Misfits - Misfits

"Mommy? Can I go out and.... KILL TONIIIIGHT!?!?!"

Happy Horrorween, everybody. With horror film reviews coming from all corners of Amazon in this unholiest of months, I've decided to focus my attention elsewhere for a change. After all, I'm always in horror mode. Right now, I'm in the mood to pimp my favorite sounds of the season; the stuff that oughtta be in your CD player and on your iPod this month when you aren't glued to the couch watching your beloved DVD's of favorites from Halloweens gone by or scanning your cable guide for the season's must-DVR gems. Welcome to my parade of all-time favorite horror/rock albums.

Numero uno. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the often imitated but never duplicated masters of horror/punk, The Misfits. From hell they came! This is their first of two best-of albums and contains a concentrated dose of horror love filled with ghoulish lyrics, fiendish guitar, and the unmistakable voice of the Satanic Elvis himself, Mr. Glenn Danzig. The band often gets tagged with the "hardcore punk" label and at times it is apt, but The Misfits are surprisingly listenable and their sound most often resembles The Ramones more than any hardcore band. Heck, you could easily sing along with most of the songs which often have instantly memorable melodies. With song titles like "Vampira" (an ode to the star of Plan 9 from Outer Space), "Astro Zombies", and "Wolfsblood", how could a horror fan go wrong? In case you think their references coy, they'll occasionally flat out name a song after a classic flick like Night of the Living Dead or Die! Die! My Darling!. When crooning lyrics like "I want your skull" and "they called us walking corpses/ unholy living dead", Danzig is the ideal horror/rock frontman and the music could not fit the mood better.

My favorite tracks on this CD include the low production version of the aforementioned "Vampira" that appears on this disc (which is comprised of alternate versions). You just can't buy that kind of guitar sound. "London Dungeon" is a one-of-a-kind tune that actually doesn't blitz you with buzzsaw guitars, but instead oozes through your speakers to create a menacing atmosphere while caressing your ears with primitive rhythms and Danzig's effortless delivery. And of course, "Mommy, Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight" is arguably their biggest classic. "Bullet", which can only be described as a twisted love song for the assassination of JFK, is yet another standout track on an album of standout tracks.
Have a gander at these lyrics:

"President's bullet ridden body in the street
Ride, Johnny, ride
Kennedy's shattered head hits concrete
Ride, Johnny, ride
Johnny's wife is floundering
Johnny's wife is scared
Run, Jackie, run
Texas is an outrage when your husband is dead
Texas is an outrage when they pick up his head
Texas is the reason that the president's dead"

I personally can't think of anything more tasteless, can you? Moving on.

While the music is timeless, the CD itself hasn't aged all that well and is long overdue for a remastering. It'll sound cool in your CD player so long as you're used to old-school punk production values (or lack thereof), but if you plan on putting it onto your iPod you may want to download MP3Gain or another program that allows you to raise the digital playback volume to match the more modern music on your MP3 player. This is my only complaint. I'm still scraping money together for The Misfits Box Set, which contains all the tracks from both collections and much more for a Halloween present for myself, but if you're looking to get your first dose of The Misfits than this is a pretty good place to start. It isn't the original versions of the songs, but considering the number of tracks on this disc compared to the albums proper, this is better bang for your horror/punk buck. Any and all punk rock fans must pay homage to these guys, and horror fans should hail them as well. Nobody has ever done either like they did.
October 3, 2008

HORROR BUSINESS

I have both of the misfits collection cds and this one is my favorite. Its got a great list of songs and the sound may not sound as good on some songs its still good. One cool thing about collection 2 is the lyrics. But you just can't go wrong with this one. October 3, 2008

One of the best albums EVER.

I mean that in the truest sense: The Misfits are a greatly misunderstood band and I love that. People who don't know them assume they are a wierdo punk-goth band. They are so much more than that.
The melodies on here are profound. You'll find the songs stuck in your head for weeks. These guys were such pioneers, a decade ahead of their time. The Misfits should have changed their name when Glenn left though...
Favorite tracks: "I Turned into a Martian," "Skulls," "Astro-Zombies," and "London Dungeon."
August 23, 2008

Not Necessarily Punk

Though very often heralded as punk, or goth punk, or even metal, the Misfits are none-of-the-above. In-fact, the Misfits, not easily pigeonholed, have all the very early makings of what has now become Psychobilly: classic 50's rock-a-billy era tunes infused with heavy punk and some heavy metal elements. Their influence can easily be heard in the result of many modern bands, i.e. Tiger Army, Necromantiks, The Quakes and etc. A definite tight album with great hits form their early years, that showcases Danzig's songwriting ability. February 19, 2008

Misfits

Misfits *****


One of the great punk bands of all time was only great for a few years. The Misfits are easily on eof the all time best punk bands and really one of the best bands of all time from any genre. Glen Danzig the bands frontman and lead singerfronted the band in the late 1970's and early 1980's until he left the band to form Samhain. Danzig was really the driving force behind the band, writing most of the songs and arranging everything, also his voice is one of the most recongnizable in all of rock n' roll history. So when he left the band in the mid 1980's the band did continue on but they were never the same. Hardcore fans never felt the same abou thte band again and while they still sang about the same things and looked and played the same The Misfits were never really The Misfits again.

This collection along with collection II do the best to offer the best of the band during the Danzig era, covering the albums Walks Among Us, Static Age, and Earth A.D. And while both collections are a great way to showcase the band, especially together they are a great way to introduce someone to the band. Sepperatly this is the essential way to get to know The Misfits because it basically contains it all. II is a good intro as well but more of the bands classic songs are here such as 'Bullet' 'Horror Buisness' 'Die, Die My Darling' 'Where Eagles Dare' and 'She' are all here.

From start to finish you are continusely introduced to classic after classic track by this legandary band. The Misfits were one of the greatest bands in all of punk as well as one of the most influential. Their influence transended genres like Metal (Metallica, All That Remains) of course punk (AFI). They sang about horror movies and jokingly sang about them in a happy way. It is just too band Danzig started to belieave in his lyrics to much forcing him to leave the band.

If you are remotley interested in The Misfits this is the one to get. All the before mentioned albums with Danzig on them are worth the money but if you just want one to cover the band then this is the perfect thing for you. May 8, 2007

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