The Damned Albums (22)
What The Critics Say
Seven years after Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible buried the hatchet and begin recording together again as the Damned with the album Grave Disorder, the Occasionally Dynamic Duo has returned with 2008's So, Who's Paranoid?, and how likely you are to enjoy this album has a lot to do with your perspective on this band's history. If you loved the Damned when they were "hell-for-leather destruction merchants" (as Sensible once put it) on albums like Damned Damned Damned or Machine Gun Etiquette, you're going to be disappointed; there is practically nothing on So, Who's Paranoid? that resembles punk rock as we know it, and instead of short, thrashy rock tunes powered by dirty sounding guitars and a speed-addled lunatic on drums, this is a slick and carefully crafted disc complete with keyboards, big guitar solos, and even the occasional appearance of strings and a choir. Then again, if latter-day Damned sets like Strawberries and Phantasmagoria were more to your liking, So, Who's Paranoid? will probably be your cup of tea; while the goth-influenced approach of those LPs has been muted, this is better-than-average pop-conscious Damned, with Vanian's vocals in fine shape and recent additions Monty Oxymoron (keyboards), Stuart West (bass), and Pinch (drums) sounding tight and confident. But regardless which era of the Damned is your favorite, it's hard to get past the fact that most of the songs on So, Who's Paranoid? aren't up to the standards of this band's original run (unless you count the stuff on the disastrous Anything), and someone should have had the good sense to tell Captain Sensible that he isn't a guitar hero, and that the 14-minute pseudo-psychedelic number that closes out the set, "Dark Asteroid," is a serious mistake. In short: if you dig "New Rose" this won't move you, if "Grimly Fiendish" is your fave Damned tune you might find this entertaining, and either way you're a lot more likely to pull out your old Damned albums than spin So, Who's Paranoid? on a regular basis. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The first LP by The Damned with key member Captain Sensible in 19 years is as if two decades never passed. Time-traveling back to where Sensible and singer Dave Vanian left off, with 1980's sinewy, dark The Black Album and 1982's knockdown brilliant Strawberries, Grave Disorder recalls those composites of uniquely sophisticated post-punk psychedelic pop with gothic overtones and divine keyboards. Mind, Grave Disorder is not as stupendous as the amazing Strawberries, or the four LPs that preceded it. Rat Scabies' replacement, Pinch, is capable, but Scabies is totally irreplaceable as a dynamic element. Similarly, Patricia Morrison (aka Pat Bag) can't match the nimble, speed-finger runs of long departed, vastly underrated bassist Paul Grey, who, like Scabies, also penned some of Strawberries most immortal songs. Lastly, the new songwriting isn't quite as astonishing, if of a high grade, and producer Matt Bianco has discernibly mismixed this comeback -- the drums are just a little too loud compared to the guitars and bass. So in truth, Grave Disorder was a grave disappointment over the first several plays. But given time, and loosening the vice-grip of Herculean memory, Grave Disorder unfolds as one of the year's sleepers. The 2001 Damned hit every former style that once served them so well. "Absinthe" recalls Strawberries' "The Dog," "Beauty of the Beast" is like The Black Album's epic one-song side-four, "Curtain Call," and the opening "Democracy" (the "Love Song" or "Ignite" of the LP) and especially "Lookin' For Action" head all the way back to 1979's Machine Gun Etiquette. And hey, Captain Sensible remains one of the most inspired lead guitar players ever since he switched there from bass in 1979, wrapping every song in a gnarly string-bending revelry like his favorite '60s punk/garage/psych-pop classics. Meanwhile, Vanian himself, when not getting too camp, remains one of the coolest sounding vocalists when finally (finally!) given a strong melody and an engaging mood. His work on standouts such as "Thrill Kill," "Would You Be So Hot" (about the over-deification of John Lennon into mythic status), and "She" (a lurid, yet appreciative tribute to his missus, Ms. Morrison) are enough to rekindle our forgotten love affair with his Dracula-ness. They were a giant the original punk era, and then also the post-punk era. They're out of context now, but remain a deep pleasure. ~ Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Molten Lager is an extremely great-sounding 6/23/94 show from Mulhouse, France. If you like the Kris Dollimore, Moose, and Alan Lee Shaw lineup -- I've never cared for them -- this blows away the overproduced LP this lineup sadly made. They should have released this instead. Being boogie-rock, it doesn't really sound like the Damned, but it sounds like a fairly kick-ass R&B-punk band being fronted by Vanian. The few old classics this lineup attempts, though, sound horrible!! Gag! (Moscrop P.O. Box 43001, Burnaby, Canada, V5G 3HO; www.suddendeath.com) ~ Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, All Music Guide
