The Misfits Albums (7)
What The Critics Say
One look at the Misfits' thriving online store -- Spooky light-switch plates! Skull logo belt buckles! Misfits skateboard decks! -- and it's clear there's a clamor for something like Fiend Club Lounge. The collection reinterprets the Misfits as kitsch for the cocktail lounge, suggesting 1960s instrumental classics like Herb Alpert's Whipped Cream & Other Delights or anything from gonzo bandleader Juan Garcia Esquivel. Speaking of Esquivel, it would seem like this set is about ten years too late to capitalize on the "cocktail nation" craze of the mid-'90s. But there's a ready-made market in Misfits fanatics, and Sam Elwitt, the composer behind Nutley Brass, has actually been at this awhile. Named for the New Jersey town he lives in, the Nutley Brass were started by Elwitt with 1995's Greatest Hits of Shimmy Disc, which featured bachelor-pad takes on Uncle Wiggly and King Missile. He also did an album of instrumental pop Ramones covers, the highlight of which was a hilarious elevator music version of "Blitzkrieg Bop" that a nun could hum along to. "Hilarious" is right: Elwitt never gets too serious with his Nutley material, so there's no reason for punk rock purists to get bent out of shape over Fiend Club Lounge. It's a novelty that happens to be well written and kind of entertaining. "Teenagers from Mars" becomes the bopping soundtrack to a 1960s Fifth Avenue shopping spree, complete with twiddling xylophones. "Astro Zombies," appropriately, features a spacy lead guitar, and the "woah woah woah"s of "Hatebreeders" are redone as a rousing brass fanfare. Elwitt wisely shortens his versions -- anything longer than a minute or two per track and Fiend Club Lounge would get pretty dead. Instead of indulging, he just restates the songs' strong melodies, then throws in some twinkling pianos or, in the case of "Where Eagles Dare," a sitar that does the Mash Potato. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Project 1950 is technically a Misfits album, but it's more like Frankenstein's monster, a cobbled-together project given life by the kinetic, funbox electricity emitted by a bunch of guys chopping out punkified covers of favorite oldies. Led by the amateurish yet somehow delightful warble of Jerry Only, who sounds like Brad Garrett of Everybody Loves Raymond if the glowering actor were to sing, this reincarnated Misfits lineup also includes drummer Marky Ramone and ex-Black Flag guitarist Dez Cadena. Since each veteran provided Project 1950 with believable liner notes professing his love of the vintage material, it's good to hear their excitement in the recordings, which crackle with enthusiasm. Produced by John Cafiero with attention to maximum thickness, "This Magic Moment" explodes out of the box with a flourish of guitar and pounding drums, only to hit another gear with the addition of supporting vocalist Ronnie Spector -- yes, Ronnie Spector. The erstwhile Ronette sounds like an angel with a dirty mind backing up the devil-lock'd Only; together with Ramone and Cadena's thudding instrumentation, their version is like the soundtrack to a greasers-only formal. Though Spector doesn't return until the album's closing number, Only and his henchmen continue on through a boisterous "Dream Lover" (complete with background "oohs," "aaahs," and "yeah yeahs") and an overdriven "Donna" that's the most punk-leaning of 1950's material. The album flags a bit by its middle -- "Great Balls of Fire" and "Latest Flame" seem to pile on top of one another, as if Only's Fred stopped short and Ramone and Cadena came crashing in behind him like Scooby and Shaggy. But the guys crank it up again for an obligatory tear through "Monster Mash," and "Runaway" isn't half bad, either. Project 1950 isn't really the Misfits. For one thing, it's about as scary as a bunch of cartoon ghouls driving around in a goosed-up Munsters funny car. But the album is really enjoyable in a nostalgia sort of way -- it's most interesting for being nostalgic both for rock & roll's birth and its punk rock adolescence. [Note: The CD arrives with a bonus disc featuring live material and music videos.] ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
'Cuts from the Crypt'
Release Date 10/30/2001
Tracks 17
Label RoadRunner
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Don't get your hopes up too high, longtime Misfits fans -- this isn't what you think. No Danzig era undiscovered gems reside here, but rather rarities/outtakes from latter-day Misfits. For those who are only familiar with the group's definitive, earlier incarnation, the latter-day Misfits are much more heavy metal based than in their earlier work -- as their punk roots have all but been erased. As with most 'rarities' collections, a healthy amount of covers are included, such as Iggy & the Stooges' "I Got a Right," Black Flag's "Rise Above" (with former Black Flag frontman Dez Cadena guesting on vocals), and the Halloween classic, "Monster Mash" (the latter of which you have to wonder: Danzig were still in the band, would he have agreed to sing it?). Also featured are several demo versions of songs that later appeared in finished form on 1997's American Psycho ("Haunting," "Mars Attacks," etc.), odds and ends ("Dr. Phibes Rises Again"), and tracks that should have remained in the vaults ("I Wanna Be A NY Ranger"). Cuts From the Crypt is obviously aimed at the die-hard Misfits fan, who won't get a good night's rest until they have every single track in their possession. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Sporting the same lineup as on American Psycho (read: two members from the band's prime, but no Glenn Danzig), the reunited Misfits continue their resurrection from the grave with Famous Monsters, titled after a '70s horror magazine. To their credit, the band tries to maintain a certain amount of variety in coloring its sonic palette, throwing in a little doo wop and rockabilly, and they sound tighter than in the past. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
'American Psycho'
Release Date 1/1/1997
Tracks 17
Label Universal B.V.
