THE DAMNED Vinilo y CD

Review: AD 2022: Live In Manchester is the long overdue live album from seminal homegrown punk legends The Damned, who announced plans in 2020 to undertake a reunion tour with the original line up of Dave Vanian (vocals), Brian James (guitar), Captain Sensible (bass), and Rat Scabies (drums), but naturally had to put things on hold due to the pandemic. Finally making good on their promise and reuniting for the first time in over four decades to descend upon Manchester's O2 Apollo in November 2022 for an immense set of 21 tracks taken from the band's first two (and only) albums to ever feature the classic OG line up; Damned Damned Damned and Music For Pleasure, both initially released in 1977, feast your ears on a true fly-on-the-wall experience if you were one of the many miserable millions to not experience such an iconic rarity in person that night.

Review: Following the announcement in October 2020 that the OG line up of seminal homegrown punks The Damned featuring Dave Vanian (vocals), Brian James (guitar), Captain Sensible (bass), and Rat Scabies (drums), would reunite for their first batch of reunion shows in over four decades, the pandemic quickly disagreed and forced the members to push back their run until November 2022. AD 2022: Live In Manchester delivers the group's iconic set at Manchester's O2 Apollo made up of 21 classic cuts from their 1977 debut full-length Damned Damned Damned and its same-year sophomore follow up Music For Pleasure (the only two projects all four original members performed on).

Review: They say it's bad form to swear when writing - a lazy tactic betraying a vocabulary redundant of what's required to make an eloquent impact. Respecting the rule takes every ounce of strength when you're penning words on The Damned, who now lay claim to 46 - yes, 46 - years in the rock 'n' roll game. Evidently genes really do count for much when it comes to putting your body through music's rollercoaster/meat-grinder.
Returning for studio album number 12, Darkadelic is everything the band have always been, which is many things to many people. Having helped launch punk and created goth, circa 2023 they band have long-since learnt to master the art of both, occupying a position that's really best described as dedicated heavy rock business. Still witty, scathing, and observant, still driving, punchy, and commanding, innovative, experimental and - perhaps most of all - theatric, we're not sure where we'd be without them.