Customer Reviews

Music for Pleasure

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first Damned album, 'Damned Damned Damned' is considered a classic punk rock album and rightly so. What I can't figure out is why their second album, 'Music for Pleasure', doesn't get the same treatment. Their songs are just as raw and ferocious on this disc as on the first one. Brion James hasn't left the group yet, and they're nowhere near the 'goth' sound they got into later. This is great late-70s punk rock, which any fan of the Sex Pistols, Clash, Dictators, Heartbreakers, Saints, Ramones, and of course the Damned should own. "Problem Child", "One Way Love", "Don't Cry Wolf" are top notch, but every song is solid. Twenty plus years later, and it still will annoy your parents.

Music for Pleasure (1977) was the Damned's follow up to the surprise sucess of Damned, Damned, Damned. Instead of repeating themselves, they decided to go into a new direction. Their was a struggle within the band, Brian James wanted to write the songs whilst the other band members wanted to write some tracks of their own. James brought in Lu Edmonds (guitar) to add a dual guitar attack to the band. A truce of sorts was made and the band went into the studio to record.

Music for Pleasure (taken from a budget comp. disc) was the title of the album. The songs were supposed to be psychedelic in nature but they turned out resembling Stooges' sound alikes. James was a huge fan of the late band and he even added a saxaphone (Lol Coxhill) on one of the tracks (You Know) giving the album an even more Stooges' sound. The songs are short and to the point with some catchy lyrics and beat. But the twin guitar attack is not apperent on the album.

To pad out the disc; Help, Sick of Being Sick and Sing-a-long-a-Scabies were added on the CD releases. Not as bad as people make it out to be. Take a gamble and purchase a disc today!

Highly recommended.

Originally released in 1977 and produced by Pink Floyd's Nick Mason (Shel Talmy was going to be the original producer but recording sessions broke down so Nick was brought in) It was quickly panned by music critics and disowned by the band themselves. On this second release the band are joined for the first and last time by second guitarist Robert "Lu" Edmonds (Brian James insisted he join). There are a few gems among them Politics One way love Problem Child and Help (Beatles Cover). I have heard in a few audio interviews done by Rat Scabies the band originally wanted Pink Floyd's Roger "Syd" Barrett to produce the album he may have said yes but pulled out at the lasr minute. On a side note the Sex Pistols also wanted Roger "Syd" Barrett to produce their album Never Mind The Bollocks but declined or something along them lines. After this release the band broke up in early 1978 and reformed in late 1978 this time without Brian James or Lu (who I think left anyway because he wasn't liked much by the rest of the band) and in 1979 released their definitive and classic album titled Machine Gun Etiquette. While Music for Pleasure isn't a favorite among many people its a million times better than Not of this earth from 1996 aka I'm alright Jack and the beanstalk.

Hot off the heels of releasing 'Damned Damned Damned' in February of 1977, the Damned could have probably used some time off. Instead they went back into the studio to record a follow up, with Pink Floyd's Nick Mason as producer. There were some important factors that caused tension around this period and subsequentially marred the album. A 2nd guitarist, Lu Edmunds was added, which was deemed un-necessary by some members. Also, Vanian, Sensible and Scabies wanted to be more involved in the songwriting, which was handled mainly by Brian James. Rat Scabies was even kicked out of the group in October 1977, a month before the album was released. That said, it should be noted that the band has completely disowned this record. Their perrogative, naturally, but in truth this is a fine album and any Damned collection is incomplete without it. While the songs don't quite measure up to the ones on the first l.p., there are still a lot of good tracks here. Most notably the singles "Don't Cry Wolf" and "Problem Child", "Your Eyes" (almost a pop song even), the aural assualt of "Alone" and "Creep" and the almost psychadelic "Idiot Box" and "You Know". In February of 1978, the Damned, dropped by Stiff Records, broke up. The story, however, doesn't end here, and their best days were still ahead!

Music For Pleasure is certainly not the best thing that the Damned have ever come up with, but it is still a pretty good album. What it lacks is the raw energy of the first album and the creativity of their later albums. At this point (1977 to be exact) guitarist Brian James was still the main songwriter, and although he wrote a lot of great songs it seems that he was actually stifling the potential of the band; Captain Sensible, David Vanian, and Rat Scabies turned out to be incredibly creative individuals who were willing to experiment with new atmospheres, something which is not evident from the Brian James period of the band. Also, it has been suggested that Nick Mason, the producer of the album (not to mention the legendary drummer for Pink Floyd) was not really certain as to what the Damned wanted. Regardless, this is still a good release and an asset to the band's catalogue of records. Stand out tracks are "Problem Child," "Don't Cry Wolf," "Stretcher Case Baby," "One Way Love" (with some cool slide guitar), and "You Know." The bonus tracks are a pleasant listen as well, particularly the band's cover of the Beatles' "Help." The presence of guitarist Lu Edmonds is not particularly evident on this release, but that does not exactly tarnish Music For Pleasure. For all who appreciate the Damned and great music in general. Will appeal particularly to fans of 60's rock.