'Eternal Damnation Live'
Release Date 6/22/1999
Tracks 12
Label Big Ear Music
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Eternal Damnation Live is a rather low-budget reissue of some rare Damned concert performances; Dave Henson's liner notes offer no documentation about when or where these songs were recorded, instead simply recapping the band's career. The album-opening goth tracks seem odd when placed directly before a succession of songs from the band's earlier punk period; the performances range from entertainingly sloppy (a drunken, too-fast cover of "Ballroom Blitz") to somewhat dull (the ridiculous drum solo in the middle of the "Neat Neat Neat/New Rose Medley"). Overall, not a necessary addition to anyone's Damned collection, but diehards may find enough amusement here to justify picking it up anyway. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Emerging in 1997 as part of Cleopatra's reissue/release series of nearly everything Damned it could get its hands on, Fiendish Shadows documents a show or shows (recording dates aren't provided) from its 1985/1986 tour in support of Phantasmagoria. At this point, the Scabies/Vanian/Jugg/Merrick lineup had a fair couple of years experience under its belt, first with Captain Sensible and then without; the relative stability of this arrangement likely helped the band put on a crackerjack show. Sound quality is quite good, though the mix is off; for instance, on the fantastic opening cut, a run through the first part of the epic "Curtain Call," Vanian's voice suddenly plunges in volume once the drumming kicks in and only recovers from that a few songs in. About half of Phantasmagoria shows up, with an explosive take on "Is It a Dream" and a bravura "Street of Dreams." A couple of cuts from the not far gone Strawberries make the grade as well, including a great take on "Stranger on the Town" and a sprightly version of "Gun Fury." Faves of yore that turn up unsurprisingly include "New Rose" and "Smash It Up," while "Love Song" makes a brief, fun appearance and the disc as a whole concludes with the always hilarious kiss-off "Disco Man," initially delivered in the 'Val Doonican way, as Vanian puts it. Even more intriguing are the two covers that take a bow; one, the Electric Prunes' "I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night," had originally surfaced via the band's Naz Nomad and the Nightmares incarnation. The other was never formally recorded: Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" given the energetic blast you'd expect any punk rockers worth their salt would. On a technical note, while a ticket from an American gig is part of the cover art, the recording itself seems to have taken place in London based on Vanian's between-song comments. Go figure! ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
'I'm Alright Jack and the Bean Stalk'
Release Date 1/1/1996
Tracks 12
Label Marble Orchard
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
When Captain Sensible left the Damned in 1984 after five terrific albums, he took the heart and soul of the band with him, and for the most part, they only came back when he returned for numerous reunion tours. True, singer Dave Vanian and drummer Rat Scabies also wrote great songs on three 1979-1982 LPs, and they had enough talent left over to come up with one more very good album in 1985, Phantasmagoria. But 1986's Anything should have been titled Nothing, and the follow-up a decade later is equally disappointing, if only by Damned standards. In fact, there is much to like here, with the addition of the Godfathers' guitarist Kris Dollimore and New Model Army's old bassist, Moose. But like Anything, the material recalls the band's 1984 '60s-tribute LP as Naz Nomad & the Nightmares. Without Sensible's wild guitar playing, and most of all, his deft pop touches, this sounds nostalgic and trad where albums such as the sensational Strawberries were post-punk masterpieces. However, if you have no history as a Damned disciple, Not of This Earth is a perfectly solid LP, filled with catchy little numbers such as "I Need a Life" and "My Desire," which still show plenty of overrated indie types and alt-rockers a thing or two. Besides, Scabies is one of the best drummers of the last two decades, and Vanian's familiar voice is a treat. But memories of much more inspired, unique work in the past casts at least a "Shadow to Fall" over this otherwise decent LP. ~ Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, All Music Guide
