Once Upon a Time/The Singles

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Once Upon a Time/The Singles
File:Siouxsie And The Banshees - Once Upon A Time - The Singles album cover.jpg
Greatest hits album by Siouxsie and the Banshees
Released 4 December 1981
Recorded 1978-1981
Genre Post-punk
Length 32:37
Label Polydor (UK)
PVC (original US release)
Geffen (1984 US reissue)
Producer Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nigel Gray, Steve Lillywhite, Nils Stevenson, Mike Stavrou
Siouxsie and the Banshees
compilations chronology
Once Upon a Time/The Singles
(1981)		 Twice Upon a Time – The Singles
(1992)

Once Upon a Time/The Singles is Siouxsie and the Banshees's 1981 compilation album featuring the band's UK single releases to date. The album featured several songs that had been released as singles yet had not appeared on any of the Banshees' four albums. Once Upon a Time/The Singles spent twenty six weeks in the UK albums chart.[1][2] The sleeve was designed by Stylorouge.

Video compilation

A tie-in VHS video was released in the UK the same year on PolyGram's Spectrum label (catalogue number 7915062). Running for 30 minutes, it featured the videos to the eight singles, but replaced "Mirage" and "Love in a Void" with "Red Light" from the "Kaleidoscope" album.[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 4/5 stars[6]
The Village Voice B+[5]

AllMusic's Steve Huey called the compilation "a cohesive and essential overview of the band's edgy, influential peak". He added that despite the group's "challenging" music, "it's also accessible enough for eight of these singles to have charted in the British Top 50."[4] In 1982, Mark Tremblay of the Calgary Herald wrote that "only 'Playground Twist' really excels from the first side", which features the band's singles prior to 1980. Tremblay said "Side two is more polished, less abrasive and generally has better rhythmic drive."[7] In 2002, Q Magazine named Once Upon a Time/The Singles the 7th Greatest Album of All-Time by a Female Artist.[8] In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked the album 44th on its "Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.[9]

Track listing

  1. "Hong Kong Garden" (Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, John McKay and Kenny Morris)
  2. "Mirage" (Siouxsie, Severin, McKay and Morris)
  3. "The Staircase (Mystery)" (Siouxsie, Severin, McKay and Morris)
  4. "Playground Twist" (Siouxsie, Severin, McKay and Morris)
  5. "Love in a Void" (Siouxsie, Severin, Peter Fenton and Morris)
  6. "Happy House" (Siouxsie and Severin)
  7. "Christine" (Siouxsie and Severin)
  8. "Israel" (Siouxsie, Severin, Budgie and John McGeoch)
  9. "Spellbound" (Siouxsie, Severin, Budgie and McGeoch)
  10. "Arabian Knights" (Siouxsie, Severin, Budgie and McGeoch)

Charts

Chart performance for Once Upon a Time/The Singles
Chart (1982–1983) Peak
position
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[10] 16
UK Albums (OCC)[11] 21

Certifications

Certifications for Once Upon a Time: The Singles
Region Certification Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[12] Gold 100,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Daniel Blythe The Encyclopaedia of Classic 80s Pop 2002 - Page 377 "Siouxsle and the Banshees ... but the singles compilations Once Upon A Time and Twice Upon A Time are a solid testament to an ..."
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 AllMusic review
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Q - 100 Women Who Rock The World Q magazine. January 2002 Issue
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Siouxsie & the Banshees – Once Upon a Time - The Singles". Hung Medien.
  11. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Once Upon a Time - The Singles in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
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