This much maligned album was panned by the critics on its original release.The reason?It was felt that it was poorly produced,the songs were not good enough and Brian James' insistance on bringing in an extra guitarist,Lu Edmunds,overcomplicated what should have been a much more raw blast.Personally I feel that the problem here is that some of the singles released,(Problem child for example) were not as good as other punk records of the time and this led to the whole album being written off.This of course is a mistake as there are some classic 70's new wave sounds on this album,for example Creep,Stretcher Case and Captain Sensible's brilliant Idiot Box.Aswell as this unlike many records of this era this album has actually dated very well.Give it a second chance and have a listen,you will be surprised.

In retrospect this album is quite good, but if anything I agree that it's the Damned's most Americanized release; coming off like BACK IN THE USA MC5 and TOO MUCH TO SOON New York Dolls having a knife fight in an alley...errr... onstage during a Bowery production of WEST SIDE STORY. That is; killer guitar, plenty attitude; but only raw in a very premeditated way. Everything is so clean and separated it's like Nick Mason worked out the distance between the guys in the studio with a tape measure and a protractor; there's no real meshing of the sound into a solid whole. The emasculating production buffs a few too many edges off and it often slips into sounding hollow; like a staged knife fight as opposed to a real one. On top of that, "Idiot Box," "Your Eyes" and "You Know" definitely have their own merits, but interrupt the flow of an album that needed to just bash ahead full steam.

Let's deal with some common misconceptions....or reviewers simply
regurgitating what they've heard or read.

1)Everyone loves to bring up the fact that Nick Mason produced it and helped to ruin it, but noone seems to explain what exactly was BAD about the production. Fact is, it sounds fine. It doesn't sound like the first album, but what does?! It's not muddy, vocals are clear, guitars sound pretty good. The songs come through....maybe they're just not all that great(?).

2) The Damned "disowned" the album. Maybe so, but why? The production? If that were the case, they would have been playing more
of these songs live over the years...but they didn't. They leaned towards their other albums. They must of thought the SONGS on Music For Pleasure were simply not up to par.

3) Second guitarist Lu - not sure what he even does on the this album. I hear Brian James slashing chords and ripping leads. Again, blame the songs if you must.

My "opinion": I like the album, but then again I love The Damned. Damned Damned Damned and Machine Gun Etiquette are better - start with those.

Ok, so the cd isn't all that great, but there are a few essential tracks on it and a few could be greats. My three personal favorites are the trash cover of the Beatles "Help", arguably the best thing on the CD and "Alone" and "Creep(You Can't Fool Me)" were the best two off the original album. While "Politics", "Strecher Case", "Sick of Being Sick"(which was turned great on the sessions CD) and "You Know" all had potential. The main problem with the CD is Nick Mason's production which is horrible(rumor has it he didn't know what the band really wanted) and the new edition of Lu didn't add much(although he did a much better job with Public Image Limited a little while later). Right before the album was released Rat Scabies was kicked out and after the album was released the band temporarly broke up and disowned the album. However, they have released worse items(Not of This Earth and Anything come to mind) and it could actually be less accessable and harder than their first but the production really hurts it.

Okay, much has been said and written about "Music for Pleasure" over the years and much of it has been unfavorable. The fact that The Damned themselves essentially disowned the record doesn't help matters.

The first five songs (most of side 1, for you vinyl fans) are actually pretty "Damned" good, in my opinion. "Problem Child" is a snotty, snarling classic that masterfully sums up the teenage delelict experience: "My probation lady says 'You ain't so cool'!" This may be my favorite Damned tune. "Don't Cry Wolf" and "Stretcher Case Baby" lack memorable melodies or hooks but still manage to rock furiously while "Politics" features a great guitar riff courtesy of resident control-freak Brian James.

"Idiot Box", which was intended as a jab at Television after they refused to let The Damned open for them on some UK tour dates (or was it in the US? I can't remember) totally backfires, however. As if the lyrics aren't lame enough: "I hope Fred Smith gets lots of shocks from his Fender bass", the music is simply pitiful. By actually imitating Television's sound, The Damned only highlight their inferiority as musicians.

The remainder of MFP is comprised of songs that sound as if they were all written during a five minute cab ride on the way to the recording studio. This is really dismal stuff. But as always, this is only my opinion. The bonus tracks do go a long way in salvaging this CD, though. Their frantic cover of "Help" is worth the price of admission alone.