One From The Grave: Danzig
October 27 2008 at 04:13:18 AM  Call me superstitious, but I believe there are unlucky years for which to foster certain interests. To be born now, to seldom hold a record, examine its folds and outlines, stare at the cover, and flip through its pages with your hands is to me unthinkable, yet entirely probable for many today. Likewise, childhood discoveries care not for continuity. No doubt the 80s were a watershed year that many sprouted past as they came of age only in the 1990s: Newsted before Burton, Bostaph before Lombardo, ewoks before Empire. And yes, before The Misfits there was Danzig. Narrowly I avoided two of the first three. What does it matter? Taste and perception are often formed by chance: when you hear it, when it was made, and who was playing. I don't regret being born in 1982, but I am grateful not to have been born into the house alone, taking solace in the fact that before meeting other outcasts in the public schools, some treasures could be found in the room just next door. The time-honored tradition of passing on, or at the very least providing music and pornography is why god made older siblings. Big brother would fly in and out of the house so fast you learned to assume his presence just by the sound of the stereo across the hall. Stopping home on the way to the gym and blasting no more than two singles before heading back out in pair of zubaz, keys jangling and a duffel bag under his arm. Walk in, thumb through the stacks on the table, and sneak out with a few plastic cases covered in skulls, crosses and electric chairs. It's a start. Years earlier, young Glenn Anzalone's brother introduced him to the music of Blue Cheer and Black Sabbath. Twenty-odd years later Glen Danzig returned to these roots with his eponymous record, to my near-adolescent mind, the darkest music that ever existed. And had I then been aware of all that I am now, would likely still return to it as often today. Granted, the "soul-banging" lyrics don't seem nearly as threatening as they used to, but you still have to go back to the first Sabbath LP to find four white guys hammering out anything like this dark, blues-based rock to hear anything near its potential.  Formed from the ashes of Samhain, the newly minted quartet of Danzig, John Christ, Chuck Biscuits and Eerie Von essentially performed "N.I.B" writ-large over 40 minutes of overt impulse, cold and mean, cruel seduction caught in the whip of pole-dancing rhythms, visions of pale-skinned witches and hound dog hoodoo never equaled since, least of all by the band themselves. With his unenviable mounting face and chicken dances being cause for endless consternation, it's the later albums - grotesque vanity projects predicated on after-show conquests, bored actresses eyeing the would-be underworld sex god, still a nerd and unable to see the irony of his situation from the safety of the stage - that actually cause one to cower behind the defense of "guilty pleasure." Sex seemed to be their lone indulgence. Add them to the mix of creatively de-sexed mavens quoting from the Old Testament and this late paean to Milton and Genesis makes perfect sense, spelled out explicitly. Here at least we may hang our hat on one of two horns. By the band's own admission, 25 percent of the music is owed directly to Rick Rubin's involvement, though as usual one quickly feels his presence in the ridiculously dry sound as Christ's gravel-toned bitch snarls from channel to channel while Glen intones the incubus and Biscuits rides the kit like a Transylvanian carriage. The first five tracks are a lock (not counting "Soul On Fire," cuz only the X-Ray Spex need to be doing that honkey saxophone shit) with "Twist of Cain," "She Rides," "Am I Demon," and the one that must not be named each standing as bona fide classics, unwearied by time; this world of Lilith, and flame, werewolves in alabaster casing (or so they thought) continuing by exploding the plain innuendo of Al King's "The Hunter" and laying out abuse as a matter of course. The mildly unnerving "Possession" actually succeeds with its demonic backmasked vocal effects (rumored to include back-up from James Hetfield) without being too hokey but comes up short on anything more substantial. Ditto the hard-grooving "Evil Thing," which, as much as anything played here, presages JC's later work scoring adult film soundtracks before ending on an oddly flat note. Ultimately the record is sustained by its unique blend of bar-rock, Heavy Metal and a touch of Punk, underlined by a verve that resounds as clear as any other. Freedom, whether "satanic" or not, is Danzig’s central theme, driven by a hunger that's as much ego as it is purely hormonal. There is no joy, but it makes you smile; No irony, but you don't care; It's not even heavy, but it rocks the fuck out. Raw energy unleashed, and no better time for it year after year. This season's right for burning. [Todd DePalma] Danzig
Danzig 1988 Def American Danzig group image taken from misfitscentral.com
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yes sir. i bought this when it came out and i didnt hear the honky saxophone shit until 2005 when i put it on the ipod. yeah my stereo sucked, but also the synth shit is so subtle its hardly an issue. definitely the best danzig album.
I never listened to Danzig so I am always fascinated by people that love them and how. This piece helps me then to understand and thanks for that.
It's very difficult for me to listen to Danzig expecting Heavy Metal because it's all about the overbearing personality of mister Danzig. I want to hear about the superego fantasy creature that is summoned when great HM happens, not somebody making 30 different allusions to how he's fucking awesome, and awesome at fucking. So that's where this stuff loses me: it's rock n' roll. Not that it's all 'I want to fuck you tonight' dry, he does make attempts at the higher spheres. It is that it stands in the middle of these two boats that I start to get uncomfortable.
Wicked cover though.
Gawdamn, Helm. You made me spit my tea out.
I, too, want to know this "superego fantasy creature" that is "fucking awesome" and "awesome at fucking."
Sure, it is "Rock 'n' Roll." Same as AC/DC and Scorps and Thin Lizzy and early 'Maiden. Middle roads, gray areas, etc. are fertile ground. Good stuff grows there. No need to get uncomfortable. Recline... Hot compress. A handful of cocoa puffs.
There was a time when Danzig was exactly the superego fantasy creature you mention. Some time around 16 years old. Shit stays with you forever. People laugh at him now, and I laugh with them. Then I take my receding hairline beer gut arthritic 35 year old ass home and blast this shit and pretend I'm a werewolf.
Yeah... perhaps. Sadly I'm late to the party and Danzig was demystified for me before he could even achieve a basic allure. There's precious few bands that have kept their magic intact since I was 16 and I'd rather devote my time to them than trying to get into Danzig while keeping my right eye conveniently shut.
Yeah I guess I kinda wish I had seen Groucho Marx before I saw Bugs Bunny. All to the point of Herr DePalma's writin, I guess. Unlucky years... we all gottem. For my part, I'm just glad I was exposed to Samhain before I saw Danzig practice his Jeet Kune Do on youtube, and Endless Pain before Endorama, and Conan before the fucking inauguration.
Forget DANZIG for a moment and just watch this vid. Biscuits!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoFqg8cIWYE
The Jeet Kune Do routine was alright and I can even deal with the 'here's my collection on books about evil, how different cultures define evil. Some of them don't even have evil!' because on some level I think he himself is aware of the absurdity of situation but he's trying to maintain... something.
But I think something delicate got broken in the Danzig persona when he was KO'ed by that huge fat dude and it ain't fixable.
I had wondered where John Christ disappeared to...and still wonder.
Back in the day, the first record was kind of fun. The metal dudes were starting to accept hardcore & punk into their little world, & this record held a big part in that.
It was a decent record, but the dude hasn't aged very well musically.
He DID have Chuck Biscuits at the time though.