes]

I am not a goth, but my friend's friend's cousin is, and she likes Black Veil Brides. I don't know who they are, nor do I have any links.

[Wavelab]

I am not a goth, but my friend's friend's cousin is, and she likes Black Veil Brides. I don't know who they are, nor do I have any links.

Yeah Black Veil Brides isn't as much goth. They're more like a modern glam metal band.

There's Cradle of Filth (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr-IIVp3mcY) and Dimmu Borgir (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jw7yk8hm_0). They aren't explicitly goth, but me and many other goths like listening to them.