Danzig Discography

 

                                                          

Demos 1987-1988

This is out in various forms…most are on a disc called “Life Without A Net” but in this day and age there are CD-Rs floating around with just these demos…though called demos, this is really a rehearsal with the band jamming on songs that made their way onto the first Danzig album.  They sound as you’d expect…probably just a tape recorder in a room with the jam rocking out at full blast, but the band is tight and the songs are solid and heavy.  What makes this interesting is a little diddy commonly referred to as “Night of Hate” or “Die For The Demon.”  This is an unreleased song that’s really more of a jam that never went anywhere.  It’s hard to tell what Glenn is singing or if he’s even singing words, but thanks to the power of suggestion I hear “whoa night of night, night of hate woooooarrrrghhhhh.”  It’s jammy, it’s groovy, it could’ve been a good song but it really doesn’t seem to fit in with the vibe, too “rock.”

 

The First Show

For the longest time this was available on tape in a pretty lousy sounding format.  Then a few years back, either a different master surfaced, or the only master surfaced that showed all the copies floating around up.  All the noise and distortion were from generations of dubbing, and the actual tape itself is actually an excellent audience recording.  Audience recordings in small clubs have a lot of potential for being better than soundboards and I dare say this is one of those cases.  Everything is clear, the band’s mix is excellent, it’s all there and overall we have a good sounding recording of a tremendous show.  The band’s album wasn’t even out yet so Glenn mixed in a bunch of Samhain covers…seven songs from the first album, “Trouble,” “London Dungeon,” and then a whopping seven Samhain songs…not bad at all.  Definitely a must own for the fans of early Danzig and Samhain freaks.

 

Danzig I

The first, the classic, the self titled debut of Danzig.  The cover of a white goat looking skull on a black background was evil yet so simple.  The band really didn’t have a “sound” at this point.  So we have a pretty straightforward rock album.  It’s not metal, and though there’s blues influence it’s not nearly as apparent as what came later.  This is one of the best stripped down, rock albums ever released, period.  The sound is simple, unpretentious, and effective with nothing unnecessary, the song writing is flawless—overall short, catchy tunes mixing up fast, slow, and midpaced songs.  The fact that everything is so stripped down really doesn’t capture the band’s power.  That said, the recording is excellent, and it works just as it is, but the band just still seems to be searching.  This has that song “Mother” you may remember, and I gotta say—it’s not a very good song.  Why was that the breakout hit?  Who knows?   Check out “Soul On Fire” or “Am I Demon” for the real keepers.

 

Evil Live

This is a radio broadcast show from July 1989 which shows you how good the band was.  Since it was still early in the “Danzig” stage, there are plenty of Misfits/Samhain covers as well as “When Death Had No Name” a song that was at that time unreleased.  Since this was an FM broadcast, it’s soundboard and sounds excellent though the songs do fade in and out, I assume for station IDs and commercials.  There are not many Danzig soundboards floating around, in fact other than more recent festivals, this is about it, so dig this one up if you’re a fan.  This is such an excellent quality show that it’s been bootlegged many times under the name Live Evil, Evil Live, From Beyond, Lucifer Live, Not of this World, and Devil Songs. 

 

Danzig II—Lucifuge

On the first album the band was still hunting a style.  Here they clearly found it.  The finest blues influenced metal album ever recorded—well, the greatest album ever recorded if you ask me.  It gets no better.  Not only is the sound here, but Glenn has really come into his own with exceptionally good song writing, catchy tunes, and very cool, subtly evil lyrics.  The CD booklet unfolds into an upside down cross, it doesn’t get more evil than that.  Glenn’s vocals really developed on here.  The bellowing howl really shines through and the production has a fuller, meatier sound.  Put an evil Jim Morrison singing for Sabbath and you have an idea of what this is…classic, beautiful, intense, evil, flawless.

