Here’s a novel idea, I am going to review the new Damned album Evil Spirits on the basis of the contents and not as a comment on the longevity and influence of the Damned. In the second part of this review I will comment on how the album impacts on the legacy of the band. One top reviewer commented how the Damned petered out late Seventies, seeing fit to ignore the 80’s Strawberries, arguably their best album and that their commercial peak was mid 80’s, but let us not let the facts get in the way.
Peaking at number 7 in the album charts, Evil Spirits is the highest charting album by the Damned.
Visiting so many past influences and musical genres this is a classic album. A classic album to me is one without a bad song and when you hear new sounds every time you play it. It is like walking somewhere that is picturesque rather that to the shops. It is classic Damned with a real Black Album / Strawberries / Phantasmagoria feel to it. It sees the welcome return of Paul Gray who despite not being a very long term member of the Damned has managed to play on three of their best four albums as and when they have come. Produced by Visconti, this is a good and bad thing. The previous excellent So Who’s Paranoid lacked continuity, some brilliant songs and some not so brilliant just didn’t gel as an album. The Visconti production gives Evil Spirit the real feeling of an album and his talents have given it a great ‘atmosphere’ but to me has taken some of the Damned ‘edge’ away. However that is my personal taste, the album is superb. 60’s, garage, stadium rock, post punk, pop, gothic, thrown into one, it has it all. It is a masterpiece
Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow kicks the album off with the trad catchy post punk Damned, beautifully structured with the wonderful customary backing harmonies and some catchy guitar riffs and links. Sensible is never heralded as a guitar great. He does not need to be. He just is.
Devil in Disguise is a rocky very garage 60’s affair, again very catchy and instantly memorable.
We’re so Nice sounds like something directly off Strawberries but with the spirit of Paperback Writer by the Beatles hauntingly, almost, wrapped into the rift. Spot of Captain Hendrix chucked in at the end.
If the Damned had an early 80’s stadium rock phase, the bombastic Look Left would have been right there in the mix. Swirling rhythms and keyboards, ‘stabs’ chucked in aplenty, another great pop / rock number.
Mainstream 60’s pop, 70’s rock and the trad Damned toughness fuse on Evil Spirits a belter of a song.
Phantasmogoric melodies, keyboards and a troubling but beautiful background sound marks Shadow Evocation, the catchy melodies to the chorus stuck in my head after the first play whils’t out walking. Almost a classic film score. My favourite track on the album.
Sonar Deceit jaunts along in a poppy manner. Pumping bass (Lust for Life, like) the trumpet surprisingly makes this song interesting and packs a punch on yet another catchy and memorable chorus.
Procrastination, ‘never do today what you can do tomorrow’ Vanian advises, reminding us of the humour that is trademark Damned that is evident as ever on the album. Another classic pop rock tune with an industrial number of other sounds thrown in ‘I’ll do it later’ An anthem for us all.
Daily Liar, a wry observation on the media has an almost Monkees feel to it, Monkees crossed with the Damned of course, but that is why the album is so good, because hints of other bands you can hear throughout are all the good bands showing the great ‘pop’ sensibility the Damned are never given credit for. A hooky rocky riff with Vanian chucking in some ‘no no no’ a la Eloise.
I Don’t Care, carries on from the nihilistic ‘Nothing’ off So Who’s Paranoid. One of the best tracks on the album, it is funny, beautiful down to earth ballad morphing into a stadium rock finale ending with a dour trumpet sequence, fit for the denouement off the ending of an episode of Kojak.
So where does it stand ?
I call a spade and a spade and can say Music for Pleasure and Anything were dire albums. I will always rate Machine Gun Etiquette, The Black Album and Strawberries as 5 stars and this is a 5 star album too. In my mind only the Beatles have produced more than 4 5 star albums. But this is no surprise, for anyone who is into the Damned they are our band and our secret. Because we know they are by a country mile the most underrated band of all time. A band defined for so many years by New Rose, the iconic Smash It Up and Eloise, they are regarded unfairly as a novelty act when in fact they are one of the most outstanding bands of all time. In the last few years I have seen them three times along the south coast of England and the fact 2000 people will turn up and see a band who until recently hadn’t had a hit for 30 years is tantamount to the pulling power of a legacy that has kept the band to this day absolutely fresh and full of their original talent. Live they are still superb, the egos of Vanian and Sensible striving for dominance on stage as they roll out, superbly, classic after classic.
It is a delight 40 years on they are still very much on top of their game.
The Rights of Fans. 