Danzig II

[SamDBL]

Aside from the fact that the hairy man tits cover has always made me uneasy, I believe it's the old boy's peak, for me.

[xxxMidgexxx]

I think he peaked at Earth A.D. but Samhain had a lot of good moments.

[JGJR]

Aside from the fact that the hairy man tits cover has always made me uneasy, I believe it's the old boy's peak, for me.

I like early Danzig, but I couldn't ever agree. For me, it's Static Age and those early Misfits EPs all the way.

[jaybird]

All his Misfits stuff is fantastic. Love pretty much every single thing he did with that band. Not as big of a Samhain fan, but they have their moments. 1st Danzig record is the last truly great record he made, though II-IV are also good, just not as great as Danzig I... he's basically been a walking, breathing human punchline since 1995 or so. Still though, just the Misfits records alone should be enough to get him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... not that it matters, but the fact that he/the Misfits haven't been nominated just underscores how lame that whole institution really is.

https://soundcloud.com/cpl_of_metal/gle ... H_rBc9AMmc

[Knutsen]

Misfits are already in the merchandise hall of fame.

[version sound]

All his Misfits stuff is fantastic. Love pretty much every single thing he did with that band. Not as big of a Samhain fan, but they have their moments. 1st Danzig record is the last truly great record he made, though II-IV are also good, just not as great as Danzig I...

I’m more or less on the same page, except I like Samhain more. Initium in particular is as good as anything the Misfits did, IMO. I might like Danzig records II-IV a little more too.

[SamDBL]

All his Misfits stuff is fantastic. Love pretty much every single thing he did with that band. Not as big of a Samhain fan, but they have their moments. 1st Danzig record is the last truly great record he made, though II-IV are also good, just not as great as Danzig I... he's basically been a walking, breathing human punchline since 1995 or so. Still though, just the Misfits records alone should be enough to get him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... not that it matters, but the fact that he/the Misfits haven't been nominated just underscores how lame that whole institution really is.

https://soundcloud.com/cpl_of_metal/gle ... H_rBc9AMmc

That is a great point about him/them being over looked by the RnRHOF. For some reason it never occurred to me, but yeah... they should definitely be in there by any metric. It really is a garbage organization. They've proven that over and over again. It has the vibe of the last place that music critics, the same blow hards that continually wrote off artists like Van Halen and Led Zepplin while praising bullshit like Madonna, get to call the shots. Fuck them. I guarantee Barbara Streisand will be in the HOF before the Misfits.

[lewdd]

IMO, Danzig should have stopped after the Misfits. I think he realized that by opting to settle the lawsuit and get $1M+ per show. I have no problem with that. I can do without anything he recorded after the Misfits. In fact, in most instances, I prefer Misfits releases with Graves over anything Danzig did post Misfits. As some here say, your mileage may vary.

[Markonomicon]

Best Danzig lp.

I hung out at the Sam Goody in the mall for about 30 minutes, looking out for any "cool" people to buy it on cd for me while my mom was shopping at Sears or some shit.

Older metalhead walked in at that point...and score!

It had a parental advisory sticker and the clerk wouldn't let me buy it (I was only 10-11, but still). Ahaha.

[FormerLurker]

It's got some great songs, but some goofy-ass songs that really stick out. (Killer Wolf, I'm the One, ....)

[SamDBL]

It's got some great songs, but some goofy-ass songs that really stick out. (Killer Wolf, I'm the One, ....)

If you are a true ‘zig fan, you have come to accept and enjoy the goofy-ass shit as part of the experience.

[FormerLurker]

It's got some great songs, but some goofy-ass songs that really stick out. (Killer Wolf, I'm the One, ....)

If you are a true ‘zig fan, you have come to accept and enjoy the goofy-ass shit as part of the experience.

You're right, and I do, I just don't like it.