 

Danzig III—How The Gods Kill

The Danzig “sound” continues here…bluesy rock with a flair of metal and a nice thick sound.  We have some really good catchy, simple songs—“Dirty Black Summer”—some intense, heavy, driving songs—“Left Hand Black”—some pure evil—“Godless” and “Do You Wear the Mark?”—a couple ballads—“Anything” and “Sistinas”—the song that sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom—“When the Dying Calls”—and a special guest appearance by the Cookie Monster—“Bodies.”  What more can you want?  The music is still tight and the songs remain accessible, yet heavy and evil.  My only gripe is some inconsistent production…some songs sound great, some sound like they weren’t even mixed.  “Overdramatic” is a word I’ve read to describe this and I’ll agree.  It gets to be over the top but that’s the charm.  I don’t think Glenn put out an album this fun to sing along to since the Misfits days.

 

How The Gods Play

Another tinny audience sourced bootleg that isn’t that bad but it’s definitely low-fi.  The performance on here is pretty good, but Danzig is a good live band.  Due to the quality, I don’t break this one out at all…especially when there are a bunch of excellent late 80s shows out there.  It’s a shame, maybe some better quality recordings will come out.  Until then, we’re stuck with this.

 

The Dark Side Of…

Also know as  Los Angeles 1993 and Godless Live USA 1993 this is one of the more popular bootlegs.  Which is strange since it’s a pretty tinny audience recording that simply isn’t that good…it’s not necessarily bad, there’s no overpowering crowd chatter or anything, the whole thing is just a bit in the background.  The performance is excellent however…if you’re a fan, go for it…why not?  There’s not that many out there.

 

Thrall-Demonsweatlive

Sort of a 3 ½.  I remember when this stupid thing was announced, it got pushed back every week for months…I’d get my mom to take me to the mall to get it, only to be told “it got pushed back another week.”   What do I get for those months sitting on edge?  Three studio songs and four live.  The studio songs are phenomenal—“It’s Coming Down” a tremendous, heavy, grooving song that makes me want to pound things into my genitals…. “The Violet Fire,” a brooding, dark song that reminds me of “Into the Void” for some reason even though they really don’t sound alike…and then “Trouble,” the Elvis song.  Glenn has a few versions of this song recorded and this is the best by far (that we’ve heard).  The live songs are from Irvine Meadows on Halloween ’92.  Danzig is a band that must be seen live.  What is energetic, intense, and furious in a live setting sounds almost silly on CD (see “Am I Demon”).  The other strange thing is…four songs?  And then you fade Mother into Dirty Black Summer?  What is that?  Give me a full show and if you’re not going to, don’t tease me with songs that I can’t hear, you jerk.  Okay, sorry.   For an EP, this is solid…three great studio songs, and some live songs that while “good” may sort of be for the fans only.

 

Danzig—4P

The beginning of the end I suppose…that’s not to take away from this.  But this is the first Danzig album with its high points and it’s low points compared to the last three and a half where Glenn did no wrong.  There are some incredible songs on here, and this is by far the moodiest and darkest Danzig album.  “Stalker Song” gives me the creeps.  “Let it Be Captured”--I dare you not to cry.  “Brand New God”—holy crap is that heavy.  “Dominion”—Love unholy cuts into my mind I tells ya.   But then there’s some of the others… “Bringer of Death” is a live staple to this day which I’ll be damned if I could figure out…it’s not a bad song but by Danzig standards it’s…almost…dare I say…crap.  “Sadistikal” is a little thing that English majors like to call “foreshadowing.”  “Son of the Morning Star” and “I Don’t Mind the Pain” are fine songs, but nothing exceptional.  This is Danzig man…this is the man who sings about Devil’s Playthings and people unsure if they’re demons.  Those songs just don’t hold up.

 

Dirty Black Aria

Horrible horrible horrible.  This is a pretty rare CD that’s live from Brazil in 1995.  I spent a long time hunting it down and the quality is atrocious.  The band is way in the background but you get a pretty good quality recording of some idiot singing along.  Pass on this one.

