By 1985, the band's sound was more gothic-pop than punk (Fans of The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, or Clan of Xymox take note). The album cover itself reflects the dark undertones found throughout many of the songs. Plenty of synths, organs, harpsicords and a touch of wind and howling here.

"The Shadow of Love" is a haunting song with David Vanian's howl-like vocals and a driving bassline in the fashion of Killing Joke's "Love Like Blood" or Sisters of Mercy's "This Corrosion."

"Is It A Dream" and "Edward The Bear" are pure pop and about as commercial as The Damned would ever become while "Grimly Fiendish" is a classic and humourous Halloween-flavoured track with a great harpsicord intro. The final track, "Trojans" (before the two bonus mixes)is an almost romantic instrumental and a perfect end to a very good album.

As I said before, this album is not for early Damned fans so keep that in mind if "Smash It Up" and "Disco Man" are favorites. If you are a goth or darkwave fan, you must must must add this to your collection. There is a reason why this album is one of the band's hardest to find. If you like The Cure, Xymox, Sisters of Mercy or mid-80's Killing Joke and The Cult, then grab this CD and the equally dark follow-up "Anything."


Timeless Fiendish Fun   May 18, 2005
EerieVonEvil (The Rabbit Hole)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

I'm a punk fan and while I think The Damned's self-titled debut and Machine Gun Etiquette are great punk rock records, I prefer their more melodic, darker goth-tinged side. This album picks up where Strawberries left off(also a must have Damned album)with Dave Vanian's vocals at their peak, dramatic and melodic. This album has a heavier synth/piano use than Strawberries, and that record had a lot! There is also some sax on here which works so well, see Street of Dreams. The guitars are more relaxed and swirly on this album with warm, lush effects...almost a Cure-ish sound going on here. The bass is low and thundering, but still very prominent which is good. Like I sad the keys rule on this record, making this album more dramatic and epic in sound. Phantasmagoria has a huge 80's sound mainly from the synth effects and thats another reason I dig this album(I mean it WAS 1985). So strange this is only an import and not an easy find in stores. It is quite a good album with memorable songs. I think the reason I prefer this album and strawberries over the earlier punk albums is that The Damned's music became more layered and complex with a wider variety of instrumentation. This record represents the band coming full circle with the sound they were meant to have. Highlights include Shadow of Love, with the dark, low haunting vocals and driving bass...Is It A Dream is catchy and very 80's but good. Buy this cd if you like melodic dark rock with synths. If you like this you must check out Xymox's Twist Of Shadows and Tones On Tails' Everything album. Definitley recommmended. P.S. Your girlfriend will love this album.


Some Damned fans may not like it but...   September 5, 2004
Eloise Fiendish (London, UK)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I love it. Sanctum Sanctorum is haunting, and though someone on The Offical Damned Message boards said "I like the song, but Dave overdoes the Vic Reeves impression", I disagree - Mr Vanian is at his best! There is also the wonderful Grimly Fiendish, which has continued to irritate me (in a nice way, if that makes any sense) every day since I first heard it "Bad lad, bad boy, bad lad, bad boy...". You get the idea. Some other good songs on there include There'll come a day and The Shadow of Love. At first I was confused when I heard "Edward The Bear". "Surely this isn't Dave Vanian singing?!" I asked myself. In fact, it's actually Roman Jugg providing the vocals, so if anyone is confused, there's your answer. Phantasmagoria may not be liked by every Damned fan. If you're obsessed with their first album, Damned Damned Damned, then this may not be your kind of thing. But personally, I love everything The Damned do, and this is one of them.


I love this cd so much!!!   January 19, 2001
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Ashamedly, I am still listening to the tape I have of this I got 10 years ago but I will get it on CD one day. My first exposure to The Damned was with Grimly Fiendish and as catchy as it was I had to hear more. Shadow of Love caught my attention but I was drawn further still to Sanctum Sanctorum with its gothic organ introduction and beautiful craftsmanship. I have to remind myself that this is music from a punk band. A punk band who can play their instruments and know a little about music. Hmm...

This album takes gothic punk to a different level by adding other elements like the saxophone to give an almost jazz feel to it. Trojans is an excellent example of this. The more upbeat tracks provide a nutty and almost pop quality as yet another dimension of the music. I only wish it were longer. The new CD contains the remixes of Grimly Fiendish and Shadow of Love which are found on the 2 disc set Light at the End of the Tunnel and are worth having on this rerelease. It's worth it to hear the horror movie scream at the end of Shadow of Love.

Happy listening!!


Goth done...who knows?   April 29, 2006
bridget (Chicago, IL United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

So, they would save the ultimate cheesetasticalness for Anything, which even the most devoted Damned fan probably couldn't sit throught without cringing.

Phantasmagoria sets up ubergoth with kitschy pop songs and melodramatic instrumentals (with "Sanctum Santorium" being the zenith of dramatics). It seems like they are poking fun at themselves in some songs and their appearance, giving in to Dave Vanian's wannabe vampire image (did he get fang implants or are they just removable caps?).

Anyway, for the first video they did, "Grimly Fiendish", all of the Damned members are wearing late 1700 puffy shirt (always reminds me of that 'Seinfeld' episode) and coats in a dirty alleyway sort of setup. In their live tv performances, only Roman Jugg seems to be comfortable in those clothes, while Brynn Merrick and Rat Scabies ditch the garbs for their own clothes. Why am I talking about what they are wearing, and why should anyone care? I get the feeling that it was the record company's idea to market them as a great new wave/goth band and wanting to get far away from their disruptive punk days. ANd it worked. They would hit the charts with Grimly Fiendish and early the next year with "Eloise", which they performed about a millions times or more just in that year alone. And it doesn't help the fact that on their video promo release "Light at The End of the Tunnel", we go from the video for their great punk anthem "Smash It Up" to "Grimly Fiendish", a poppy happy little ditty that seems out of place. You need some sort of footage from The Black album to Strawberries to fill in the gap. But i'm going way over my head here, this is a review for "Phantasmagoria".

I don't mean to sound cynical about this album, I do enjoy it. Some of great songs on here are Street of Dreams, Shadow of Love and There'll Come A Day. If you are a hardcore fan of their punk days and too elitist to think otherwise, maybe this album isn't for you. If you want to be curious about this album, buy it. Really, you'll enjoy it, it might take some time, but it is a good one.