| Phantasmagoria | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | the Damned |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | July 1985 |
| Recorded: | March–June 1985 |
| Studio: | Eel Pie, London |
| Genre: | Gothic rock |
| Length: | 39:19 |
| Label: | MCA |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | Strawberries |
| Prev Year: | 1982 |
| Next Title: | Anything |
| Next Year: | 1986 |
Phantasmagoria is the sixth album by English punk rock band the Damned, released by MCA in July 1985. Special editions were available on white vinyl or picture disc; some versions included a free 12-inch of their No. 3 hit "Eloise". It is the first album by the band without original member Captain Sensible, and was a style shift to gothic rock compared to the band's punk sound of its early and later career.
After much wrangling, the Damned received a new contract with MCA Records in October 1984 on the strength of the song "Grimly Fiendish",[1] issued as a single the following March. They recorded the album in Eel Pie Studios from March to June 1985. It reached No. 11 in the charts, and was the band's highest-charting album ever, until the release of Evil Spirits in 2018, which cracked the top-ten at No. 7. The non-album single "Eloise," (a Barry Ryan cover), released six months later, became a huge UK hit, reaching No. 3.
The Damned centred the entire album around David Vanian's deep voice, giving much of the album a gothic feeling.[2] The album was remastered and reissued by Geffen Records in Japan in 2007, featuring replicas of the LP's outer and inner sleeves and a CD label resembling the white vinyl edition. In 2009, an expanded edition was issued by Universal Music Group in Europe.[3]
The cover image of Susie Bick was taken by photographer Bob Carlos Clarke[4] at Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road.