 

Blackacidevil

If this wasn’t an album by “Danzig” I doubt I would’ve given it a shot.  If this didn’t have “all songs written by Glenn Danzig” on it, I very well may have mocked it as poorly conceived industrial trash.  But it’s Glenn, so I gave it a shot, I made myself listen to it over and over and over until it grew on me.  After all of this…what can I say?  There are a few high points on here—“7^th House,” “Blackacidevil,” and “Ashes.”  There are some mediocre points “Sacrifice” and “Come To Silver.”  There’s some boring points “Hint of Her Blood” and “See All You Were” and then you have the first time I could ever say Danzig put out something “bad”… “Hand of Doom:  Version” which is just a short version of the Black Sabbath song with different lyrics and “Serpentia” which is just bad.   A major departure for Glenn, the vocals are buried in the mix if not distorted with an effect…some said Glenn didn’t have the vocal chops anymore, that he couldn’t sing because he blew his voice out…and then the song “Ashes” comes on and he proved them wrong.  Glenn put out similar sounding music for years, artistically he apparently wanted a change and he did.  This isn’t the piece of crap some will say it is, but it’s certainly not on par with anything he put out before this point.

 

There are no less than four versions of this album out.   The original press with a strange orange cover.  The limited internet release that has a couple different colors and is in a slipcase, though the CD is the same.  And then the rerelease on E-magine with three bonus songs.  The bonus songs are spliced in…so the flow of the album is a bit off…we get the song “Deeper” which is a remix of “Deep” from the X-Files soundtrack which actually, I think, works better than the original.   Then “Bleed Angel” which is an okay song…nothing too special.  And then the album closer “Don’t Be Afraid” which is a waste of disc space.  The album ended so nicely with “Ashes” and now we end on a terrible note.  Perhaps because if “Don’t Be Afraid” was earlier in the album too many people would just turn it off?

 

 

6.66 Satan’s Child

Just thinking about this makes me want to weep…I was able to force myself to listen to Blackacidevil over and over until I actually begin to like it.  Even the bad songs on there are nostalgic in a way.  But this…I can’t listen to this.  There are a few good songs on here like “Cult Without A Name” but goddamn, this is bad.  One of the big problems is the production especially on Glenn’s voice.  This was recorded entirely digital…vocals went direct into a computer and it just doesn’t do well for Glenn.  He sounds throaty and hoarse, if he wanted to bellow with power, could he?  Well, he does on occasion but for the most part, he just hoarses around.  Get it?   Anyway, where are the melodies?  If Glenn had nothing else going for him, it was that he could write a melody, but not here…but there just aren’t many on here.  And the songs that may have been good if there had been more takes like “Belly of the Beast” or “Satan’s Child” just sound sad, like a man struggling to keep up with himself.   This was promoted as a return to form, and if anything it was the band slipping.  Blackacidevil may not have been up to par with Danzig but it wasn’t an overall bad album.

 

Two covers of this album are out there…one for stores and one that’s internet only.  The “internet only” version can be found be at your local record store including major chains like Best Buy and Tower Records.  Go figure.

 

 

Live in Chicago:  House of Blues 11/21/99

This is a Real Audio sourced show that…well, it’s a Real Audio sourced show from 1999.  That means it’s a bit crappy.  Luckily, the person who put it together was wise and go several sources so there are no cuts due to “buffering” and the like, but the sound quality is still inherently bad.  Tinny and hollow and the performance isn’t too exciting either.  Apparently there’s an audience recording floating around that I’d like to hear, but as far as the RA source…don’t bother.  Hell, that double live disc sounds better.

 

 

Live on the Black Hand Side

A double live album has so much potential, especially for a band like Danzig.  You think of the rarities the band did live—“Trouble” or “Halloween II”…how about the blues jam stuff like “One Night” or “Hoochie Cootchie Man”?  No…we get some live songs already released on b-sides and an incomplete live show.  The infamous Irvine Meadows ’92 show is here, what is probably not even half of it, edited to hell.  Why wasn’t this the entire show with some extra crap?  I wish I knew.  Then some stuff from Seattle in ’94 which the crazy fans have on the “Cantspeak” and “I Don’t Mind The Pain” singles.  The songs are fine, good performances, excellent sound (though Glenn does his infamous fade out when the next song begins trick).  And then, disc 2…what sounds like an entire show but appears to be selections from three…on the Satan’s Child tour.  Disc 2 sounds like a bootleg…if I got disc 2 as a bootleg I’d probably listen to it once and think “eh, cool” and be done with it.  But as an official live album?  Please.   Disc one could’ve been a quality product…had they given the whole Irvine Halloween concert.  The sound on it is excellent and it sounds like it was a fantastic show.  The 2000 show is an abomination.   What this means is as a Danzig fan I have to recommend this because of Disc 1.  This is now out of print and not exactly hard to find for cheap (thanks to used bins) so keep an eye out if you don’t have it.  Maybe the rawness of disc 2 will be something you can warm up to.

