Customer Reviews

The Black Album (Deluxe Version)

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The Damned are one of the greatest bands in rock and roll history, and this album solidifies this reputation. With the Black Album, the Damned took their sound one step further; the darker, more psychedelic and melodic side explored on Machine Gun Etiquette, the previous record, was more fully realized with this album. The results are quite positive; the Damned display both their hellish side, represented by the punk energy present on the album, and their more sophisticated side, which is reflected on the quieter, more sinister moments on this release. The influence of the Doors is especially present on this album, a legacy that first made its appearance on Machine Gun Etiquette; in fact, I feel that the band's trademark sound (a sort of psychedelic-influenced death rock) displays more Doors influence than that of Echo and the Bunnymen, a band that is made out to be the most Doors-influenced of all the bands from the early post-punk period. The Black Album is also one of the albums that helped establish the early gothic rock movement in music. Although labeling both the Black Album and the Damned "goth" is extremely limiting, one would have to admit that this album has elements that are quintessentially gothic, such as the influences of classical music as well as the medieval and horrific imagery and mood captured in both the music and the lyrics. However, it is perhaps the overall dark feel to the album that forever links it to what most people consider to be gothic. The Black Album has many excellent tracks, including the classic "Wait For the Blackout," "Twisted Nerve," and "Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde." It does, however, have a few weak moments. The song "Hit or Miss" is somewhat of a throw away, and "Therapy" has too much padding-- the faster part of the song is the only really appealing moment (and quite a moment it is, one must admit!). But the gothic anthem "Curtain Call" steals the show, as it is the culmination of the evolution of the Damned's sound at that point in history (1980); besides this, it is just an awesome song that displays the sophisticated song-writing that these "cartoon punks" were and still are capable of. All lovers of pop, punk, post-punk, psychedelic, alternative, goth, and especially death rock should be inclined to add this classic to their collection!

I cannot split Machine Gun Etiquette (1979), The Black album (1980) and Strawberries (1982) as they are all breathtakingly brilliant.

This album saw the darker side of The Damned blossom- but it is far from the doom and gloom normally associated with goth. The Damned always made even their darkest songs fun.

Their isn't a weak song on here- only that I find the production of History of The World a little at odds with the rest of the album. Wait For The Blackout is a great opener but Lively Arts is astounding. The real genious of the album lies in the final 3 tracks however. 13th Floor Vendetta is a dark, atmospheric slower paced song, whilst Therapy breaks all the rules of song arrangement. The final masterpiece is the 17 minute Curtain Call- from the mind of the vampiric Dave Vanian. It truly is a masterpiece, and does not bore despite its length. Are The Damned still a punk band? Yes, but they are making more than jst punk rock- and all the better for us. Drinking About My Baby, Hit & miss, Sick of This and That are great to pogo to- but it is the brilliance of stuff like Curtain Call that is most entertaining.

I consider this to be one of the top ten rock albums of the last 25 years. This classic is chock full of some of the most energetic rock, punk, psychedelia, experimental pop stuff that you'll ever hear together on one album. Wait For The Blackout is one of the best rock songs of all time. This is the best Damned album, followed closely by Machine Gun Etiquette. The various greatest hits collections don't quite represent The Damned as well as they should. Get this instead, followed by MGE and then build your Damned collection accordingly.

This is the 6th time in my life I have purchased this album, but the first time I've been 100 percent satisfied with the overall sound of it. This re-issue even sounds better than the original 2-record gatefold vinyl! Definitely a world of difference from the Big Beat re-issue of the early 90's... which to my knowlege is the only previous CD issue of this album.

The Damned is my all-time favorite band and has been for a very long time... so anytime something of theirs is re-issued I tend to put it under a microscope of scrutiny, especially since so much of their catalog that has been re-issued is just hum-drum run of the mill same-'ol same-'ol. Chiswick has stunned me twice in a row this time around. First with the awesome 25th Anniversary MGE release and then this brilliant follow-up.

