Go Away White
by Bauhaus
Metascore
68

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. Billboard
    80
    It picks up right where Bauhaus left off: a wet dream for original fans and a blast of recognition for the newly eye-lined.
  2. Rolling Stone
    60
    Like true vampires, Bauhaus still manage to pull off being melodramatic and wickedly energetic even in old age. R.I.P. again.
  3. Spin
    70
    A tastefully matured Bauhaus produce enough fractured guitar and howling melodrama to wake the undead.
  5. The Guardian
    60
    Their comeback kicks off in ebullient fashion, with little of the inconsistency that once overshadowed their importance.
  6. Entertainment Weekly
    58
    White doesn't quite make good on that potential, the guitar fuzz is too restrained, while Peter Murphy's vocals evoke David Bowie doing funny grandpa voices. [7 Mar 2008, p.93]
  7. Uncut
    60
    It sounds alive and kicking almost to its own detriment. [Mar 2008, p.83]
    All this publication's reviews
  8. The A.V. Club
    91
    Go Away White is more than a swansong. It's a minor masterpiece that proves Bauhaus has been nicely preserved.
  9. Filter
    80
    It's so extravagant, trecherous and cocksure that it could almost make Interpol sound like a pleasant chamber quartet. [Mar 2008, p.94]
    All this publication's reviews
  10. Alternative Press
    90
    The proceedings sound loose, yet focused but never disappointing. [Apr 2008, p.160]
    All this publication's reviews
  11. musicOMH.com
    60
    Go Away White is an unevenly inspired valediction.
  12. NOW Magazine
    40
    Sadly, this is a posthumous offering that sounds half-finished and, considering they must have known this would be their final statement, like a missed opportunity.
  13. PopMatters
    70
    The end result is an album that’s one half decent (even if it is a bit indebted to Ash, Haskins, and Haskins’ post-Bauhaus career) and one half incredible.
  14. Hartford Courant
    60
    While the new material will hardly tarnish the band's legacy, it won't add much, either.
  15. Drowned In Sound
    60
    Those aforementioned past tense references are telling, because that’s exactly where Go Away White sounds as if it belongs: in the past.
  16. Pitchfork
    75
    Bauhaus can hold their head high, mission accomplished; but with no victory-lap tour, no more studio albums, and several awesome new tunes pointing at an un-actualized future, it all feels rather anti-climatic and lacking closure.
  17. Observer Music Monthly
    40
    Frontman Pete Murphy overdoes the drama, leaving little space for the songs to breathe, while his colleagues fail to access the mystique that at their peak, in the early Eighties, served to distinguish them from goth's also-rans.
  18. AllMusic
    80
    Go Away White sounds like the four were trying one last time to reclaim the idea of Bauhaus as band and ethos from all the many limiting clichés heaped on it, something which the album title, taken from the song "Black Stone Heart," slyly hints at.
  19. Q Magazine
    40
    A quarter of a century on, that still holds, right down to the same old ponderous rhythms, Daniel Ash's screaming guitar fuzz and Peter Murphy's ridiculously portentous vocals. [Apr 2008, p.102]
    All this publication's reviews
  20. Under The Radar
    60
    It's disappointing that this epilogue couldn't have been crafted with more care. [Spring 2008, p.82]
    All this publication's reviews
  21. Mojo
    60
    Preposterous, but this time knowingly so. [May 2008, p.114]
    All this publication's reviews

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 16 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 16
  3. Negative: 1 out of 16
  1. CaieL.
    Jan 25, 2010
    7
    Bauhaus has ranked in my top 5 of all time since I first heard them in 1987. I was naturally excited when I found out they were making a new Bauhaus has ranked in my top 5 of all time since I first heard them in 1987. I was naturally excited when I found out they were making a new album. This album has most of the hallmarks of Bauhaus but it is missing something, actually it has too much of something. Bauhuas, like their namesake, focused on function over form, stripping away the frivolity to produce a stark black and white soundscape. There are echoes of that for sure on this album, Saved, Mirror Remains and Black Stone Heart exhibit some of their former imagination with disjointed melodies and Daniel Ash's signature guitar, and sax work. As a whole it's a decent album, but take any song off of this album and play it next to Dark Entries, Silent Hedges or Slice of Life and you'll quickly the new songs missing that old Bauhaus magic.… Full Review »
  2. Alessandro
    Feb 25, 2009
    9
    I'm still trying to understand how old I am and where I am. Ah, my child's voice, and this, this is a pc. It' s seems all I'm still trying to understand how old I am and where I am. Ah, my child's voice, and this, this is a pc. It' s seems all right, this music may come from some corner in my head or from a incubus. Fan-ta-s-tic.… Full Review »
  3. BobV
    Dec 10, 2008
    8
    It's good Bauhaus. It's a bunch of old guys, so what can you expect? (I'm an old guy, too) -- it isn't groundbreaking -- It's good Bauhaus. It's a bunch of old guys, so what can you expect? (I'm an old guy, too) -- it isn't groundbreaking -- that's for sure. It stands up very well with the rest of their (limited) work. I was very pleasantly surprised and the record has gone into my regular rotation. Nice work!… Full Review »
See all user reviews »