For me the band that ignited it all. Despite some radio-friendly songs of the era, which are often not by the mastermind behind the lyrics, this is both a top-notch genre blend and the amalgamation of intellectual rock. The Soft Parade is one of the most life-changing songs, i dare you dispute. Morrison was a visionary beyond this world.

Ingenious rock avant-garde - Pink Floyd of the post-punk.

Doomer's insulin.

As good as modern folk can get. Queen of goth.

It's a fucking Bauhaus!

Underrated & misunderstood. Some of the most interesting storytelling in goth music. Sound-wise can be stale, repetitive, but if you are into these themes such kind of experimental minimalism in style of industrial, glitch, synth-wave and even hip-hop can prove effective for you.

Industrial Mozart and one of the most underappreciated masters of epatage. Man as a genre, who became truly the one with his muse even after clocking so many miles all these years later.

"The Lord of Lard, the Mighty Swine
He loves Manchego and a bottle of wine
Also known as Raymond Watts,
He screams out his lungs while his brain slowly rots!

Antichrist became superstar way too soon for his own good. Surely, it's amazing how incredibly insightful and hard working Brian was with his legendary triptych of albums. Can't even imagine how did he figure out so much material in such a short span of years. But even with well-deserved fame he became a bad example of self-indulgesness. Followed after triptych "The Gold Age of Grotesque" is half-ruined due to Brian's self-mastrubation in lyrics, despite being the best of MM sound-wise (all hail Tim Skold and the old band's line-up for composing). Then he stucked in a creative dead end for me with future questionable releases. "The Pale Emperor" and "We Are Chaos" fixed that.

Electronic music won't get better than this.

A.k.a. the most underrated band ever - in some sense rightly so. The magic of "The Sound" lies within the dichotomy of gallows and disco, simplicity and sincerity, progressiveness and measure, melancholy and joy coming from Adrian Borland - one of the most effective poets of mundane. "I can't escape myself" is my favorite song ever.

It boggles my mind that even Bauhaus fans at times ignore this wonderful side project by Daniel Ash (their ex-guitar player), Glenn Campling and Kevin Haskins. It's a one of a kind blend of post-punk, psychedelic rock, punk and gothic rock. The most cool thing about this kinda one-off endeavor is an attempt to constantly try something different in each song with all the instruments and experiences given. Not only ahead, but beyond their time.

Ultimate ode to melancholy and unprecedented trip-hop creativity.

Synths with feels.

Alison Lewis is nothing short of a darkwave empress. In fact, there are not many other women i can think of which are more glorious than she when it comes to brainy music. Not only does she has the most memorable voice of an ancient siren (capable of chilling out tigers), but her lyrics often explores deeply thoughtful concepts of science, philosophy, stoicism and mythology, whilst synthesizing it with heart-felt emotions. Though Alison's approach to music can be too minimalistic (EBM with 90's goa trance is not complicated, nor it always melodic), it's still something unforgettably distinct each time. This kind of mesmerizing alchemy scatters it's influence on you so well, that you won't wish to smell any roses pricking you with the spikes of mainstream. When she is in collaboration with other artists - in bands like Keluar and Linea Aspera - there is no such thing in electronic music which can outmatch her in my eyes. If I was an electronic musician myself, I'd be the male version of Alison Lewis - yes, she's so amazing.

Sucks

KMFDM, but more techno/breakbeat-focused. Japanese CD has two bonus tracks, one of which is highly important "American Dream" - i'd say the best song by these guys. Also an exclusive song "Missing Time" became a part of Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2 videogame - can be found in lossless from CD.

Reached the point where it became a masterclass of "hellectro meets industrial punk metal". Fireworks for all the fallen souls out there, including me. The catch is overly blunt lyrics at times, as if they are afraid of being less plain obvious, despite the punk transparencies.

"THOU SHALT NOT BREAK MY INDEPENDENT LIFE FORCE
THOU SHALT NOT BREAK THE ASTRAL PLANE OF INTELLECT
WE ARE BORN IN THE FIRE
WE RESIST THE WORDS OF CHRIST
WE ARE BORN IN THE FIRE
ACCEPTING THE DEPTHS OF DAMNATION"

On point criticism of post-911 America and society as a whole. Though too experimental for their own sake. After the masterful 1st album it's still hard for me to process all of their creative 180 degree turns. But, nevertheless, P9 is a shock therapy done right.

An icon for not only musicians, but any creative person as a whole. David Jones was the one to invent stage alter egos and lyrical heroes. His desire to always be diverse in all spheres of life is astonishing, to say the least! Also he was a very noble man, which is indicated by a lot of untold stories revealed after his passing.

Perfection of electronic avant-garde and music in general.

No, not syth-pop gods, but rather an alternative godfathers. "Playing The Angel" was the last great album by them, the future ones... - some moments here and there.

So much more than just a Tainted Love. Not praised enough for being one of the first nihilistic provocateurs disguised as pop. Marc Almond raised very important topics of existential crisis, urban despair, the darker side of neon-coated hedonism and prostitution. Though Marc can be slightly edgy and too horny at times (as it was the case with some cringy songs on the 1st album), most of his texts are surprisingly witty and clever for a guy in his early 20s. Some of his songs are "simply-unsimply" life-changing. Dave Bull's electronic minimalism is exemplary in all things syth-pop. "The Art Of Falling Apart" is a masterpiece of an album.

"Living in a jungle
It ain't so hard
Living in the city
It'll eat out your heart!

Plethora of contrasts in electronic music. Sometimes she seems like familiar EBM with psychotic industrial effects for dance macabre in your vampire night club. Other times she composes deeply introspective and sincere IDM with glimpses of hope for better life. Most of her releases can't be strictly classified, but they are certainly somewhere in these areas of styles. I'd say she is one of the most consistently experimental, yet true to her kind, underground artists. Some of her albums can be built upon almost purely IDM (like 11:11), some - out of industrial EBM (like Reform). No matter the format, when she doesn't try to overuse various post-effects it's a joy to listen - ingenious song-writting with versatile use of different instruments, which is strengthen by hauntingly tragic vocals, sometimes akin to ethereal style. She can be interesting to goths and melancholiacs alike.