BAND THREAD V2 - DANZIG.

The first CD i owned was a copy of The Misfits "Stactic Age", Which to this day i still listen to on average about once or twice a week. I know there are ton's of Misfits fan's out there, and seeing as how danzig wrote everything for the band - as well as for Samhain and Danzig i thought i would put a thread together. Enjoy.

"THE MISFITS"

Genuinely shocking or tasteless, campy fun? It was sometimes hard to tell which way the Misfits wanted to be taken, and the immense cult following that has grown up in the years after their actual existence (1977-1983) seems divided in its own assessment. It certainly wasn't the Misfits' musicianship -- which was as crude as the recording quality of most of their oeuvre -- that endeared them to so many, although Glenn Danzig possessed one of the most distinctive and tuneful bellows in hardcore punk. Rather, it was Danzig's penchant for catchy, anthemic melodies, often delivered at warp speed, and his lyrical obsession with grade-B horror films and splatter imagery that helped the Misfits build a rabid posthumous following. Name-drops and covers by metal bands like Metallica and Guns N' Roses kept the Misfits' songs circulating during the mid- to late '80s, when their tangled discography remained only sporadically in print -- reissues were maddeningly incomplete, and much of the band's prime material was confined to rare singles and EPs. The mid-'90s saw a spate of CD reissues that, while not quite presenting all of the Misfits' songs in the most concise, collectible format, at least succeeded in getting them all back into print, allowing those who missed the band the first time around to hear why they've enjoyed such enduring cult popularity.

The Misfits were formed in Lodi, NJ, in 1977 by vocalist Glenn Danzig and bassist Jerry Caiafa, who performed under the name Jerry Only. Their name taken from Marilyn Monroe's final film, the Misfits added drummer Manny and recorded a guitar-less single, "Cough Cool" b/w "She," on their own Blank Records label (later changed to Plan 9). Manny was soon replaced by "Mr. Jim" Catania, and guitarist Frank "Franché Coma" LiCata joined up for the four-song 1978 EP Bullet, which featured a notoriously graphic image of John F. Kennedy being shot. Although recording sessions had been held for a full-length album, to be titled Static Age, no record company would accept the results, and whatever material was not subsequently issued on EPs languished in the vaults until the 1985 compilation Legacy of Brutality. The Misfits began playing shows at CBGB's and attempted to obtain some greater musical stability with the addition of Whorelords guitarist Bobby Steele and drummer Joey Image. This lineup recorded the three-song EPs Horror Business and Night of the Living Dead in 1979, the latter being released on Halloween. An aborted tour of the U.K. supporting the Damned followed, and a frustrated Joey Image quit the band after Danzig was arrested in a bar skirmish. Things had not been going well with Steele, either, and upon returning to the States, Steele was ousted in favor of Jerry Only's younger brother Doyle (born Paul Caiafa; sometimes known as Doyle von Frankenstein). Arthur Googy became the full-time drummer, while Steele went on to form the Undead. England's Cherry Red label issued the legendary Beware EP in 1980, which contained Bullet, two tracks from Horror Business, and the Static Age outtake "Last Caress"; it became a ludicrously expensive collector's item in the years that followed.

Back in the States, more single releases followed over 1981, including the Three Hits From Hell 7" and another Halloween single, this one titled "Halloween" and containing two versions of the song, one a low-budget attempt at creating a spooky ambience. Another full-length LP had been recorded under the title Walk Among Us and was scheduled for release in late 1981, but a larger distribution deal was worked out with the Slash subsidiary Ruby. In 1982, the Misfits finally released their official debut album under the planned title, which proved one of the finest additions to their discography. Googy left the band around this time in a dispute over money, throwing off plans to record a follow-up; in the meantime, the live EP Evilive was released later in the year, featuring a guest appearance by Black Flag's Henry Rollins. Future Samhain and Danzig bassist Eerie Von Stellman was nearly recruited to play drums, but lasted only a weekend; eventually, punk producer Robo was settled upon as skinsman, and the Misfits spent the rest of the year and the first half of 1983 recording Earth A.D./Wolfsblood, an album that tried to play up the more aggressive aspects of the band's music. Brian Damage was chosen as Robo's touring successor, but barely got a chance to perform before Danzig disbanded the Misfits in late 1983. A farewell single, the three-song "Die Die My Darling," was issued in 1984.

