''Catastrophe Ballet'' is the second studio album by American rock band

Christian Death 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 religi ...

. 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 ''Only Theatre of Pain'' is the first studio album by the American rock band Christian Death, released on March 24, 1982, by the Frontier record label. It is considered by most critics to be the harbinger of the deathrock style of music, as well ...

'', 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.

Content

Catastrophe Ballet, featured a change in Williams' vocal delivery. While

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 David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

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 Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

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 Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

to a more elegant, romantic strain of guitar-driven rock, though a tribalistic drumming was also added into the mix.

Album cover

The popular front cover art of this album was by Serge Burner of the Invitation Au Suicide label staff.

Reception

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' described the album as "a gem" and "

goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

that can afford to take itself seriously".

Track listing

*Arranged by Valor. All songs

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

QAH Music U.S.A. #"Awake at the Wall" (Music-Williams-Demone-Valor, Lyrics-Williams) #"Sleepwalk" (Music-Williams & Valor, Lyrics-Williams) #"The Drowning" (Music & Lyrics-Williams) #"The Blue Hour" (Music-Williams & Valor, Lyrics-Williams) #"As Evening Falls" (Music-Williams & Valor, Lyrics-Williams) #"Androgynous Noise Hand Permeates" (Music-Valor & Parkinson) #"Electra Descending" (Music-Williams & Valor, Lyrics-Williams) #"Cervix Couch" (Music-Williams-Demone-Valor, Lyrics- Williams) #"This Glass House" (Music-Williams & Valor, Lyrics-Williams) #"The Fleeing Somnambulist" (Music-Williams & Valor)

Re-releases

The album was re-released in 1987 as ''A Catastrophe Ballet with Rhapsody of Youth and Rain'' with three bonus tracks: #"The Somnolent Pursuit" ("The Fleeing Somnabulist" backwards) #"Between Youth" (B-side track from '' Believers of the Unpure'') #"After the Rain" (B-side track from '' Believers of the Unpure'') 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.

Personnel

* Rozz Williams – vocals, producer * Valor Kand – guitars, backing vocals * Gitane Demone – keyboards, backing vocals * Constance Smith – bass * David Glass – drums Production * Eric Westfall – producer, recording,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

References

External links

"Catastrophe Ballet" at discogs
1984 albums Christian Death albums Season of Mist albums {{1980s-rock-album-stub