''Machine Gun Etiquette'' is the third studio album by English punk rock band the Damned, released on 2 November 1979 by

Chiswick Records Chiswick Records was a British independent record label. Established in 1975, Chiswick was the "first true ' indie' label to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the " punk era". It re ...

Background

The album was the group's first since reforming with Dave Vanian on vocals,

Captain Sensible Raymond Ian Burns (born 24 April 1954), known by the stage name Captain Sensible, is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. Captain Sensible co-founded the punk rock band the Damned, originally playing bass before switching to guitar. H ...

on lead guitar,

Rat Scabies Christopher John Millar (born 30 July 1955), known by his stage name Rat Scabies, is a musician best known as the drummer for English punk rock band the Damned. Career Millar was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. He played drums with Tor ...

on drums, plus newcomer

Algy Ward Alasdair Mackie "Algy" Ward (born 11 July 1959) is an English heavy metal bass guitarist and singer. He founded Tank, a part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. He also played with the Damned and before that the Saints. Career ...

of proto punk

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band The Saints on bass. ''Machine Gun Etiquette'' was to be Algy Ward's only album with the band (

formed heavy metal Motorhead influenced band

Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful e ...

after leaving The Damned). On ''Machine Gun Etiquette'', the band brought more variety to their usual punk rock to add wide-ranging influences from hard rock and proto punk to

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

, a tinge of

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

and even classic

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed p ...

. The album also features more fast-paced punk tracks, and has been cited as a 'proto-hardcore' record crucial for the later rise of

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier pu ...

into the 1980s. The voice at the album's start is actor Jack Howarth, taken from his 1971 album Ow Do'', a recording of Lancastrian monologues. The mispronounced album name would later be used in fusion with Thee Headcoats name as the Japanese band name Thee Michelle Gun Elephant by their former bassist.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

's retrospective review reported that when it was released, ''Machine Gun Etiquette'' was "deservedly hailed as another classic from the band". The website praised the variety of styles explored and the group's typically strong wit. Scott Rowley of ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

'' magazine, reviewing the 25th Anniversary Edition of the album, defined it as "a riotous, ballsy rush of an album ..the sound of a band coming into its own", adding that "while

the Clash The Clash were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave music, new wave moveme ...

looked to America for inspiration, the Damned remained resolutely British", perhaps ironically given that the front cover depicted the band in a New York street scene at 704 7th Avenue,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Track listing

;2004 CD reissue bonus tracks *"Smash It Up (Part 1)" and "Smash It Up (Part 2)" are listed as one track on the CD, as "Smash It Up (Parts 1 and 2)" (track 11).

Personnel

Credits adapted from the 2004 CD reissue liner notes. The Damned * Dave Vanian – lead vocals *

– guitars, backing vocals, keyboards, bass ("I Just Can't Be Happy Today", "Smash It Up (Parts 1 & 2)"), bass solo ("Anti-Pope"), mandolin ("Turkey Song"), lead vocals ("Turkey Song") *

– drums, backing vocals, lead vocals ("Burglar") *

– bass, backing vocals, guitar ("Machine Gun Etiquette", "Liar") Additional personnel *

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...

– backing vocals ("Noise, Noise, Noise"), hand claps ("Machine Gun Etiquette") * Topper Headon – backing vocals ("Noise, Noise, Noise") *

Henry Badowski Henry Badowski (born October 1958) is a British multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer, who was a member of several punk rock bands in the 1970s before embarking on a solo career. Career Badowski's apprenticeship started in several U ...

– backing vocals ("Noise, Noise, Noise") * Paul Simonon – hand claps ("Machine Gun Etiquette") *

Lemmy Kilmister Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he w ...

– bass, backing vocals ("Ballroom Blitz") * Anthony More – synthesizer ("Rabid (Over You)") Production and artwork *

Roger Armstrong Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

– producer * The Damned – producer * Ed Hollis – producer ("Love Song" (Ed Hollis version), "Noise, Noise, Noise" (Ed Hollis version), "Suicide") * Alvin Clarke – engineer (Sound Suite) *

Mike Shipley Michael Shipley (6 October 1956 – 25 July 2013) was an Australian mixing engineer, audio engineer, and record producer. Shipley's music career spanned more than 30 years – mostly working in Los Angeles. At the Grammy Awards of 2012 he ...

– engineer (Wessex) * Gary Edwards – engineer (Wessex) * Jeremy Green – engineer (Wessex) * Rik Watton – engineer (Workhouse) * Damian Korner – engineer (Utopia) * G. H. Wallis – engineer (SGS) * Vic Keary – engineer (Chalk Farm) * Phil Smee – artwork * Alan Ballard – front cover photography * Mick Young – photography * Captain Sensible – inner sleeve drawing * Martin Baker – video director ("Plan 9, Channel 7")

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1979 albums The Damned (band) albums Chiswick Records albums