| The Bela Session | |
| Type: | EP |
| Artist: | Bauhaus |
| Cover: | File:Bauhaus - The Bela Session (2018) cover art.jpg |
| Released: | [1] |
| Studio: | Beck Studios, Wellingborough |
| Label: | Leaving |
The Bela Session is an extended play (EP) by the English post-punk band Bauhaus. Released on November 23, 2018, by Leaving Records in advance of the 40th anniversary of the band's formation, the EP features five songs recorded by the group during their first recording session, which took place on 26 January 1979.[2] The tracklist consists of the original version of group's debut single, "Bela Lugosi's Dead", as well as "Harry" (originally released in 1982 as a B-side to "Kick in the Eye"), and three previously unreleased tracks: "Some Faces", "Bite My Hip" and "Boys (Original Version)".
Philip Sherburne of Pitchfork gave The Bela Session a score of 7.9 out of 10, praising "Bela Lugosi's Dead" as a unique song, and a "more vivid" improvement compared to the version of the song featured on Bauhaus' 1982 live album Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape. Sherburne was less complimentary towards the other tracks on the EP, referring to "Harry" as "largely a curio" and writing that Some Faces' might as well be the work of a pub-rock band"; he summarised: "While it's nice to have these songs available, they serve largely as reminders of how far Bauhaus soon traveled from their origins—and how distinct 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' still sounds."
In January 2019, Martin Aston of The Vinyl Factory included The Bela Session on his list of "10 essential Bauhaus records".[3]