Customer Reviews

Smash It Up: The Anthology 1976-1987

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

 

 

The world needs another compilation of Damned material like it needs another collective hole in the head. BUT the world certainly could use a definitive collection of their best, and now we finally have it. This isn't just a selection of early Chiswick tunes, it isn't a mishmash of live tracks, and not another remix conflagration of their late 80's/90's goth period. It's the best from 76 to 86, spread fairly evenly and representing all of their albums in that time period. Though as a footnote, there were ~6,000 editions pressed with 2 versions of Smash It Up Pt.2 instead of including both Pt.1 and Pt.2

The first disc has 21 tracks, 7 tracks from each of their 1st 3 albums: Damned Damned Damned, Music For Pleasure, and Machine Gun Etiquette. One might want more from DDD and MGE, seeing as how MFP was never that popular, but give them credit for anthologizing everything. Most of the classic punk tunes that everyone recognizes are found on this 1st disc. Residing on the 2nd disc is when The Damned's sound turned toward more of a goth approach. 5 tracks from The Black Album, 4 tracks from Strawberries, 1 from Phantasmagoria, and 2 from Anything. Along with those are 2 singles, Lovely Money and Eloise. This disc seems weighted properly, as the last 2 albums are properly underrepresented. The only glaring misstep on this one is the inclusion of the SEVENTEEN minute Curtain Call. Yes, that's right, all SEVENTEEN minutes worth of it. There is a single version available that clocks in at just over 4 minutes, but YOU get the entire SEVENTEEN minutes in all its glory. Not sure why this was done, as you could easily fit another 3 songs in if it weren't for including the 17 minute Curtain Call (which was always an unsuitably strange choice to begin with.)

So this really does a great job at setting out to do what it claims in its title: anthologize The Damned. So often with Damned compilations you get prattle and excess and perhaps a few worthy tracks. This rounds up all the usual suspects at a very reasonable price. If you don't care for their more goth material, you might do well with just Damned Damned Damned and Machine Gun Etiquette, but for a complete overview you can't go wrong with this. Neat, neat, neat!

Yeh I know this may leave out the odd classic or two but it does include the usaul, new rose, neat neat, neat, love song, smash it up etc. Guess for me I am just a sucker for anything I can find of the Damned and this is a pretty good comp of their work.

The packaging is good (CDs come in a jewel case) and the sound quailty of both CDs are exellent.

2 CDs and for anyone wanting a good overview of the Damned's history this would probably be the best place to start.

This is a great CD, as it picks some of the best songs from all their albums over the years (Damned Damned Damned, Music for Pleasure, The Black Album, Machine Gun Etiquette, Strawberries, Phantasmagoria). The first CD is their earlier stuff, with stuff like New Rose and Problem Child, while the second CD has some of their later songs like Eloise (some Damned fans may hate it, but I love it!) and Grimly Fiendish. Someone else who reviewed this CD said that they hated the fact that they put all seventeen minutes of Curtain Call. The reason for all seventeen minutes is that it's a psycadelic masterpiece, and I love the song so much I want it played at my funeral, which hopefully won't be for a long time!

While Smash It Up: The Anthology 1976-1987 is a very good CD, with classics such as Curtain Call and the fantastic Eloise, a few very good songs are missing, such as (to name a few): Disco Man, Nasty, Stranger on the Town and Shadow of love. Despite that, it is a very good album, and well worth buying for any Damned fan.

I always liked their punk stuff better than the weird goth-psychedelia that later grabbed hold of their music, but nonetheless, this is a very enjoyable collection for those who don`t want to invest on all of their albums (although Damned Damned Damned should be in everybodys possession anyways).

The first CD is spectacular, fantastic for those who prefer their loud, fast and punkish sound. Such gems like New Rose, Neat Neat Neat, See Her Tonight, I Feel Alright (awesome cover of the Stooges` song "1970"), Smash It Up, Machine Gun Etiquette and Melody Lee are found on the first CD. This is the CD of the two on this anthology that I constantly keep on listening to. I`ve never bothered to sit trough the second, because most of it is, in my humble opinion, pretty crappy as The Damned evolved themselves into a goth-pop band. It`s weird, because much of the greatness of the early Damned was because of their hilarious, reckless, don`t-care -attitude. The second CD is unfortunately loaded with eerie, slow and plain boring songs that lack the explosive energy of their early work. Two songs, however, are highly enjoyable on this particular CD, Waiting For The Blackout and Drinking About My Baby. Those two are closer to the original sound of the Damned. Rest of the second CD doesn`t really matter to me really.

Anyways, I recommend this to any punk fan, and even the Damned fans who already own Damned Damned Damned and/or Machine Gun Etiquette might want to check this out, as it has couple of good songs not included on those two albums (and it has all of their best stuff collected into one great CD).

This is a decent compilation, but I feel that it places too much focus on the first two albums. Regardless how one might feel about the band's mid-eighties material, leaving off jems like "Shadow of Love" and "Psychomania" is disappointing. And how can a Damned Best Of compilation be complete without "Disco Man" and "Stranger on the Town"? Including the 17 minute "Curtain Call" was a good decision. Including some of the questionable songs from "Music for Pleasure" was not.

to my dismay, this cd didn't include such obscure classics like politics,liar,one way love or even lively arts. ARRGGH!! sanctuary shouldv'e omitted the 17 minute curtain call and made room for these songs instead. )0= bummer!! oh wellz, at least i can listen to generals and creep. now that's music for pleasure.(0;