Catastrophe Ballet

Catastrophe Ballet
Studio album by Christian Death
Released	1984
Recorded	1983-1984
Genre	Deathrock Gothic rock Post-punk
Label	Contempo Records
Producer	Eric Westfall & Valor
Christian Death chronology
Only Theatre of Pain (1982) Catastrophe Ballet (1984) Ashes (1985)

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Catastrophe Ballet is Christian Death's second studio album. This is the first album that featured Valor Kand. Besides Rozz Williams, the lineup was completely different from Only Theatre of Pain. The popular front cover art of this album was by Serge Burner of the Ivitation Au Suicide label staff. No one in the band had any idea what the cover would look like until it was pressed and delivered, contrary to the notion of Williams claiming that he got the idea for the bizarre looking album cover from a shroom experience.

History

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.

Track listing

• Arranged By Valor. All Songs Copyright QAH Music U.S.A.

1. "Awake at the Wall" (Valor -music, David Parkinson -music, Gitane Demone -music, Rozz Williams -lyrics)
2. "Sleepwalk" (Valor -music, Williams -lyrics)
3. "The Drowning" (Valor -music, Williams -lyrics)
4. "The Blue Hour" (Valor -music, Williams -lyrics)
5. "As Evening Falls" (Valor -music, Williams -lyrics)
6. "Androgynous Noise Hand Permeates" (Valor -music, Parkinson -music)
7. "Electra Descending" (Valor -music, Williams -lyrics)
8. "Cervix Couch" (Valor -music, Demone -music, Smith -music, Williams -lyrics)
9. "This Glass House" (Valor -music, Williams -lyrics)
10. "The Fleeing Somnambulist" (Valor -music, Westfall -music, Williams -lyrics)

Re-releases

The album was re-released in 1987 as A Catastrophe Ballet With Rhapsody of Youth and Rain with three bonus tracks:

1. "The Somnolent Pursuit" ("The Fleeing Somnabulist" backwards)
2. "Between Youth" (B-side track from Believers of the Unpure)
3. "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
• Valor: Guitars, Backing Vocals
• Gitane Demone: Keyboards, Backing Vocals
• Constance Smith: Bass
• David Glass: Drums

Production

• Produced By Eric Westfall & Valor
• Recorded & Engineered By Eric Westfall

External links

• "Catastrophe Ballet" at discogs