Suddenly, you could buy any piece of merch imaginable with the Crimson Ghost on it, and the band were covering the Halloween hit The Monster Mash. Unfortunately, the need to overproduce and overmarket that feels at times inherent in both the punk and horror scenes hit the Misfits hard. Given their boom in popularity and knack for writing deliciously-catchy music, the new Misfits might have continued on to incredible levels of renown and stardom. It was something that, in his stone-faced seriousness, Danzig could never do. On tracks like Saturday Night, From Hell They Came, and the epic Dig Up Her Bones, Michale’s vocals channeled both the upbeat spookshow horror of ‘90s ska-punk and the entrenched, emotional darkness of the goth-punk scene. But it was the way he broke down song structure, and the mid-paced croon-heavy singles he was behind, that really changed the game for the band.
Michale’s quick, sharp barks sounded snotty and nasal, but his soaring choruses and "Whoa"s were epic and infectious. What Graves lacked in grit, he made up for in his vocal range and songwriting abilities. Graves himself was unfamiliar with the band when he decided to try out, and apparently bought and listened to Collection I and II on his Walkman to learn about their music. By the time the majority of rock fans woke up to them, the Misfits were mostly a band loved by skater punk kids and splatter movie-obsessed metalheads. What always made the band special was their vague sense of underground mystery - a punk rock band loved by metal dudes, fronted by Evil Elvis before his solo career, with its strongest fanbase in New Jersey of all places. It bears remembering that before the Michale Graves albums, the Misfits weren’t nearly the rock institution they’ve since become. And no matter how happy we are to see Danzig, Doyle, and Jerry together again, these records are gems that shouldn’t be forgotten any time soon. 1997’s American Psycho is pure drunken singalong fun, while 1999’s Famous Monsters is an ultra-polished piece of pop metal with several unforgettable songs on it. Chud are two of the most enjoyable pieces of horror punk out there. That seemed like a far cry from the death punks whose fascination with old gore flicks went hand in hand with a fascination with the very real terror of the violent world.īut the truth is that if one removes the weight of the Misfits’ legacy from the equation, the albums the band made with vocalist Michale Graves and drummer Dr.
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Without Glenn Danzig’s bark and misanthropic attitude, the Misfits were more polished and film-centric than ever, with Basil Gogos cover art celebrating songs about whatever movie was featured in Famous Monsters Of Filmland that month. Jerry Only winning the rights to the band’s name and identity in court didn’t come off as terribly punk rock, and the hard turn into niche convention-style horror fandom felt even less so.
The problem most people had with the Misfits reforming with a new singer in the late ’90s is that it felt a little toothless.