REVIEW: The Misfits, Famous Monsters (Roadrunner)
- Andrew Duncan
Here's a quick history lesson:
In 1977 a group of hooligans decided to form a punk band and name it after Marilyn Monroe's last film, "The Misfits." Their blend of '50s-style rock with horror movie lyrics won over fans of punk music worldwide. They sang songs like "Horror Business," "Halloween" and "Die, Die My Darling," and released albums with titles like Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood and Legacy of Brutality. Lead vocalist Glen Danzig was targeted as frontman with his deranged aura, distinctive "Devilock" hairdo and Elvis-like croon. They played together for many years until Danzig left the band and the band broke up...blah, blah, blah.
Now, the year is 1999, and the newly reformed Misfits are on their second release, the appropriately titled Famous Monsters.
Instead of Mr. Danzig, we have Michale Graves. Dr. Chud is one of many drummers who have joined the band, and Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein and Jerry Only still remain.
Not as intelligent as the album title, the Misfits have slumped into a habit of naming their songs after horror and science fiction movies. Sure, The Misfits from days of yore named a song "Return of the Fly," with lyrics so complexingly crafted: "Return of the Fly/Return of the Fly/With Vincent Price/Return of the Fly." Now we have songs titled "Lost in Space" and "Crawling Eye." How about "Die Monster Die" or "Scarecrow Man?" What happened to a sense of imagination?
The song structures are standard Misfits compositions -- quick, dirty and to the point -- and Mr. Graves doesn't do a bad job filling in Mr. Danzig's shoes. The only difference is the modern, more full-sounding guitar sound. Blame it on better studio recording methods. If "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" were filmed without its graininess, would it still be a cult classic?
To put it in layman's terms, the 18 songs are listenable with some better than others. For dedicated fans, there are remnants of the golden years, but don't expect Rome to be built in a day.
