Now this is a pretty neat album: Love Like Blood covering classic goth songs. To their credit, they don't always go for the obvious choices, even when they are picking the obvious artists (for example, Bauhaus is represented by She's in Parties rather than Bela Lugosi's Dead). It is ordered from earliest to more recent tracks, starting with Joy Division's Decades and ending with Marilyn Manson's Great Big White World. Incidentally, I thought that it took major cojones to include Manson in this line-up, since he is reviled by the goth community at large.

Another interesting thing I noticed about Chronology is that while the first half of the album is made up of "gothically correct" bands (The Cure, Sisters, Nephs, etc.), the second half is dominated by gothic-metal bands like Type O Negative and Paradise Lost. Seems to support my belief that there have been few new goth bands that have made any kind of impression at all.

Overall I recommend this album, especially to metal fans who want a good introduction to gothic rock. The playing is overall very good, with very few missteps (the vocals on Black No.1 aren't all that fantastic). There are a few songs I would have preferred to see over their choices (The Cure's A Million Years, Christian Death's Dogs or the mighty Deathwish, Bauhaus' Passion of Lovers, I could go on). But, overall it's an entertaining tribute that pays homage to some great acts. And yes, Killing Joke's Love Like Blood is covered. How could it not be?

- - Ruthven
website: http://gothic.vei.net