Classic 80s hardcore featuring Eerie Von, of Danzig.
The packaging
Honestly, I'm disappointed. The cover is a band photo which works but there really isn't much of a booklet...the inside has the cover of the "Bloodlust" EP which is what most of this disc is comprised of....then there's cartoon devil, and individual band shots. The back has a track listing and band lineup.
The music on here is from 1982 and 1983 and personally, I would think that if this was my band I'd put a bit more effort into a rerelease of 20 year old music...lyric sheets, essays from the band members, live photos, flyers, bios...so much could be added to this. If that was too pricey to do, then just throw together a CD-Rom extra of that stuff.
I'd really like to know a bit more about this music...is any of it previously unreleased? What were the band's other releases? Is this a complete discography? This info could most likely me found at www.misfitscentral.com but for those who don't know about that and don't really feel like they should have to research, will know nothing about this.
The music
Musically comparable to Minor Threat, S.O.A., Negative Approach, and even a bit of Dead Kennedys while the vocalist reminds me of old Cro-Mags stuff, though at times I swear he's trying a British accent. The lyrics seem to be horror themed so that could make them comparable to the Misfits, but musically they are quite different. The production on this is actually rather excellent...everything is pretty clear and mixed well...it won't amaze you sonically comparable to stuff being put out now, but it's twenty year old punk...this sounds better than a lot of stuff out there.
Bonus tracks are a rather tight live set at CBGB's with excellent sound.
Every song is fast, short, with yelled vocals and brimming with raw intensity. We've got twenty five songs in around 30 minutes, which is pretty standard for early 80s hardcore. If you're into early 80s hardcore then you most certainly will agree with this. If you're a Danzig fan who is not into punk, then this will definitely not be of interest to you.
The songs are fairly catchy and overall the listening experience is pretty good. When I step back from this and think "if Eerie Von wasn't on this, would I still like it?" And overall, I would...I'm not exactly a huge Eerie von fan...I like his solo stuff and when I wrote him a letter back in 1994, to my amazement, he actually wrote back addressing everything I asked and even included some picks and stickers...so I like the guy but if this was bad I'd have no problems bashing it.
Fans of 80s hardcore, get it...fans of Danzig who are curious of Eerie's roots, get it...hell, if you're a Misfits fan you might as well get it as these were hometown friends of that band and not too many of that old music is on CD, that alones makes this a pretty cool release historically.
