The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Damned

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: February 22, 1988
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B000002O8A
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #223,656 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic box set, September 7, 2000

By	Worgelm "The Grumpy" (United States) - See all my reviews

This is probably all of the Damned that you will ever need. And what you'll find is that they were a surprisingly versatile group of lads, ranging from the genre-defining snarl of "New Rose" thorugh the goth-meets-art-rock of "Curtain Call" (in all its 16-minute glory) sideways through their pure pop interpretation of 60's psychadelic master Love's "Alone Again Or" (and a FINE cover it is, with some inspiring guitar riffing by Mr. Roman Jugg). The sequencing is all out of whack, which some purists may scoff at (they would rather program their own) but it provides surprises and bounty galore, and makes it easy to listen to, from goth-pop to pure punk ferociousness. There are a few interesting remixes and rarities, which will probably be lost on you if you are not a fan. Some critics have said the MCA years were over-represented here; probably about an 3/4 of one disc, split over the two CDs offered here , contains tracks from _Phantasmagoria_ and _Anything_ - it *is* an MCA release, after all; but I enjoy the later Damned, probably a bit more than the earlier stuff. Its charming and although slick is no less interesting than anything ex-Sex-Pistol Johnny Rotten was doing with PiL at the time. Taken as a whole, its a surprisingly entertaining and well-put-together box set, with some great liner notes. I have a bunch of box sets and this is certainly the one that gets the most play. Avoid the Cleopatra box sets, and numerous live albums, which are mostly tripe anyways, and nab this, you won't be sorry.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fond memories brought back from the past., June 19, 1999

By A Customer

This album is one of my favorites. The songs Eloise and Is it a Dream bring back some fond memories of my youth. If you ever had any interest in the punk seen you should make this album one of the top ones on your list to listen to.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars People call me villain, oh it's such a shame..., October 15, 2003

By	stephen oxley (Leeds, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Light at the End of the Tunnel (Audio CD)

What can you say about this?

Well, here goes! There are so many great songs on here that it's difficult to know where to start (or finish - although my girlfriend may have some say on that decision!)

I would have paid the full price of the album just for "Smash It Up Parts 1 and 2." That song just epitomises The Damned to me. A real slow builder that just grows and growls, then explodes. Vanian screaming that he's been crying now for much too long, and now he's going to dance to a different song. This was the Punk movement in a nutshell.

The excellent lyrics from Smash It Up (apart from it being a fantastic rock song) are perfect:

"People call me villain, oh it's such a shame,
Maybe it's my clothes must be to blame,
I don't even care if I look a mess,
Don't wanna be a sucker like all the rest"

And then the final assault on the established prog-rock garbage which we have come to know so well from the sort of crap music that we had to listen to in the late 60's/early 70's.

"You can keep your krishna burgers
And your Glastonbury hippies
You can keep your frothy lager
And your blow-wave hair-styles"

I know I am only going on about Smash It Up, but that is the one song that will forever be The Damned. There is much much more on here, some real excellent stuff.

Just buy it. And have a blast!