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No less than SEVEN of Cleopatra’s best-loved vintage goth albums are included in the British publication’s recently issued Ultimate Record Collection: 200 Greatest Goth Albums bookazine.

Cleopatra Records is widely regarded as America’s premier goth label, an accolade that dates back to the first days after its 1992 founding.  With a well-honed eye for both new talent and established veterans, Cleopatra’s goth catalog includes both critical favorites (see below) and forgotten classics, plus a string of acclaimed compilations, tribute albums and live recordings.

#177: Corpus Delecti – Sylphes

Corpus Delecti’s second album from 1994, reissued in 2023 on purple-gold-white haze and purple/black splatter vinyl.

“Less nice in Nice, French gloom-mongers CD cut their teeth on the classic goth rock of Bauhaus and Christian Death over a trio of 90s’ albums… Sylphes was a stand-out, gathering synthetic omens overhead, dramatic post-punk mania below.”

#175: Rosetta Stone – An Eye For The Main Chance

Originally released in 1991, Rosetta Stone’s debut was reissued in 2024 on both white and clear vinyl.

“Built upon the serrated beats of a drum machine named Madame Razor, the first album, from the Liverpool goth-pop duo fed from ther jugular of the city’s noir-rock heritage while also nodding to the Mission, who gave them their big touring breakthrough.”

#166: Switchblade Symphony – Bread and Jam for Frances

Available for the first time on vinyl (pink and silver), Switchblade’s second album was originally released in 1997.

“The San Francisco group’s darkwave marriage of ethereal vocals, gothic rock and classical music was given a trip-hop twist….  ‘Soldiers,’ ‘Dirty Dog’ and ‘Harpsichord’ had a distinctly Bristolian swagger and sway beneath their black lace.”

#116: James Ray’s Gangwar – Dio Está de Nuestro Lado

First released via the Sisters of Mercy’s Merciful; Release label in 1992, Gangwar’s debut album is celebrated on the Cleopatra compilation Merciful Releases 1989-1992, available on CD and silver vinyl.

“A debut album… in electro-noir lockstep with the Sisters. Southern textures are set to dank electronic beats and devilish things are done to Alvin Stardust’s ‘My Coo Ca Choo.’”

#101: Nico – Drama of Exile

A pioneering Cleopatra reissue back in 1993 marked this remarkable album’s first ever US release.

“It needed Nico to make explicit the link between Bowie, Reed and the new dark wave. To show how a scarifying vocal might be done. To nail those Middle Eastern influences just so.”

#81: The Wake – Masked

Another from Cleopatra’s earliest days, Masked is available as both a limited edition 2CD set and on purple/white splatter vinyl.

“Thundering bass lines and gruff Anglophile vocalizations. Audacious and not without merit.”

#41: Sex Gang Children – Song and Legend

The 1983 classic reissued on limited edition gold vinyl.

“…Steeped in post-punk rhythms but has a chaotic and unrelenting heart, with producer Tony James unwilling to tame Andi Sexgang’s screeching vocals amid the Babylonian mayhem.”

Plus honorable mentions for Iggy Pop (The Idiot – #10/hear the alternate versions on Iggy Pop – Rare Trax); The Cure ​(Pornography – #8; the entire album reworked in 2025 by Leæther Strip); David J (Cleopatra stalwart whose Bauhaus days are scattered throughout the list) and Christian Death… seriously, only one album (Only Theater of Pain) in the entire Top 200?  We’d have added a whole bunch more.