[SamDBL]

I do struggle trying to decide whether he is pretty intelligent, or a blithering idiot. As basic as the Misfits and Samhain were, the over the top horror movie imagery was quite unique and brilliant. The early Danzig solo albums were quite a shock to the system for me. But it turns out that, yet again, he was just ahead of the curve on his trajectory. But then the millisecond Rick Rubin isn’t involved, the music takes a nose dive. Then, his band splits, and it’s just gone from bad to worse. The last several albums are completely unlistenable. I was always under the impression that Danzig wrote all the songs and called all the shots. But this stream of events leads me to believe otherwise. And that either producer or band had more to do with it that’s the man the band is named after.
And then there are his other ventures… the movies and the comics. I don’t know that there has ever been someone so seemingly in tune with the esoteric stuff that I love. Yet, his movies and comics are laughable. Usually the concepts and the art is stellar… but the dialog sounds and reads like a not very smart child wrote it. He seems to be utterly clueless about how any of these mediums work.

[FormerLurker]

I think he originally had a great idea, but then he just got so far up his own ass with his schtick that it took on an embarrassing life of its own.

[lewdd]

I think he originally had a great idea, but then he just got so far up his own ass with his schtick that it took on an embarrassing life of its own.

sorta like a pro wrestling gimmick

[jaybird]

I do struggle trying to decide whether he is pretty intelligent, or a blithering idiot. As basic as the Misfits and Samhain were, the over the top horror movie imagery was quite unique and brilliant. The early Danzig solo albums were quite a shock to the system for me. But it turns out that, yet again, he was just ahead of the curve on his trajectory. But then the millisecond Rick Rubin isn’t involved, the music takes a nose dive. Then, his band splits, and it’s just gone from bad to worse. The last several albums are completely unlistenable. I was always under the impression that Danzig wrote all the songs and called all the shots. But this stream of events leads me to believe otherwise. And that either producer or band had more to do with it that’s the man the band is named after.
And then there are his other ventures… the movies and the comics. I don’t know that there has ever been someone so seemingly in tune with the esoteric stuff that I love. Yet, his movies and comics are laughable. Usually the concepts and the art is stellar… but the dialog sounds and reads like a not very smart child wrote it. He seems to be utterly clueless about how any of these mediums work.

He seems to have no sense of humor about any of it... most of the other artists who work in the whole shock-rock/theatrical end of the spectrum like Alice Cooper, or KISS, or even Marilyn Manson all seem to have a healthy understanding of the corny ridiculousness of alot of the imagery and concepts they use... Danzig seems like the one guy who's not really in on the whole joke, and thinks it's all very serious and real.

[FormerLurker]

This^ is a pointed analysis.

[jaybird]

[xxxMidgexxx]

I do struggle trying to decide whether he is pretty intelligent, or a blithering idiot. As basic as the Misfits and Samhain were, the over the top horror movie imagery was quite unique and brilliant. The early Danzig solo albums were quite a shock to the system for me. But it turns out that, yet again, he was just ahead of the curve on his trajectory. But then the millisecond Rick Rubin isn’t involved, the music takes a nose dive. Then, his band splits, and it’s just gone from bad to worse. The last several albums are completely unlistenable. I was always under the impression that Danzig wrote all the songs and called all the shots. But this stream of events leads me to believe otherwise. And that either producer or band had more to do with it that’s the man the band is named after.
And then there are his other ventures… the movies and the comics. I don’t know that there has ever been someone so seemingly in tune with the esoteric stuff that I love. Yet, his movies and comics are laughable. Usually the concepts and the art is stellar… but the dialog sounds and reads like a not very smart child wrote it. He seems to be utterly clueless about how any of these mediums work.

He seems to have no sense of humor about any of it... most of the other artists who work in the whole shock-rock/theatrical end of the spectrum like Alice Cooper, or KISS, or even Marilyn Manson all seem to have a healthy understanding of the corny ridiculousness of alot of the imagery and concepts they use... Danzig seems like the one guy who's not really in on the whole joke, and thinks it's all very serious and real.

Yup. So much this!

[drew]

I like both Danzig I & II as part of the same period. Kinda like “Rubber Soul” & “Revolver” Lol. Ok that sounds ridiculous. But I take them both equally. That said, I sold both vinyl copies a while ago.

