Damned From The Start

Damned - Damned From The Start (no label, LP)

You'd figure that with the recent anniversary editions of Machine Gun Etiquette and The Black Album, the number of tracks recorded during the band's stint at Chiswick would be taken care off. And I guess it does, unless of course you take the various demos the band recorded at this time.
This 2004 LP (a limited edition of 293 copies) features six tracks from said period (3 demos for each album). Sound quality is reasonable and there are some interesting variations compared to the final versions. Melody Lee has a guitar intro rather than the more familiar piano one, while Plan 9 Channel 7 is an instrumental take. The Black Album material is less obviously different but still worthwhile. The Damned discography mentions various other demos from this period but these still have to make their way to vinyl.
On a side note: Back in the 80s, when tape-trading was all the rage, the Damned's first ever demo session (recorded in 1976 and produced by Matt Dangerfield) was always mentioned as bein' "the Chiswick demos". Anybody know if there's any truth in that?