Danzig, who had issued the solo single "Who Killed Marilyn?" in 1981, immediately formed Samhain with Eerie Von in an attempt to pursue a more frightening musical direction to support his lyrics; Samhain eventually metamorphosed into the much more successful Danzig. The Caiafa brothers, meanwhile, formed Kryst the Conqueror, which managed only one five-song EP release. Misfits compilations began appearing as soon as 1985 on Caroline (Legacy of Brutality); 1987's Misfits compilation began whetting appetites for the large quantity of material that remained out of print, although Metallica's version of "Last Caress" and, later, Guns N' Roses' cover of "Attitude" hinted at what might be discovered. More compilations, as well as a four-disc box set, followed in the mid-'90s, as the Misfits' cult continued to expand.

*note: Danzig unfortunantly lost a legal battle with Doyle and Jerry over the right's to the misfits name, which they have since started another band with "the second or fake misfits". Complete garbage, avoid if you can.

Official DISCO

"SAMHAIN"

Although not the best known of Glenn Danzig's musical projects, the short-lived Samhain helped bridge the gap between the fierce punk of his Misfits days with the Sabbath-y metal blues of his solo band, Danzig. As most Danzig disciples know, the New Jersey-born singer first made a name for himself with the aforementioned Misfits, a group that merged a horror/comic book image with punk rock. Although an "underground" band during their tenure together in the late '70s/early '80s, the Misfits obtained much more attention after their split, no doubt due to the over the top admiration of Danzig and company by Metallica (whose members seemed to wear an endless stream of Misfits T-shirts at one point), which led to the continuous growth of their large cult fan base.

Some expected Danzig to launch a solo career right after the Misfits (he'd issued an obscure 7" single during his tenure with the band), but he instead decided to form Samhain. Although Samhain was basically a solo vehicle for Danzig (he was the group's singer and songwriter, and also played an assortment of instruments on subsequent recordings -- guitar, bass, piano, drums, etc.), he was joined by a variety of musicians during their existence. Initially, Danzig and onetime Misfits photographer and roadie Eerie Von (on drums) began rehearsing and writing for Samhain during the summer of 1983. After only a few months, however, Von decided to move over to bass, as Undead drummer Steve Zing took his place. With former Minor Threat guitarist Lyle Preslar signing on soon after, Samhain recorded their debut album, Initium, which was issued in 1984.

But Preslar's tenure with the band was incredibly short, as Pete Marshall, better known to Samhain fans as "Damien," replaced him. This lineup remained together for a lone release, 1985's extremely limited-edition four-track EP Unholy Passion, before another lineup hiccup occurred when Zing was replaced with London May. This would turn out to be the longest lasting of Samhain's many lineups, and was the one that appeared on 1986's November-Coming-Fire. By early 1987, Damien was handed his walking papers, and was interchanged with newcomer John Christ. The new lineup was supposed to issue a recording in 1988 (under the title of Samhain Grim), but the recording was ultimately shelved, as Danzig opted to change the name of the band to Danzig (Samhain Grim was eventually released two years later, retitled Final Descent).

Although Danzig had repeatedly squashed reunion rumors regarding his former bands, he briefly resuscitated Samhain in late 1999 for live shows, as a mammoth five-CD box set entitled Samhain was issued the following year. Samhain collected all four of their releases as well as a live disc that combined tracks from a 1985 show in New York City and a 1986 show in Chicago. This fifth disc was given a its own separate release in 2002, under the title of Live, 85-86, by which time Danzig had put Samhain back in mothballs and returned to solo work. However, Danzig did reunite in the studio with Zing and "reunion-era" Samhain guitarist Todd Youth for the project Son of Sam and their 2001 release, Songs from the Earth.

Official Disco: found here.

