Should the World Fail to Fall Apart is the debut album by the British solo artist Peter Murphy, formerly of the gothic rock band Bauhaus. The album contains Murphy's covers of Magazine's "The Light Pours Out of Me" and Pere Ubu's "Final Solution." It was released in 1986.

Production

Many guest musicians appear on the album, including Howard Hughes and John McGeoch.

Critical reception

Trouser Press wrote: "If Murphy could remove the melodrama from his delivery, a lot of the songs might have been quite nice. But even at low volume and languorous tempo, he can’t shake the old goth theatrics out of his voice." The Spin Alternative Record Guide called the album "the least perfunctory" of Murphy's solo releases.

Track listing

Original LP track listing

All tracks composed by Peter Murphy and Howard Hughes (Stephen Betts); except where indicated

Canadian LP track listing

The Canadian version of the LP, released on Vertigo/PolyGram, has a different cover as well an alternative track listing: In addition to reordering, the track "Canvas Beauty" was dropped in favor of "Tale of The Tongue", which had been released in the UK as a non-album single.

2011 deluxe edition bonus CD

In July 2011, Cherry Red Records released a 25th anniversary deluxe edition of the album with a bonus disc of 13 B-sides and remixes:

Personnel