Lyrics ‘There’s no feeling fine without being fined’ and ‘Illegal to dance Forbidden to cry’ suggest humanity is doomed due to resistance to human emotion. Scott Rowley of Classic Rock magazine, reviewing the 25th Anniversary Edition of the album, defined it as "a riotous, ballsy rush of an album [.

Machine Gun Etiquette - Album by The Damned - Apple Music ‎Machine Gun Etiquette - Album by The Damned - Apple Music

A routinely great artist, much of Sufjan's universal appeal comes from his skills as a gifted narrator, pairing personal musings on love and devotion with commentary on American culture, whilst welding folk and electronica, the ambient and existential. I remember seeing them on Top of the Pops doing Love Song with Captain Sensible in a pink fur suit and the band seemed to spend the whole track trying to push him off the back of the stage - must have a look on Youtube for it. Although you don't note the cover type there are in fact two versions of the original Chiswick cover: 1. Hinting at both new wave and post-punk (indeed Vanian’s foreboding baritone is the blueprint for male post-punk vocals) I Just Can’t Be Happy Today sees Sensible putting on a keyboardist’s hat with atmospheric synthesizers and an amusingly naff farfisa solo while the terrific lead bass line pulls the listener through this moody yet catchy, more deliberately paced number.The new version of the band that emerged in 1979 had Rat Scabies and Dave Vanian on drums and vocals as before, but Captain Sensible had switched to guitar with Algy Ward coming in on bass. The new Damned swiftly picked up momentum, first as Les Punks with stop-gap bassist Lemmy, then the Doomed and finally under their old name. By this point in The Damned’s history, the line-up had changed from their first two albums, “Damned Damned Damned” and “Music for Pleasure”(1977). While the first two songs could easily have fit on their first record, some songs could only fit here. With third song I Just Can't Be Happy Today, something interesting happens as The Damned begin to explore textures outside of punk.

The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette - Album of The Year The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette - Album of The Year

There's a bit of psychedelic experimentation going on here, but it's still a riotous, ballsy rush of an album, filled with minor epics like "Love Song,""Plan 9 Channel 7," and "Smash It Up. With this change in personnel, the reigns were loosened, allowing for a blend of different creams to rise to the top of their hypothetical mug, seeing bits of Psychedelia, Metal, and heavier Gothic Rock styles fused into their formula.Smash It Up (Part 1)" and "Smash It Up (Part 2)" are listed as one track on the CD, as "Smash It Up (Parts 1 and 2)" (track 11). Towards the end of 1979, and in response to a negative reception of their second album ‘Music For Pleasure’, The Damned stepped it up, with a revised line-up, to offer the world arguably one of the best albums of, if not the decade, at least that year itself in ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’. Bolan had taken The Damned on his final UK tour (Dandy In The Underworld) in early 1977, and by all accounts were very impressed with how they were treated. It was the band’s first album on Chiswick Records, following their reformation after splitting up briefly in 1978. Showing plenty of musical imagination whilst keeping their attitude intact, on their third album The Damned are reborn as a creatively vital act.

The Damned – Machine Gun Etiquette (1986, CD) - Discogs The Damned – Machine Gun Etiquette (1986, CD) - Discogs

But not only did they influence punk, but also Goth rock, a style they delved into by the early eighties, but showed signs of earlier. Their debut album, Damned Damned Damned, was released six months before The Sex Pistols' debut, Never Mind The Bollocks. Time went on and I started to collect as many Damned releases as I could get my hands on (witch was quite a bit) but the only ones I listened to with any regularity were _Damned Damned Damned_ and _Machine Gun Etiquette_ (ok, _Light at the End of The Tunnel_ got a lot of play as well). A sophomore album, ‘Music For Pleasure’, followed later that year and was written off to many as merely a rehashed version of their debut.The Damned didn’t care about definitions, which is why their classic third album sounds as fresh now as it did in 1979. The Damned’s ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ I feel is one of the better albums to come out of the British punk explosion and should be in a punk fans collection, along with their debut. Lemmy of Motorhead was the band’s bassist for about five minutes before they settled on Algy Ward, later of 80s metal outfit Tank.

The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette - Ace Records The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette - Ace Records

Anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing Jalen perform live knows that he is one of the most captivating performers on today's soul scene. Yet they haven’t forgotten their punk roots; Anti Pope is a scathing, breakneck takedown of organized religion that would have been scandalous on release, while Melody Lee begins with a beautiful piano performance from Sensible before suddenly transforming into a thrilling barely controlled speed-punk hook-fest and Noise Noise Noise in contrast puts the fanciness aside for an uncomplicated straight-ahead punk asskicker. All tracks are written by Rat Scabies, Captain Sensible, Dave Vanian and Algy Ward, except as noted No. It contains elements influenced by Psychedlic music of the 1960s, which was mostly through singer Dave Vanian’s interest in the genre. Mixing a number of styles into a short number of songs, it shows the uniqueness of The Damned as oppose to a great number of their counterparts.As it name implies this was a demo cut of Love Song and it came out as a white label 45 pressing with a sticker over the hole in the middle as the label copy. The album also showcased the bands high quality musicianship - an excellent rhythm section, excellent lead vocals and brilliant lead guitar.