Castle Blak – Glamour And Damnation
CASTLE BLAK
GLAMOUR AND DAMNATION: GREATEST HITS AND DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS
Released 2006 (GIPC)
Track List:
Disc One:
01. Sister (Carved Into Pieces Edit)
02. Sleep With The Angels
03. Ten High
04. Babes In Toyland
05. Crazy
06. Never Enough
07. Black Diamond
08. T.G.I.L.
09. Don’t Tell Me ‘Bout Your Boyfriend (1986 Demo Edit Version)
10. Throw The Book
11. Fire
12. Another Dark Carnival
13. Good As It Gets
14. Do You Love Me?
15. The Hits Just Keep On Comin’
16. Glory Hole
17. Wither & Bloom (Demo Version/Theatrical Mix)
Disc Two:
01. Dream Sequence: The Lament Configuration (RTS Solo Demo Version)
02. No Bed Of Roses
03. I Know You’re A Bitch…But Don’t Take It Out On Me (Blak Version)
04. Eye Of The Hurricane
05. Alice
06. $10 Whore In A $2 Town
07. Strangers Again (Blak Version)
08. Waiting For You
09. F%*k Off, I Don’t Wanna Dance
10. Bombzawe
11. Rusty Razor Kiss
12. Different Girl
13. Ambivalence
14. Angel In Your Eyes
15. Sheet Musique
16. Let Me Go Rock And Roll
Disc Three:
01. Whose Little Girl?
02. Lookin’ Out For #1
03. The One That Got Away
04. Money Changes Everything
05. I Know You’re A Bitch…But Don’t Take It Out On Me (Monster Island Version)
06. Strangers Again (Monster Island Version)
07. I Feel Sorry For Your Daddy
08. Calendar Girl
09. Forever
10. Put ‘Em Away (Long Version)
11. Stars On The Ceiling (RTS Solo Demo)
12. She Really Gots Me Where She Wants Me
13. L.A. 1990 Radio Interview
Band:
Regent St. Claire – lead/backing vocals, acoustic/electric guitars, drums, piano, and keyboards
Brian Crow – lead guitar and backing vocals
David Victor (aka David Chayce) – lead guitar
Chuck More – lead guitar and backing vocals
Steve Oliver – lead guitar and backing vocals
Matt Lee – lead guitar
Paul Houston – lead/slide/acoustic/electric guitars and backing vocals
Rob Rist – lead guitar and backing vocals
Kev Mueller – bass and backing vocals
Keith Beattie – bass and backing vocals
Scotty Bone (aka Scott Lee Crabtree) – bass and backing vocals
Matthias Montgomery – drums and backing vocals
Scott Sanders – drums
Dave Anthony – drums
Leo Rodriguez – drums
Michael Franet – synthesizer and backing vocals
Additional Musicians:
Jim Gess – harp
Johnny Harris – harp
Tom McWilliams – keyboards
Dave Roman – sequencers
Kevin Army – backing vocals
Production:
Produced by Alex Woltman, R.T. St. Claire, Kevin Army, Matthias Montgomery, Vitus Materey and Castle Blak.
Review:
A Castle Blak compilation/box set has been rumored for what seems like eternity, and no wonder it took so long – talk about an ambitious collection! Three discs, 45 songs, and one interview spanning over three hours comprise Glamour And Damnation – as well as extensive booklets, lyrics, rare photos and song-by-song memories all sealed within a little black box that was signed and numbered. This is how every retrospective should be designed!
Musically this set covers a lot of ground, but I would say that the predominant sound represented here is 80s power-pop glam. If you remember Castle Blak (or the offshoots Monster Island, CandyAppleBlack, etc.) from back in the day, or are curious and want to check them out for the first time – then this is the release for you.
It is hard to cover everything on a box set in a short review, so I’m just going to throw out some of my favorite tracks. The standouts for me personally are the chugging “Ten High” (which sounds huge with the fake crowd noise), “Good As It Gets”, the Bon Jovi-esque “Sleep With The Angels”, “No Bed Of Roses”, the dark and haunting “I Know You’re A Bitch”, “Rusty Razor Kiss” (and its cool Electric Angels vibe), “She Really Gots Me Where She Wants Me” and for some well fermented 80s cheese check out “Glory Hole”. KISS Army members might want to look into this album for the three covers that show up – and speaking of covers I liked the obscure “Throw The Book” and the rocking version of Neil Sedaka‘s “Calendar Girl”.
Glamour And Damnation covers it all – the romance, the heartbreak, the mystery, the fun times and even a murder/suicide. The best part is reading Regent St. Claire‘s memories about how and why each song came together, there are some interesting explanations to be found. Castle Blak will more then likely go down in history as one of those bands that never quite made it, but on this three volume set the band does their damnedest to show what an injustice that is.
www.goodintentionspaving.com – www.matthiasrocks.com.
Reviewed by Skid for Sleaze Roxx, May 2006.
Buy The CD:
Purchase at eBay.com