[FormerLurker]

Aside from the fact that the hairy man tits cover has always made me uneasy, I believe it's the old boy's peak, for me.

You were supposed to buy the non-gay version where it's the band's faces over a dark background.

[xxxHunterxxx]

Stabb loved Danzig II. He bought it on cassette, which is saying a lot because John didn’t buy much music. Mind you, he still made fun of Danzig relentlessly. He’d affect a goofy, deep voice and sing “I’m ‘onna pound you home” which is, apparently, a line in one of the songs. Then he’d do this bit where Danzig and Henry Rollins were arguing about wolves or bats or something. It was really funny.

[lewdd]

Speaking of Danzig, I remember several years ago when ALL was playing Riot Fest. Scott Reynolds came on stage with a wig imitating Danzig. Danzig was playing at another venue that same evening. Apparently, he wasn't too happy when he heard about Scott's impression.

[jaybird]

Speaking of Danzig, I remember several years ago when ALL was playing Riot Fest. Scott Reynolds came on stage with a wig imitating Danzig. Danzig was playing at another venue that same evening. Apparently, he wasn't too happy when he heard about Scott's impression.

Oh, yeah, it was great.. there are pics floating around... he had the fishnet shirt, and a big goofy cardboard Danzig-skull belt buckle, but with the spiral ALLroy eyes.

[JGJR]

Speaking of Danzig, I remember several years ago when ALL was playing Riot Fest. Scott Reynolds came on stage with a wig imitating Danzig. Danzig was playing at another venue that same evening. Apparently, he wasn't too happy when he heard about Scott's impression.

Oh, yeah, it was great.. there are pics floating around... he had the fishnet shirt, and a big goofy cardboard Danzig-skull belt buckle, but with the spiral ALLroy eyes.

When/where was this? I don't think this happened at the Riot Fest East afterparty in 2011 at the TLA in Philly when ALL headlined (they were great that night).

[JGJR]

All his Misfits stuff is fantastic. Love pretty much every single thing he did with that band. Not as big of a Samhain fan, but they have their moments. 1st Danzig record is the last truly great record he made, though II-IV are also good, just not as great as Danzig I... he's basically been a walking, breathing human punchline since 1995 or so. Still though, just the Misfits records alone should be enough to get him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... not that it matters, but the fact that he/the Misfits haven't been nominated just underscores how lame that whole institution really is.

https://soundcloud.com/cpl_of_metal/gle ... H_rBc9AMmc

That is a great point about him/them being over looked by the RnRHOF. For some reason it never occurred to me, but yeah... they should definitely be in there by any metric. It really is a garbage organization. They've proven that over and over again. It has the vibe of the last place that music critics, the same blow hards that continually wrote off artists like Van Halen and Led Zepplin while praising bullshit like Madonna, get to call the shots. Fuck them. I guarantee Barbara Streisand will be in the HOF before the Misfits.

I don't take the R&RHoF seriously at all because it's basically Jann Wenner's personal museum and represents nothing else but that in the grand scheme of things, really. It is cool when artist I love gets in, though, and I like that Gil Scott-Heron is getting honored this year in particular, but I digress.

As to your point about music critics, I think you're painting with a huge brush and thinking of '70s guys like Dave Marsh, etc. I have been called one of those (I'm really a fanzine writer from the world of DIY punk/hardcore/indie, etc. who is fortunate enough to write for my favorite rock and roll mag ever as well as another publication for many years now). Why? Well Led Zeppelin were my favorite band when I was 14 and opened so many doors to so much stuff for me. I didn't appreciate VH until my 20s, but definitely do now up to a point.

That said, my personal HoF sure includes Zep, some VH, Danzig-era Misfits along with any '80s Madonna record.

[xxxHunterxxx]

Speaking of Danzig, I remember several years ago when ALL was playing Riot Fest. Scott Reynolds came on stage with a wig imitating Danzig. Danzig was playing at another venue that same evening. Apparently, he wasn't too happy when he heard about Scott's impression.

