SIOUXSIE LOOKS BACK

“THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS.” Siouxsie & the Banshees. Geffen. In its 10th year of recording, this great English band has an anniversary gift for us : an entire album of songs originally done by other artists. And it makes almost everything by England’s recent crop sound like your uncle’s beer burps.

Predominating this equivalent of David Bowie’s “Pin-Ups” are compositions that will be recognized only by more adventurous pop fans, and these are generally the best tracks: Sparks’ racing “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us,” Kraftwerk’s “Hall of Mirrors,” the Sherman Brothers’ “Trust in Me” (from Walt Disney’s “The Jungle Book,” of all things!), Roxy Music’s “Sea Breezes,” Television’s “Little Johnny Jewel,” Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger” and John Cale’s “Gun.”

These songs are superbly rearranged, retaining enough of what was special about the originals and adding just the right new twists.

Three of the songs should be more familiar to mainstream pop fans, and on two of them the injection of new life doesn’t quite take: The Band’s Bob Dylan-Rick Danko composition “This Wheel’s on Fire” just smokes a little here, while the Doors’ “You’re Lost Little Girl” achieves a subtly nightmarish atmosphere but falls well below the quality and complexity Jim Morrison gave it.

The third familiar choice is also the biggest risk. Only someone as brash as Siouxsie Sioux would re-record Lewis Allan’s “Strange Fruit,” a song so strongly identified with Billie Holiday. And only someone as serious and sensitive could bring it off like this. A solemn string section behind the vocals and--best of all--a bridge of New Orleans funeral-march jazz enhance Siouxsie’s evocative interpretation. Such inventive touches permeate a great album.