Dark Room (The Angels album)

For other uses, see Darkroom (disambiguation) § Music.

Dark Room
The main image is a black-and-white photo of two unmatched eyes, both have large pupils, the one at left is longer and less wide. The one at right is more rounded and has a larger iris. Across the top, above the eyes, is the artist's name in grey block capitals. Across the bottom is the album name in the same print style.
Studio album by
The Angels
ReleasedJune 1980 (1980-06)
Recorded1980
Studio
GenreHard rock
Length42:07
LabelEpic
Producer
The Angels chronology
The Angels' Greatest
(1980) 		Dark Room
(1980) 		Never So Live
(1981)
Singles from Dark Room
  1. "No Secrets"
    Released: April 1980
  2. "Poor Baby"
    Released: August 1980
  3. "Face the Day"
    Released: October 1980

Dark Room is the fourth studio album by Australian band The Angels, released in June 1980.[1] It was their first album for CBS/Epic and was co-produced by the group's John and Richard Brewster (brothers).[1][2] It peaked at number five on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart.[3] It reached number 37 on the New Zealand Albums Chart in July 1980.[4]

In the Australasian market the album provided three singles, "No Secrets", "Poor Baby" and "Face the Day".[1] "No Secrets" peaked at No. 8 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart – their highest position to that time.[3] The other two reached the top 100 in Australia.[3] "Face the Day" appeared at No. 30 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.[4]

For European and North American markets the album was issued as Darkroom in October 1980 under the name, Angel City, "to avoid confusion with the US glam metal band Angel."[1] Two tracks, "Alexander" and "I'm Scared", were replaced by "Ivory Stairs" and "Straight Jacket".[2] When the group toured the United States to promote this album they performed as Angel City.[1] They released "No Secrets" as Angel City, late in 1980.

In June 2002 Shock Records issued four-disc box set The Complete Sessions 1980–1983 with remastered versions of Dark Room (nine bonus tracks), Night Attack (nine bonus tracks), Watch the Red (five bonus tracks) and The Blow (2× CD). In June 2006 Liberation Music re-issued Dark Room using the version from The Complete Sessions 1980–1983.[5]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Billboard(unrated)[6]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal10/10[7]

Track listings

Dark Room (June 1980) CBS/Epic (EPC 451066 2)

All tracks are written by Bernard Patrick Neeson, John Brewster-Jones and Richard Brewster-Jones,[8] unless otherwise indicated

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."No Secrets" (Graham Bidstrup, Neeson)4:18
2."Poor Baby"4:04
3."Wasted Sleepless Nights" / "Dark Room" (J. Brewster-Jones, Neeson, R. Brewster-Jones / Neeson, Bidstrup, J. Brewster-Jones, R. Brewster-Jones)6:09
4."Face the Day"6:10
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."Night Comes Early"4:14
6."Alexander"3:29
7."The Moment"4:20
8."I'm Scared"3:49
9."Devil's Gate"5:32

All tracks are written by J. Brewster-Jones, Neeson and R. Brewster-Jones,[8] unless otherwise indicated

Dark Room (2006) bonus tracks Liberation Blue (BLUE0542)
No.TitleLength
10."Back on You"3:09
11."Alexander" (early take)3:45
12."Hot Shit"3:21
13."Hard Sell"3:45
14."Staring Voices" (Neeson, Bidstrup, J. Brewster-Jones, R. Brewster-Jones)2:42
15."I'm Scared" (live)4:28
16."Face the Day" (single edit)4:07
17."Public Enemy" (Chris Bailey, J. Brewster-Jones, Neeson, R. Brewster-Jones)2:57
18."Into the Heat" (Neeson, R Brewster-Jones)8:11

Personnel

The Angels
Recording details
  • Producer – Graham Bidstrup (track 1), J. Brewster (tracks 2–9), R. Brewster (tracks 2–9)
  • Audio engineer – Dave Marett, Dave Cafe, Mark Opitz
Art works
  • Cover – Timewinds
  • Photography – Shoot and Run

Charts

Chart (1980) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[9] 5
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[10] 37
US Billboard 200[11] 137

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[12] Platinum 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'The Angels'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 3 August 2004.
  2. ^ a b Holmgren, Magnus; Senatore, Tony. "The Angels". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 27 November 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  4. ^ a b Hung, Steffen. "Discography The Angels". New Zealand Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  5. ^ The Angels – Dark Room at Allmusic
  6. ^ "Review: Angel City – Darkroom" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 85, no. 40. 4 October 1980. p. 108. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 30 May 2020 – via American Radio History.
  7. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 978-1894959315.
  8. ^ a b "'Poor Baby' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 5 May 2018. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:'
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. pp. 17–18. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) created their own charts
  10. ^ "Charts.nz – The Angels – Dark Room". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  11. ^ "The Angels Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  12. ^ "Kent Music Report No 341 – 5 January 1981 > Platinum and Gold Albums 1980". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 12 November 2021 – via Imgur.com.