 

 

777 I Luciferi

When “Black Mass” started the sigh of relief I let out could be heard for miles.  THIS is the Glenn Danzig I know and love.  The vocal power is back and it’s consistent…the man has not lost his voice, he is not struggling to reclaim his youth, he is struggling not to kick your ass.  The best album since “How The Gods Kill”…that’s right—better than 4P…BETTER.  Unfortunately, after 20+ years of song writing, some crap still gets by… “Wicked Pussycat”?  What were you thinking Glenn?  And the constant false harmonics?  Tell Todd Youth to cut that shit out.  Some of the lyrics are silly… “Halo Goddess Bone”?  What’s next “Human Pony Girl”?  Oh wait…

 

Some said this had too much nu-metal too it…you see, nu-metal isn’t inherently bad.  Tuned down instruments playing grooves isn’t necessarily bad…what made it bad is that every band sounded the same and they rapped over it.  Having a bit of groove with that Danzig croon actually works.  If Glenn was rapping and yelling “ME LOCO” then yeah, this would suck, but he doesn’t.  It’s still Danzig.  Some have called this a return to the classic Danzig sound.  They are equally wrong.  Danzig was a bluesy metal band, this is not really bluesy…yeah the influence is there, but Deicide has blues influences and I sure as hell wouldn’t call them “bluesy.”  This is a solid metal album, a solid album with way too many false harmonics, but a solid metal album nonetheless.  The melodies are back, the catchiness is back, the production is meaty as ever, and the bellowing is back to full form.  Welcome back friend!

 

 

 

Glenn Danzig

Who Killed Marilyn?

Two old Misfits songs that the band dropped or phased out that Glenn 

felt were worth putting out.  Glenn does everything on here—drums, bass, 

guitar, and he even sings a bit.  While I think this is a cool release, 

I gotta say that this is not the best version of “Who Killed Marilyn?” 

out there.  Check out the Misfits box set for some great takes of that 

song from the late ‘70s.  “Spook City USA” is the b-side which is a 

strange song in how goofy, simple, and stupid it is.  The Misfits did 

record a version of it, and while the band did have some stupid songs 

(“Braineaters”) this would’ve gone too far with them.  It’s cool Glenn did 

it, and it’s a better version than the ‘fits.  This is not available on 

a CD by itself, but there are some bootlegs with these tracks included.  

I made a geeked out version direct from the vinyl with replica sleeve.  

Woo!

Black Aria

Glenn’s symphonic debut.  Of course, there’s no symphony, it’s just 

Glenn with a synthesizer and two ladyfriends doing some aria type howling.  

This is really a love it or hate it release.  The original packaging, 

way back in the day when CDs came in “long boxes”—remember those—had a 

warning on it which can now only be found on the inside cover.  

Basically it warns the buyer that this is not a “Danzig” record…it’s not rock, 

it’s symphony that will take you to a place you always longed to be…I 

wish I was making that up but I’m not.  A bit pretentious for a 

synth-classical?  Yeah.  Does it take away from some good song?  No.  Do I 

intentionally ask myself questions and answer them?  Many times, no.

The thing about Glenn is that he writes simple, straightforward songs 

that the listener can find easily accessible.  There aren’t dozens of 

layers like many symphonies here, so it’s really make it or break it on 

the melody alone.  The songs are short, the melodies are simple, 

repetitive, in a way almost minimalist and I think it works.

Of course, if this wasn’t basically a nostalgic album for me, and if 

this wasn’t put out by Glenn Danzig, would I have given it a chance when 

I was a young lad?  I doubt it.

 

 

Discography review by Chris