What really amazes me here though are the live tracks. I used to always skip the live side of the original release because the mix was so trebly. Then the same live recordings were released as "Live at Shepperton" and they sounded much better, but on this CD they even make "Live at Shepperton" sound thin! Everything sounds evenly great on this re-issue, bonus tracks and all. I guess my only complaint is that unlike the MGE deluxe edition no enhanced video was included here... but believe me it's a small complaint.

If you've never owned this underrated album before, I highly recommend it. Even if you HAVE heard it a million times... you haven't heard it this good!

its about time this forgotten album was released the correct way..the music sounds much better here than on the old one...you can actually listen to it without turning the volume way up to the highest notch...well so far so good..they are on a roll re-mastering damned albums..their debut, music for pleasure, recently along with this one machine gun etiquette and strawberries were issued on super bonus editions..hell, even their half album "im alright jack and the beanstalk" was reissued...now if we can only get "phantasmagoria" and "anything" remastered...their album anything is even selling for 50 bucks or something on here..and its used!..oh well i cannot complain. the guys at chiswick know what their customers want well..im very pleased with this.

I don't know about anyone else but "The Black Album" is probably my favorite from the Damned. It's sandwiched between two other great and possibly better known albums - "Machine Gun Etiquette" and "Strawberries". But I think the songs on this album flow better and I keep coming back to listen to songs like "Wait For the Blackout", "Twisted Nerve", "Hit or Miss" and "History of the World". The dark goth-like tracks "13th Floor Vendetta", "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", and "Curtain Call" are some of my favorite Damned tunes. This album is a perfect blend of the old, hard and fast Damned and the later psychedelic pop Damned. Get it, you won't regret it!

Thank God! Finally what all of us BiG Beat cd owning fans have been waiting for since the 80's!! I went through 2 of those cds and have 3 copies on vinyl (IRS US, Chiswick UK and Chiswick Italian). I dumped all of my Damned Big Beat vinyl, can't have damned re-releases can we? W/ that said this is THE Ultimate Black Album, compiles all the b-sides that could have made up a 4th album side....back in the days of cassetes I made a compilation a re-sequenced the songs. Now I'll be able to do that again...What a blast from the past....This may be the Damned at their finest. Totally essential.

1980 saw another line-up change for the Damned with the addition of former Eddie and the Hotrods bassist Paul Gray. A great bass guitarist in his own right, his style perfectly complimeted Captain Sensible's often incredible lead guitar playing. This version of the Damned reached their pinnacle with the release of The Black Album in November 1980. Much like their previous effort, Machine Gun Etiquette in 1979, The Black Album was hard to classify as just another 'punk' record. This album transcends several genres, including punk, acid rock, psychadelic, and hints of goth. The songs sort of run into eachother, with each one as different, and equally great, as the next. In terms of performance musically, look no further than this release to realize the Damned's immense talents: Dave Vanian's vocals are particularly strong on these tracks, showing vast improvement since the last three records, Rat Scabies provides the backbeat quite eloquently here, and shows just why he is the "premier" drummer of the punk era, and Captain's guitar and Paul's bass especially shine in the mix and represent their musical skills at their best. The opening song, 'Wait For The Blackout', is a classic rocker with melodies and guitar playing previously unheard on their former efforts. Before this number can properly fade out, we are already on to 'Lively Arts', a tribute to the "angry, young and poor" that lets us all know "culture's just a bore", over a backdrop of fuzzed-out guitar leads and swirling synthesizers. Before we can catch our breath we are greeted by 'Silly Kid's Games', the first song on a Damned album with lead vocals by the Captain, which features acoustic guitar and some of the best harmony vocals around. 'Drinking About My Baby' then kicks in full throttle and is a tune I'm sure many of us can relate to, while 'Twisted Nerve' is a chilling, almost gothic performance that must be heard to be fully appreciated. Picking up the pace a little is 'Hit Or Miss', which was an unused Hotrods song courtesy of Paul Gray. Opening the second side of the record is 'Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde', which shows the band at their psychadelic best. We're then introduced to one of the punkest Damned excursions, 'Sick Of This and That', which I'm sure will have you throwing chairs around your room! 'History Of the World' is the closest they come to a new wave disco song, which is, of course, intentional! But rest assured, it owes more to Barrett's Pink Floyd than the Human League. '13th Floor Vendetta' is a haunting piano-driven piece that comes from out of left field and is certain to amaze with every listen. Closing out side two is 'Therapy', which shows the Damned at what they do best: smashing it up! The real masterpiece here though is the sixteen minute plus 'Curtain Call', which takes up all of side three. This is the kind of song that requires several listens to really understand where they're coming from. It should be noted that the fourth side of the original album is omitted for the CD release. It contained portions of a live performance of mostly songs from Machine Gun Etiquette. I would recommend that anybody wanting to hear just what this line-up was capable of live should locate a copy of Live Shepperton 1980. In conclusion, this is a body of work few have touched upon before or since. Great singing, songwriting, playing and production that is light years beyond your average punk rock record. As for me? I'm still waiting to make my Black Album...

