Dark Continent is the debut studio album by the American rock band Wall of Voodoo, released in 1981 by I.R.S. Records. Early live versions of four songs ("Red Light", "Animal Day", "Back in Flesh" and "Call Box (1-2-3)") are featured on the compilation The Index Masters.
In a 1981 review from Trouser Press, Jon Young said, "[t]his deadpan opus is either a joke or just another pretentious search for meaning." He continued, "Wall of Voodoo will need a better sense of the absurd to attain true strangeness. Here they just don't go far enough."[3] In a later review from The Trouser Press Guide to New Wave Records (1983), Young stated that Dark Continent displayed "more polish" than the band's debut EP and benefited from "colorfully morose guitar and keyboards."[4]
In a retrospective review, Greg AdamsofAllMusic declared Dark Continent to be Wall of Voodoo's greatest album, pointing to the uniformly strong songwriting and the intensely original voice and style.[1] Conversely, Geoff BartonofClassic Rock magazine opined that the first two Wall of Voodoo albums did not age well; he found Ridgway's singing style "intensely irritating" and the music "too clever-clever for comfort."[2]
Dark Continent reached number 177 on the Billboard 200 chart.[5]
The album was first issued on CDbyA&M Records in 1992.[6] In 2009, Australian label Raven Records reissued Dark Continent and the second Wall of Voodoo album, Call of the West, together on one CD, featuring a full color booklet with liner notes by Ian McFarlane. Both albums were digitally remastered.[7]
[1]
