Catastrophe Ballet | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1984 | |||
Recorded | 1983–1984 | |||
Genre | Gothic rock [1] [2] | |||
Label | Contempo | |||
Producer |
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Christian Death chronology | ||||
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Catastrophe Ballet is the second studio album by American rock band Christian Death. It was released in 1984, through record label Contempo.
Besides founder Rozz Williams, the lineup on the album is completely different from the band's debut, Only Theatre of Pain , and is the first record to feature future band leader Valor Kand. This and the follow-up record Ashes would be the final releases to feature Williams before his departure in mid 1985.
Catastrophe Ballet, featured a change in Williams' vocal delivery. While Only Theatre of Pain and the Deathwish EP had Williams presenting a rhythmic spoken word style with an almost androgynous pitch to his voice, Catastrophe Ballet showed a richer, less harsh side to his vocal stylings, with more influence from David Bowie and Lou Reed. Rather than the occult-oriented lyrics from the first album, the singer showed a new-found interest in Surrealism and the Dada movement. Kand, Demone and Glass shared these interests, and the synergy between them helped cultivate the musical change from the old band's murky, dark punk to a more elegant, romantic strain of guitar-driven rock, though a tribalistic drumming was also added into the mix.
The popular front cover art of this album was by Serge Burner of the Invitation Au Suicide label staff.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Trouser Press | favorable [1] |
Trouser Press described the album as "a gem" and "goth that can afford to take itself seriously". [1]
The album was re-released in 1987 as A Catastrophe Ballet with Rhapsody of Youth and Rain with three bonus tracks:
In 1999 it was released with live recordings of "Awake at the Wall" and "The Drowning" and a CD-Rom track with pictures.
In 2009, the album was re-released once more with an unreleased studio track entitled "Beneath His Widow" featuring Rozz Williams.
Production
Atrocities is the fourth studio album by American rock band Christian Death, released in 1986 through record label Normal.
Deathrock is a rock music subgenre incorporating horror elements and gothic theatrics. It emerged from punk rock on the West Coast of the United States in the early 1980s and overlaps with the gothic rock and horror punk genres. Notable deathrock acts include Christian Death, Kommunity FK, 45 Grave, and Super Heroines.
Christian Death is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles County, California, in 1979 by Rozz Williams. With major line-up changes over the years, Christian Death has retained "a relentlessly confrontational stand against organized religion and conventional morality".
Rozz Williams was an American singer and songwriter known for his work with the bands Christian Death, Shadow Project, and the industrial project Premature Ejaculation. Christian Death is cited by some as a pioneer of the American gothic rock scene as well as deathrock, and is considered to be one of the most influential figures of the scene. However, Williams disliked the "goth" label and actively worked to shed it during the 1980s and 1990s by focusing on punk rock, hard rock, cabaret, and spoken word music. Williams was also involved with his groups Daucus Karota, Heltir, EXP, Bloodflag, and his own version of Christian Death, along with recording a handful of solo albums. In addition to music, Williams was also an avid painter, poet, and collage artist.
Eva Ortiz, better known as Eva O, is a music artist most notable for her previous works in Christian Death and a band she formed with her then-husband Rozz Williams called Shadow Project. Regarded as a veteran and "one of the most striking figures of the American Gothic scene," Eva O has had a significant influence on the emerging death rock movement, which garnered her the "Queen of Darkness" title from the press and audience. She is known for her heavy guitar playing style and dramatic, authoritative vocals.
Shadow Project was a rock band formed in 1987 featuring former members of Los Angeles deathrock groups Christian Death and Super Heroines. After recording two LPs the group experienced a three-year hiatus, reconvening for a third and final album. Shadow Project definitively folded after vocalist Rozz Williams committed suicide on April 1, 1998. The band briefly returned in 2019 under the moniker "Shadow Project 1334" for 13 shows only, vowing to never perform again together after that.
Dark cabaret is a musical genre that draws on the aesthetics of burlesque, vaudeville and Weimar-era cabaret, with live performances that borrow from the stylings of goth and punk.