"DANZIG"

During his time in the seminal hardcore band the Misfits, vocalist Glenn Danzig displayed a fascination with outlandish, graphic, often gory imagery; in forming the more heavy metal-oriented band Samhain, Danzig's lyrics delved into typical metal subject matter, but took the concept of darkness to an extreme. After the demise of Samhain, Danzig formed his own eponymous band with Samhain guitarist John Christ, ex-Rosemary's Babies drummer Eerie Von on bass, and longtime hardcore drummer Chuck Biscuits (D.O.A., Black Flag, Circle Jerks); this band would prove a more effective vehicle for Danzig's obsession with the dark side. While that obsession can seem cartoonish at times, there is more to the band than meets the eye -- Danzig obviously relishes casting himself as the menacing, evil heavy metal frontman, and his theatricality often seems to indicate that his posturing is not meant to be taken very seriously. At the same time, the darkness of Danzig's vision has increasingly expressed itself over the band's career in a heavily romanticized, brooding, gothic sensibility, more quietly sinister and darkly seductive than obviously threatening or Satanic, and the group's music has progressed from simple, blues-based heavy metal riffs to more atmospheric, coldly haunting song textures that attempt to sonically replicate the feel of the lyrics.

Glenn Danzig cofounded the Misfits in Lodi, NJ, in 1977. When the hardcore band broke up in 1983, Danzig formed the metallic, brooding Samhain in order to experiment with different sounds, but that project imploded as well. The band Danzig was put together in 1987, and quickly inked a deal with Rick Rubin's Def American label. Their self-titled debut found Danzig playing the Satanic metal singer role to the hilt, even if the band's songs sounded much the same. Danzig II: Lucifuge followed in 1990, and it broadened the band's musical palette, expanding on the simple blues riffs of the debut with more extensive forays into that style. Danzig III: How the Gods Kill marked a full-fledged entry into the realm of gothic romanticism, working to create moods rather than pounding heavy metal aggression; "Dirty Black Summer" and "How the Gods Kill" became staples on MTV's Headbanger's Ball. Glenn Danzig next released a solo project, Black Aria, a quasi-operatic attempt at classical instrumentals depicting the fall of Satan from heaven. The band broke through into the mainstream in 1993, when a live video for "Mother," a song originally released on Danzig, became an inescapable smash on MTV and even charted as a single, nearly cracking the Billboard Top 40. Meanwhile, Danzig contributed a track entitled "Thirteen" to Johnny Cash's acclaimed 1994 effort American Recordings. The more experimental Danzig 4 was released in 1994 and entered the charts at number 29, but its quiet, moody, atmospheric subtlety didn't find as much favor with the band's new audience as the anthemic "Mother," while some longtime fans dismissed it as mellow and therefore commercial. During the supporting tour, Chuck Biscuits left the band and was replaced by Joey Castillo. Following the tour, Danzig broke up the band and formed a new version featuring ex-Prong guitarist/vocalist Tommy Victor, drummer Castillo, and bassist Josh Lazie; this lineup released Danzig 5: Blackacidevil on Halloween 1996. Blackacidevil was ignored by both the press and the public, falling out of the charts after a mere three weeks. 6:66 Satan's Child followed in 1999; Live on the Black Hand Side appeared two years later. In 2002 and 2004 Danzig released the stripped-down I Luciferi and Circle of Snakes, both a return to form that found the artist emulating the simplistic brutality of his 1988 debut.

Official DISCO

F@#K YES! i still remember so vividly the first time i heard the misfits (1988). i really believe that moment combined with finding skateboarding about the same time changed my life forever! excellent thread, thank you.

all i know of danzig is what i learned from aqua teen hungar force.

it,s all about the era of punk that the misfits came out of ' best time for punk in my opinion misfits' dead kennedy,s' black flag' and the bad brain,s

i'm gonna be 70, trying to make my grandchildren listen to the misfits. i dont know what it is about them, but they're almost magical or something. everything they did (other than rat fink, i hate that song) killed.

the first 2 danzig records are incredible as well.

strangely, ive never listened to sam hain very much. i need to cop that box set i guess.

what ever happened to ol' glenboy?