The Black Album (The Damned album)

Infobox Album | Name = The Black Album
Type = Album
Artist = The Damned


Released = October, 1980 CWK3015
Recorded = Rockfield Studios (Monmouth, Wales)
(May - June 1980)
live tracks:
Shepperton Studios (Shepperton)
(26th July 1980)
Length = 77:42
Label = Chiswick
Producer = The Damned,

(and on "The History of the World - Part 1" only, Hans Zimmer)
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:yla9qj6yojsa link]
Last album = "Machine Gun Etiquette"
(1979)
This album = "The Black Album"
(1980)
Next album = "Strawberries"
(1982) |

"The Black Album" was the fourth album by The Damned, and the first to feature Paul Gray on bass guitar.

It was released in October 1980 on Chiswick as a double album, with "Curtain Call" filling the whole of side three, and a selection of live tracks recorded at Shepperton Studios for Damned fan club members on side four.

Reissues

The Damned's Chiswick back catalogue was acquired by Big Beat in 1981, and "The Black Album" was reissued in August 1982 as a single album that omitted "Curtain Call" and the live tracks.

The artwork for the reissue parodied the sleeve of The Beatles' "White Album", rendered in black with no details other than the group's name embossed in capitals. The live tracks were reissued in their own right as "Live Shepperton 1980" with four extra tracks.

The first subsequent reissue on CD reinstated "Curtain Call" and the original artwork, and the 2005 double-CD reissue also reinstated the live tracks.

Track listing

All songs written by Rat Scabies/Captain Sensible/Paul Gray/Dave Vanian except * by Scabies/Sensible/Gray/Vanian/Billy Karloff, † by Scabies/Sensible/Gray/Vanian/Giovanni Dadomo.

ide one

#"Wait for the Blackout" – 3:57 *
#"Lively Arts" – 2:59
#"Silly Kids Games" – 2:35
#"Drinking About My Baby" – 3:04
#"Twisted Nerve" – 4:39
#"Hit or Miss" – 2:37

ide two

#"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" – 4:35 †
#"Sick of This and That" – 1:50
#"The History of the World (Part 1)" – 3:45
#"13th Floor Vendetta" – 5:05
#"Therapy" – 6:12

ide three

#"Curtain Call" – 17:13

ide four

All songs written by Scabies/Sensible/Vanian/Algy Ward except ** by Scabies/Sensible/Vanian/Ward/Dadomo, ‡ by Brian James.
#"Love Song" [Live] – 2:10
#"Second Time Around" [Live] – 1:46
#"Smash It Up (Parts 1 & 2)" [Live] – 4:24
#"New Rose" [Live] – 1:49 ‡
#"I Just Can't Be Happy Today" [Live] – 3:55 **
#"Plan 9 Channel 7" [Live] – 5:12

Deluxe Edition bonus CD

#"Love Song" [Live] – 2:10
#"Second Time Around" [Live] – 1:46
#"Smash It Up (Parts 1 & 2)" [Live] – 4:24
#"New Rose" [Live] – 1:49
#"I Just Can't Be Happy Today" [Live] – 3:55
#"Plan 9 Channel 7" [Live] – 5:12
#"White Rabbit" - 3:00
#"Rabid (Over You)" – 3:44
#"Seagulls" - 2:36
#"The History of the World (Part 1)" [Single Version] – 3:48
#"I Believe the Impossible" - 2:54
#"Sugar and Spite" - 1:30
#"There Ain't No Sanity Clause" - 2:29
#"Looking At You" [Live] - 5:51
#"White Rabbit" [Extended Version - Original Mix] - 5:24

Line up

* Dave Vanian - Vocals
* Captain Sensible - Guitars & Vocals, Lead vocals on "Silly Kids Games"
* Paul Gray - Bass
* Rat Scabies - Drums