Oh, yeah, it was great.. there are pics floating around... he had the fishnet shirt, and a big goofy cardboard Danzig-skull belt buckle, but with the spiral ALLroy eyes.

When/where was this? I don't think this happened at the Riot Fest East afterparty in 2011 at the TLA in Philly when ALL headlined (they were great that night).

[lewdd]

jgjr that was at bottom lounge in Chicago

hunter thanks for sharing that video. that was a great show and weekend

[JGJR]

jgjr that was at bottom lounge in Chicago

hunter thanks for sharing that video. that was a great show and weekend

That video was really funny. Thanks for posting it, Hunter.

[SamDBL]

Iwas at that Danzig/ALL thing, so I guess dbl must’ve played it. The bummer for me was that I kept hearing everyone backstage whispering something about Danzig, and a surprise of some sort. I had really gotten my hope up that he was going to jump on stage with all and do some bullshit. I think I was scrambling for something to get signed. The Scott thing was funny. But I was severely let down.
That’s super interesting about Stabb and Danzig II. I assume he hated all things misfits related, for some reason. The weird pronunciation of the words makes for some funny misheard lyrics that I can’t I hear. In, Bodies, for instance, I think he says something about slaying a dark old soul… but I continually hear it as ‘dog gone soul’.

[SamDBL]

Lol. So now ads for eBay sales of this are popping up on my fb feed. God damn these creepy tracking algorithms.

[xxxHunterxxx]

That’s super interesting about Stabb and Danzig II. I assume he hated all things misfits related, for some reason. The weird pronunciation of the words makes for some funny misheard lyrics that I can’t I hear. In, Bodies, for instance, I think he says something about slaying a dark old soul… but I continually hear it as ‘dog gone soul’.

Yeah, he thought the Misfits were pretty silly. But he loved Glenn’s voice.

[jaybird]

Iwas at that Danzig/ALL thing, so I guess dbl must’ve played it. The bummer for me was that I kept hearing everyone backstage whispering something about Danzig, and a surprise of some sort. I had really gotten my hope up that he was going to jump on stage with all and do some bullshit. I think I was scrambling for something to get signed. The Scott thing was funny. But I was severely let down. That’s super interesting about Stabb and Danzig II. I assume he hated all things misfits related, for some reason. The weird pronunciation of the words makes for some funny misheard lyrics that I can’t I hear. In, Bodies, for instance, I think he says something about slaying a dark old soul… but I continually hear it as ‘dog gone soul’.

LOL @ the scenario where Glenn is a secret ALL fan and really wants to sing "Sugar & Spice" or some shit.

[jaybird]

That’s super interesting about Stabb and Danzig II. I assume he hated all things misfits related, for some reason. The weird pronunciation of the words makes for some funny misheard lyrics that I can’t I hear. In, Bodies, for instance, I think he says something about slaying a dark old soul… but I continually hear it as ‘dog gone soul’.

Yeah, he thought the Misfits were pretty silly. But he loved Glenn’s voice.

I can see this... Stabb also kinda had that whole deep-voiced crooner thing going on.

[FormerLurker]

Iwas at that Danzig/ALL thing, so I guess dbl must’ve played it. The bummer for me was that I kept hearing everyone backstage whispering something about Danzig, and a surprise of some sort. I had really gotten my hope up that he was going to jump on stage with all and do some bullshit. I think I was scrambling for something to get signed. The Scott thing was funny. But I was severely let down. That’s super interesting about Stabb and Danzig II. I assume he hated all things misfits related, for some reason. The weird pronunciation of the words makes for some funny misheard lyrics that I can’t I hear. In, Bodies, for instance, I think he says something about slaying a dark old soul… but I continually hear it as ‘dog gone soul’.

LOL @ the scenario where Glenn is a secret ALL fan and really wants to sing "Sugar & Spice" or some shit.

