The Scream is the debut studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 13 November 1978 by Polydor Records.

Its innovative combination of angular and serrated guitar with a bass-led rhythm and machine-like drums played mostly on toms, made it a pioneering work of the post-punk genre.

[1] One day a fan undertook a graffiti campaign in London, spraying the walls of the major record companies with the words "Sign the Banshees: do it now".

[4] Several songs from The Scream had already been recorded on BBC Radio 1 for two John Peel sessions: "Mirage", "Metal Postcard" and "Suburban Relapse" premiered in November 1977, and "Overground" and "Carcass" were aired three months later in February 1978.

When recording their first Peel session, Siouxsie Sioux and bassist Steven Severin had described their music as "cold, machine-like and passionate at the same time".

[14] Music journalist Ian Birch wrote that "Pure" was an atmosphere piece; "a snarling, predatory bass stalks its ground before it's met by teeth-grinding guitar splinters, and the distant footfall of drums.

[16] The last song, "Switch", was divided in three sections, "for the different people who swap jobs with terrible results - scientists, general practitioner and vicar".

[21] The title of the album was in part inspired by the 1968 film The Swimmer (starring Burt Lancaster), in which main character, Neddy Merrill, intended to swim home, using open-air pools.

[23] More than one month prior to its release, DJ John Peel broadcast the album on BBC radio 1 from an advance copy on a cassette, from the beginning to end, with no interruptions.

Chris Westwood praised the cohesion between the words and the music: "The album's lyrical frame of mind is perfectly reflected in the work of [guitarist] McKay.

"[31] Melody Maker described the sound as "strong, abrasive, visceral and constantly inventive, with a thrust that makes the spaces equal partners to the notes", with the critic comparing the album's textures to that of Wire and Pere Ubu.

[15] ZigZag qualified it as a "magnificent record", with reviewer Kris Needs writing: "I can't think of another group who could have made an LP so uncompromising, powerful and disturbing, yet so captivating and enjoyable ...

It is certainly a special classic to join milestones like [David Bowie's] Diamond Dogs, Roxy [Music]'s first and [Lou Reed's] Berlin.

Sweeting then noted that the musicians "have perfected a group sound which is powerful but streamlined", adding that "the words and music combine to produce coolly dazzling images".

Nick Kent first stated that the band sounded "like some unique hybrid of the Velvet Underground mated with much of the ingenuity of Tago Mago-era Can."

He then focused his attention on the opening track, saying: "Pure" "takes the sound to its ultimate juncture, leaving spaces that say as much as the notes being played.

It is easy to gain attention by doing something which is crudely obviously out of the ordinary, but the Banshees have avoided such futile superficialities: it is innovation, not revolution, not a destruction but new building.

And Siouxsie's staggering voice is dropped, clipped, snapped prominently above this audacious musical drama, emphasizing the dark colours and empty, naked moods.

[37]However, in her review of the album, NME's Julie Burchill was unimpressed, stating that the Banshees sound was "a self-important threshing machine thrashing all stringed instruments down onto the same low level alongside that draggy sub-voice as it attempts futile eagle and dove swoops around the mono-beat.

[38] Kurt Loder gave a very favourable review in Rolling Stone, remarking that The Scream was a "striking debut album"; and that its "sound, stark though fully realized (thanks partly to a most simpatico co-producer, Steve Lillywhite), is lent added intellectual dimension by a series of disturbingly ambiguous lyrical images".

[39] The 2004 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide gave a 4 out 5 rating, with the comment: "Even if you can't figure out exactly what makes Siouxsie wail the way she does, The Scream creates a rich, claustrophobic maelstrom of crude sound and half-submerged feelings.

[41] Record Mirror's Ronnie Gurr wrote that "The Scream, a masterpiece that, for six months, I failed to recognise as such, was a harrowing listening experience.

[50] Journalist David Cavanagh wrote in 2016: "The Scream - released on Polydor after Peel had repeatedly cajoled record labels to sign the band - was to influence the sound of early U2, the Cure, the Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine.

[10] Geordie Walker of Killing Joke praised McKay's guitar playing and sound: "on The Scream, ... he came out with these chord structures that I found very refreshing.

[61] Moore, who also included "Hong Kong Garden" in his 38 favorite songs of all time,[62] stated about this album and the group: "Siouxsie and the Banshees, did they release a better record than The Scream?

"[63] While playing his favourite records on BBC Radio 6, Jim Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain commented: "'Jigsaw Feeling' from The Scream album ... it was brilliant, amazing.

[64] When he included The Scream in a list he did for The Quietus of the 13 records that "chiselled out The Jesus And Mary Chain",[65] Jim Reid praised McKay's playing saying, "The guitar just sounded incredible.

"[66] Morrissey said that The Scream was Siouxsie and the Banshees' best album,[67] he selected "Mirage" to be played during intermission before all the concerts of his Kill Uncle and Your Arsenal tours.

[68] Morrissey's main composer, Boz Boorer, rated The Scream highly, ranking it second in his "Top Five Desert Island Album Selection", right after Electric Warrior by T.

Elvis Costello's My Aim is True, The Scream by Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Jam's In the City, Moving Targets by Penetration, and Another Music in a Different Kitchen by Buzzcocks".