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Though it can't really be The Misfits without GLENN DANZIG's amazing crooning and songwriting, try holding on to that prejudice after hearing the crunch and pummel of the band's first LP in 14 years. DANIEL REY's produced, and Nevermind NIRVANA mixer/Bad Religion's Stranger Than Fiction producer ANDY WALLACE ferociously mixed. With their treatment, songs such as "Walk Among Us' and "The Haunting" are just a few of the tunes that bring back the thrill of 1982's Walk Among Us. Most of the cuts even reuse the "wooah-wooahs" that were the band's trademark. New singer MICHALE GRAVES is a good find for a difficult position, and bassist JERRY ONLY and his guitarist brother DOYLE (much improved in the years since he replaced BOBBY STEELE) present an airtight case they they were the Misfits sound as much as Danzig, and can recreate it at will. In fact, this LP should have been the follow-up to Walk Among Us instead of that awful Earth A.D./Wolsblood hardcore mess that effectively ended the orignal band's career in 1983, when Danzig split off to form SAM HAIN on the way to a solo metal career. The Misfits return to New York stages is a brilliant, mega-scary sight! ~ Jack Rabid, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Recorded thanks to some studio time received in exchange for giving up an early label name claimed by another company, though unreleased in its original form until its appearance on Box Set, Static Age shows that early on the Misfits' particular vision was strong enough to last over a full-vinyl set. "Full" being relative, admittedly; like the band's other few full-length efforts, Static Age barely cracks the half-hour mark, packing in 14 songs (plus a brief crackle of, naturally, static at the start and finish). Everyone in the band as they stood at the time just smokes; the recording quality is raw and strong, and those qualities which helped the Misfits stand out from the pack, especially Danzig's amazing singing and Franche Coma's fierce guitar takes on the singer's melodies, are on fine display. There's a fair amount of clangor and mess, to be sure, but it all sounds perfectly intentional, capturing a blend of punk mess, horror theatrics, and wicked humor that was theirs alone. Classics abound: "TV Casualty," with its blatant I Love Lucy end sample, the ridiculously entertaining sex fantasy "Teenagers From Mars," the perfectly pissed off "Attitude," and the crashed thrashers "We Are 138" and "Return of the Fly." Then there's the brilliant "Last Caress," cartoon criminal punk idiocy turned into singalong madness later made famous by Misfits fanatics Metallica. Given how many tracks slipped out here and there over time on the various overlapping compilations, hardcore fans will find this a bit redundant in the end, but newcomers to the group will find this essential. Discographical matters got even more confused in later years when Static Age was issued as a stand-alone effort with three more songs appended from the sessions, including "Spinal Remains" and a re-recording of "She." ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The Misfits' 1982 debut full-length, Walk Among Us, rapidly became a legendary effort of U.S. punk, the more so because it so willfully violated many rules which were already ironically straitjacketing the scene. Utterly devoid of political confrontation or social uplift, embracing a costume sense that might have given Kiss pause and generally coming across like the horror-movie nightmares they looked like on the cover, the Misfits just wanted to entertain and do their own thing -- and that they did, brilliantly. Nearly every song on the album -- 13 total, delivered in a light-speed 25 minutes -- is a twisted classic, with the band's trademark '50s/'60s melodies run through a punk/metal meatgrinder on full display. The higher-budget (in very relative terms) recording meant a slightly cleaner and brighter sound all around, but nothing about Walk Among Us is slick, especially in commercial 1982 terms. One song title says it all: "All Hell Breaks Loose." Danzig's gift for creepy, strong, and attractively dark singing was long since established and he uses it brilliantly, making the over-the-top lyrics all the more enjoyable, while Doyle, Jerry Only, and Arthur Googy kick out the jams on Danzig's songs big time -- check out "Hatebreeders," "Violent World," and the crazed "Skulls." Everything ends with the giddily ridiculous "Braineaters," in which the chanting voices of the band bemoan their constant diet of cerebella and ask for intestines instead, but the real freaked-out highlight comes smack dab in the middle with "Mommy Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight." Taken from the show that made up the Evilive release, it starts out on the edge and, after Danzig delivers the title sans instruments, turns into an explosion of rhythm and feedback that should have killed everything within 50 feet of the amps. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