Gothic metal is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music. The genre originated during the early 1990s in the United Kingdom originally as an outgrowth of death-doom, a fusion of death metal and doom metal. Lyrics are generally dark and introspective with inspiration from gothic fiction as well as personal experiences.
Revelations is the third studio album by English post-punk band Killing Joke, released in July 1982 by E.G. via Polydor Records. It was recorded in Cologne, Germany and produced by Conny Plank, making it their first album not to be self-produced. Since bassist Youth departed from the band after the album's release, Revelations was the band's last album to feature the original line-up.
Pompeii 99 was an American post-punk band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. They released one single and one album before the core members of the band joined Rozz Williams for a new version of Christian Death in 1983, and eventually continued with the Christian Death name after all the original members had left the group. Aside from Kand, the main songwriter during this period was Cram Netod, who later went on to perform with Double Naught Spy Car.
Only Theatre of Pain is the debut studio album by the American rock band Christian Death, released on March 24, 1982, by the Frontier record label.
Valor Kand is a singer, guitarist and songwriter best known for his involvement with Christian Death, an American death rock and gothic rock band.
Gitane DeMone is an American singer, musician and visual artist. Her career spans more than 30 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the influential death rock band Christian Death. In addition to her work with Christian Death, Demone was previously a member of Pompeii 99, worked with Dreadful Shadows, and has had a solo career which has included three studio albums: Am I Wrong?, Stars of Trash and The Reflecting Shadow.
The Scriptures was Christian Death's fifth album and is seen as an essay on comparative world religions. The liner notes state that the work is "a translation of world beliefs by Valor." The album, like Atrocities, is split into two acts, though later reissues would omit these subtitles. The first 10,000 versions of the original LP record came with a free seven inch single containing two songs: "Jezebel's Tribulation" and "Wraeththu". Some CD reissues of the album feature these songs as bonus tracks. The completion of recording on The Scriptures would see David Glass leave the group and like previous members Barry Galvin and Johann Schumann, would go on to play in Mephisto Walz.
Dream Home Heartache is an experimental dark cabaret collaboration album featuring American musicians Rozz Williams and Gitane Demone, both former members of Christian Death. It was released in late 1995 by Triple X Records after being recorded between March 28 and April 5, 1995 in the Netherlands. Williams and Demone toured Europe and North America in support of the album, provoking a riot in Mexico City when fans were unable to enter the sold-out venue. The album is named after the Roxy Music song "In Every Dream Home a Heartache", a cover of which is the first and last track. The album features synthesisers, pianos and accordions, with cabaret-influenced vocals.
Sex and Drugs and Jesus Christ is the sixth album by American deathrock band Christian Death. It was released on 18 October 1988.
Every King a Bastard Son is the debut solo album by American musician Rozz Williams, formerly of deathrock band Christian Death. It was released on October 16, 1992. It was described by reviewer Benjamin Harper as "alternatingly demonic, melancholic and tragic." He described "The Evil Ones" as a track "of special note". Authors for alternative music magazine Trouser Press described the album's lyrics as "the most hair-raising poetry likely to be encountered outside a satanic cult read-in", calling the album a "deliberately horrific creation" featuring "sickening" sound effects.
Discography of Christian Death, all three versions: 1) originally fronted by Rozz Williams, 2) fronted by Valor Kand, 3) parallel version formed by Rozz Williams in the late 1980s.
The Wind Kissed Pictures is an EP by American deathrock band Christian Death, and is the debut release featuring Valor Kand on vocals. It was released in 1985 through Nostradamus Records and has spawned one single, "Believers of the Unpure". On the album, the band's title is made longer, calling themselves For Sin and Sacrifice Must We Die a Christian Death. Allmusic gave the album two stars out of five. However, they claimed it to be "some of the finest post-Rozz Williams work Christian Death would produce."
Deathwish is an EP by American deathrock band Christian Death. It consists of demos recorded by the band in 1981, prior to the release of Christian Death's debut album Only Theatre of Pain, but was not released until 1984 by French record label l'Invitation au Suicide.