''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 Rozz Williams (born Roger Alan Painter; November 6, 1963 – April 1, 1998) was an American singer and songwriter known for his work with the bands Christian Death, Shadow Project (with musician Eva O), and the industrial project Premature Ej ...

, 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 Valor Kand is a singer, guitarist and songwriter best known as for his involvement with Christian Death, an American deathrock/ gothic rock band. Early years Kand started his music career as a drummer, but "...had to progress to other instruments ...

. 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 Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

. Rather than the

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism ...

-oriented lyrics from the first album, the singer showed a new-found interest in

Surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

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 (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

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 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, education ...

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 Believer(s) or The Believer(s) may refer to: Religion * Believer, a person who holds a particular belief ** Believer, a person who holds a particular religious belief *** Believers, Christians with a religious faith in the divine Christ *** Bel ...

'') #"After the Rain" (B-side track from ''

'') 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 *

– 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 method, 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 rang ...

References

External links

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