*whisper part*

[xxxHunterxxx]

This thread reminded me of another funny Stabb story. John was penpals with Pushead in the early 80s. He asked Pushead to do the cover art for a GI record (I think it was Boycott Stabb) and Pushead graciously agreed. So he sends John the art and, of course, it’s got skulls and corpses all over it. John, who thought the horror punk thing was goofy, sends it back and politely tells Pushead that he’s a really talented artist and should stop wasting his time drawing silly skulls. That was the end of their relationship.

[SamDBL]

Iwas at that Danzig/ALL thing, so I guess dbl must’ve played it. The bummer for me was that I kept hearing everyone backstage whispering something about Danzig, and a surprise of some sort. I had really gotten my hope up that he was going to jump on stage with all and do some bullshit. I think I was scrambling for something to get signed. The Scott thing was funny. But I was severely let down. That’s super interesting about Stabb and Danzig II. I assume he hated all things misfits related, for some reason. The weird pronunciation of the words makes for some funny misheard lyrics that I can’t I hear. In, Bodies, for instance, I think he says something about slaying a dark old soul… but I continually hear it as ‘dog gone soul’.

LOL @ the scenario where Glenn is a secret ALL fan and really wants to sing "Sugar & Spice" or some shit.

*whisper part*

I definitely felt like a dumbass for even considering the possibility. Considering how much those guys ragged on Danzig (like everyone else does). But when I went on tour with them, there were a lot of random old-schooler types that would come to their shows and hang out and sometimes hop on stage for a black flag cover or some shit. I heard stephen tell dave, ‘the Danzig thing is definitely happening’. And In the heat of the moment, I thought maybe they were actually friendly with the ‘zig, and he was playing right down the street. I actually have no idea how I was thinking it’d go down. Him singing ALL songs, or them playing Misfits songs. Either fantasy made absolutely no sense.

[SamDBL]

This thread reminded me of another funny Stabb story. John was penpals with Pushead in the early 80s. He asked Pushead to do the cover art for a GI record (I think it was Boycott Stabb) and Pushead graciously agreed. So he sends John the art and, of course, it’s got skulls and corpses all over it. John, who thought the horror punk thing was goofy, sends it back and politely tells Pushead that he’s a really talented artist and should stop wasting his time drawing silly skulls. That was the end of their relationship.

Hahaha. Legendary. I was just thinking, like two days ago, how much I’d die to have pushead do a cover for my band. It’s like winning the lottery if you get him to agree to something these days. If you can even track him down.

[JGJR]

That’s super interesting about Stabb and Danzig II. I assume he hated all things misfits related, for some reason. The weird pronunciation of the words makes for some funny misheard lyrics that I can’t I hear. In, Bodies, for instance, I think he says something about slaying a dark old soul… but I continually hear it as ‘dog gone soul’.

Yeah, he thought the Misfits were pretty silly. But he loved Glenn’s voice.

I can see this... Stabb also kinda had that whole deep-voiced crooner thing going on.

And given the very prominent influence of early '80s Damned on later GI, I always assumed it was the influence of Dave Vanian, but yeah, I can see that, too.

[xxxHunterxxx]

That’s super interesting about Stabb and Danzig II. I assume he hated all things misfits related, for some reason. The weird pronunciation of the words makes for some funny misheard lyrics that I can’t I hear. In, Bodies, for instance, I think he says something about slaying a dark old soul… but I continually hear it as ‘dog gone soul’.

Yeah, he thought the Misfits were pretty silly. But he loved Glenn’s voice.

I can see this... Stabb also kinda had that whole deep-voiced crooner thing going on.

And given the very prominent influence of early '80s Damned on later GI, I always assumed it was the influence of Dave Vanian, but yeah, I can see that, too.

He also loved Richard Butler. You can hear him doing his Butler impression right before the music kicks in on “World, You and I.”

[FormerLurker]

them playing Misfits songs.

That would be pretty great. Team Sam.

[JGJR]

He also loved Richard Butler. You can hear him doing his Butler impression right before the music kicks in on “World, You and I.”

I've never noticed that. Thanks for that Easter egg.