The Damned are probably one of my favorite bands. They famously take credit of being the first punk band (“New Rose” predating “Anarchy in the UK”). 1977s debut album Damned Damned Damned is as good as any punk album, produced by Nick “Basher” Lowe showcases four great personalities- Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, Rat Scabies and Brian James.
The best distributed compilation of the Damned was 1987s The Light at the End of the Tunnel. I bought it twice! It’s 28 fantastic tracks.
I have a soft spot for 1985s “Phantasmagoria” a near contemporary album of when I first heard them. The mid 80s meant punk was fading, so artists like the Ramones, TSOL and Iggy Pop were leaning into metal, but the Damned went for goth and it’s a quite good album.
1986s Anything is really the end of the bands classic album run. But the band continued and I saw them live twice in the late 90s or early 00s with Vanian, Sensoble and Patricia Morrison and they were great. To the point, I don’t think one could see them and not wonder (with so many other reunions going on) if they had one last great album in them.
I bought three Damned albums in this time frame and played them quite a bit. The band does have quite a few options out there. 1987s Mindless Directionless Energy is what it is - a live recording of a 1981 concert. It doesn’t sound great but as a fan, I wasn’t disappointed about adding it to the collection. (And it includes the bands ribald take on Ballroom Blitz)
1989s Final Damnation is a collection of live material some with the original lineup recorded the year prior and is a fantastic glance at what a great band they are in concert (plus added charming concert conversation with the Captain) The ramshackle band evolving into a tight unit.
1993s Sessions of the Damned could be a functional greatest hits compilation. It is what it says on the cover- songs over the years recorded for John Peel radio sessions
The band had three studio albums between 1986 and 2018 and from what I recall, none of them made a ton of noise even if they hopefully were going to relaunch the bands career.
The one I am most familiar with is 1995s Not of this Earth which I know as 2002s I’m Alright Jack and the Beanstalk. It is an album the band disowns and it truly is a terrible album with no redeeming qualities. Although this is the nadir of the band’s career, on paper - the lineup should have worked - Vanian, Kris Dollimore (the Godfathers), Moose (New Model Army) and Scabies- it most certainly didn’t.
The one I am least familiar with is 2001s Grave Disorder which I either didn’t hear or didn’t click with me, but by all accounts is a decent album. It’s an interesting twist in the bands story as they signed with Nitro Records a label ran by The Offspring’s Dexter Holland and would play a lot of US punk festivals. Nothing wrong with that, but Nitro (and these festivals) seemed to be more focused on American punk bands and the waves that came after the Damned like classic US punk bands like TSOL and the Vandals and newer bands like AFI
These wilderness years finally end in 2018 with Evil Spirits. By this time, many of the band’s contemporaries had made that strong late career album or two - The Buzzcocks, Joe Strummer, the Stranglers, the Specials and so on. And Evil Spirits delivered to the fans with the opener “Standing at the Edge of Tomorrow” a goth anthem on par with their Phantasmagoria record.
With time and perspective (and I probably knew it sooner) I think it is safe to say Evil Spirits isn’t a great album. It is a very good album and as a fan, I am more than happy about it. It undoubtedly benefits from producer Tony Visconti and while I have no major complaints, I also know that my enthusiasm for it probably wouldn’t carry over to a casual fan
What’s good is that 2023s Darkadelic is a step in the right direction. It sounds like a continuation and certainly an improvement on its predecessor.
I don’t notice too much different in the credits except Paul Gray appearing in the songwriting credits (bassist Gray was with the band for the Black Album and Strawberries albums and previously with Eddie and the Hot Rods)
The songs as a whole are a better batch of songs with Captain Sensible writing some of the most pointed lyrics - Leader of the Gang about Gary Glitter and Beware of the Clown presumably about Boris Johnson and just about any other politician. The band veers into Stranglers territory often with the heavy synths, though the nod is there in the albums name and the Gray-era Damned who loved a bit of the Psychedelic stuff.
I still love the Visconti production (this album has Thomas Mitchener (Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes) at the helm but I do think the Damned finally managed to create that remarkable late career disc
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