Album · The Damned
Phantasmagoria by The Damned
Phantasmagoria is an album by The Damned, released in 1985. 2 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 3 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Grimly Fiendish”, on 2 lists with a best position of #427.
Phantasmagoria, the Damned's sixth studio album, came out on MCA on 15 July 1985, and it's the sound of the band that put out Britain's first punk single trading safety pins for a cape. Captain Sensible had gone, and with Dave Vanian's voice now firmly at the centre, the band threw itself into gothic rock: big, brooding, candlelit production, swirling keyboards and melodrama played completely straight. Jon Kelly produced it at Eel Pie Sound Studios, with Rat Scabies on drums, Roman Jugg on guitar and keyboards and Bryn Merrick in the lineup.
"Grimly Fiendish" is the cheeky gothic cartoon of the bunch, and "Shadow of Love" has a proper sense of dread about it. MCA dressed it up, too: white vinyl and picture-disc editions, and some copies came with a free 12-inch of "Eloise", the band's number-three hit at home.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Phantasmagoria on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grimly Fiendish | 2 | #427 | – | 1989–1991 | |
| 2 | Shadow of Love | 1 | #1794 | – | 2002 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.