Finally, I can chuck my old, crackly, worn out Big Beat copy(CDWIK 906) of the great Black Album and pop this new reissue in and rock out to The Damned at their psychedelic punk peak. This is The Damned at the top of their game. The bonus disc is indeed a bonus because you get 'side four' of the original 2 LP set, consisting of 6 live tracks from a fan club only show a.k.a. Live At Shepperton, plus all the other 1980 issued recordings, a's & b's(White Rabbit single, History Of The World single, and There Ain't No Sanity Clause single). Ok, the extended White Rabbit alt. mix might be unnecessary, but grab it!

The Black Album found the Damned at the start of a new decade (80s), having released three albums of contrasting styles. A line-up change meant that Captain Sensible, who formerly played bass, now had to handle guitar and song-writing duties. The first attempt resulted in "Machine Gun Etiquette" which gave clues of what was to come on the "Black Album". First of all, it cannot be denied that Captain Sensible more than rose to the task of crafting songs with a pop edge, and a sense of mischief and bizarre twists and turns. Here he seems to revel in the freedom that being lead guitarist can give. The dynamic of the band was now set - Sensible leading with a mountain of ideas, Rat Sacabies thundering out almighty drum patterns, and Dave Vanain delivering the rich baritone vocals in his own dark way. The band also had time to relax into these roles and start to enjoy the fact that there was, as is, no other band quite like then on earth. From the cracking opener "Wait for the Blackout", the tunes mesh into each other as an array of instruments are introduced: strings, synthesisers, acoustic guitars, strange studio effects. Next up is "Lively Arts", an ironic dig at high-brow pretentions put across in a humourous way. "Silly kids Games" - a futuristic ballad sung by Sensible with melancholy almost predicted how the coming decade would be about chasing money instead of following ones' heart. "Drinking about my Baby" bounces back with an in-your-face rock track about getting wasted before diving down deep in to the dark waters of "Twisted Nerve" - showing the many styles the group could now deliver with utter confidence. Vanian delivers an outstanding vocal on "Dr Jeckyll" coupled with a multi-layered guitar track. "History of the World" takes the band into Pink Floyd territory, with sound effects, backward tape-loops, and elongated arrangements. The rest of the album contains as many fascinating tracks - finishing with the completely over-the-top "Curtain Call" - a revelation of the fears and phobia of the performer. The production on "the Black Album" is clean and crisp; the final mix was given a generous ammount of reverb and studio effects to give it a full and rounded sound. This is the sound of a band pushing to find their potential - and getting there. It's a natural succesor to "Machine Gun Etiquette" their previous album. (Personally, I'd give their next album "Strawberries" a miss - it really doesn't match up to this album. Soemthing happened, and the appeared to lose the whole direction and sound). Show me album like "the Black Album" today...I certainly can't find one. It really is an album worth investing your time and money in. It sounds brilliant, the lyrics are dark and menacing in places - hedonistic in others - , and the whole thing rocks with spot-on drumming which only Rat Scabies can perform. It's professional without sounding sterile; it's mad without sounding stupid. A great, great album that stands up to repeated play. Check it out.