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| The MisfitsFamous Monsters1999 Roadrunner 
  Review by: El Grego See others by this writer The Misfits official site. (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on May 25th 2004
Okay, let me just say a couple of things. This is a Misfits review. It's of a record without Glenn Danzig, but that doesn't mean we should just dismiss it. Lots of bands don't have Glenn Danzig in, but I bet you still like them, right? Good examples of this include Guns n' Roses, Bad Religion and Mozart. So, no, he's not in it, but that doesn't mean it automatically blows. However, because I'm bored, I will include a 'Glenn-o-meter' which will keep you up to speed with what would be happening on this record if Glenn had been involved. This review won't be as in depth as my review of the Collection II record because that took ages and I'm not quite as inspired by this as I was by the songs on that. Anyway, the record opens with an instrumental called 'Kong At The Gates'. Basically, there's some drums which are meant to be King Kong attacking some random fortress. So far so pointless. 'The Forbidden Zone' gets things going nicely enough, and carry on from where 'American Psycho' left off, giving us a beefier guitar sound, which may or may not have something to do with this record being on Roadrunner. 'Lost In Space' keeps up the momentum, with a great chorus and verses telling us of giant spiders and other strange things. Word has it that Jerry wrote this to be included in the movie of the same name, but it wasn't, so it ended up here. Even so, it's a decent song. The next song is 'Dust To Dust', which is a great tune about electrecuting yourself and members of your family. It'd good stuff, riffy, like metal, and not so much punk, but I like it anyway. You gotta give this stuff a chance, y'know?. 'The Crawling Eye' and 'Witch Hunt' aren't shocking, but they're not particularly memorable, but they do lead us onto the single, 'Scream!'. The video for this is so damn cool. This is a turning point for the album. Opening with a mean guitar line, followed by 'whoas' then launching into a stomping song that seems to be about making some victim scream a whole bunch. It's good stuff. Jerry and Doyle have got Michael Graves in to do lead vocals, and his voice suits the style of the music, melancholy but still powerful. This is a great song on it's own, let alone the album. 'Saturday Night' is a hilarious song in a ballad format about killing your girlfriend and then remembering you had something more to say (Glenn-o-meter: It was most likely about you killing her baby) before she died, and walking round town missing her. It's fun to sing along to, and gives the album some contrast. 'Pumpkin Head' and 'Scarecrow Man' are straightforward enough and are both funny and good at the same time. 'Pumpkin Head' has a great chorus, and the story told in the lyrics is a great one. 'Scarecrow Man' is about being a scarecrow, sneaking into town at night and eating people. Simple but great, although it does quote the Wizard of Oz at the start ('How 'bout a lil fire, scarecrow?'). Still it's all gravy, and these are two great songs. There are two other noteworthy tracks on this album, and whilst the other songs aren't terrible, they weren't quite up to scratch with my expectations. However, 'Descending Angel' is a really good song, about, surprisingly, descending angels. The 'whoa-oh-oh-ohs' in the chorus are fantastic, and there's a nifty little solo, proving that Doyle isn't such a fucktard on guitar. Michael's voice is on form here and isn't dominating the music; the drums and guitar are still at the forefront of the sound. The last above average song on this album is 'Helena'. Based around the film 'Boxing Helena', it's about cutting up the woman you love for some reason I can't quite grasp. Anyway, the main lyric, 'if I cut off your arms and I cut off your legs, would you still love me anyway?' is as shocking to strangers as it is entertaining to fans. When the tempo picks up, the song turns from a slow, stomping pledge into some crazy psycho ballad. It's nothing short of fantastic, and whilst it's closer to metal than it is to the punk of Misfits yesteryear, it's still amazing. They should have ended the album on this song, it would have left a better mark than the stupid King Kong outro they used. In conclusion, this is an above average rock album, and a pretty tame Misfits album. It's best songs are brilliant, and should be remembered, but there's way too much filler on this record for it to go down as a classic. People who liked this also liked:           Please login or register to post comments. What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
i love this record. Haha I love the bit at the start where you said you shouldn't dismiss it because it's not Danzig singing. i loved danzigs voice but this album rocked just as hard none the less i loved it man Gleen Danzig is a douch man Michael is way freekin cooler man he made the famous monsters CD man u cant beat that somehoe the sickness and sarcasm is lost from the songs now that danzig has gone Eh. I love the new Misfits in relativity to the old Misfits. Ok, people... !!! they rock as hell !!!! buy walk among us This is a really good album, but I agree completely, they have changed in a very big way. But they are still pretty good. We can't look at them as we did in the past, though. They are a new band now. "Descending Angel" is the best track on this album for me. It emphasizes the degrees of the devil and his followers, a true masterpiece! Go Misfits!!! can i just say one thing Love the originals. These guys are ok. Hate the balzac ones..... this album fucking rocks!, so dont fucking hate u fucking new misfits haters. gay wrestlers indeed. jerry only prolly has a clipon devil lock. old bastard. Help us see the Misfits at Hellfest. Haha, definately agree with BSD's comment about Guns 'n Roses.FUCK THEM THEY FUCKING SUCK DICK it's called a devillock, now mach schnell I have this theory that the misfits are gay wrestlers, anyone with me on that one? Holy Misfits haters in full effect... I actually liked this album, I just think of the Misfits and the Newfits as two seperate bands. For the sake of humanity, please tell me Misfits and brilliance weren't used in the same review. Why do those guys on the cover have hairstyles like 'Flock of Seagulls'?? I actually like Danzig I and Danzig II, therefore, a Misfits reunion would be alright with me, even though the fact of the matter is it would most definitely be a pistolsesque money making ploy. DIdn't really like them with Michael Graves, the only reason this CD gets scored this high is for "Saturday Night". Misfits, if you are reading this. Please, stop. I didn't like the Misfits even with Danzig... but back then they had STYLE at least! hot damn, the misfits are horrible. songs about killing you girlfriend? come on, lets try not to be gothic kids in the 9th grade. grow up, and especially give up. pretty much just flogging a dead horse having this band go on for as long as it is. Why does graves being on conservative punk matter at all? i agree with the glenn assessment. the misfits were special b/c they belonged to a specific time period and bringing it back and mutilating it now, even w/o the fucking replacement singer, is pathetic. The cover looks like a little kid's "horror stories" hardbound minibook you'd find in a bargain bin somewhere. GnR? What's with talking about that shitty pop metal band in reviews lately? Let the 80's bury it's dead, and don't bring it up again... I actually like this cd but you can't think of it as misfits.really catchy and graves has a great voice. however, graves is the spokesman for conservativepunk.com so i can't listen to this anymore due to this treacherous move on his part. yes, it does mean we should just dismiss it. Aubin really hit the nail on the head here...however I still think these guys really ought to change the band name. The Misfits are long gone...RIP. this band fucking suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks. As much as I love the Misfits, the truth is that this band wouldn't be any better with Glenn back. His bands since the Misfits have a distinct lack of the kind of wry irony that was ever present on the Misfits records, and he went from being a guy who loved horror movies and goofy imagery to a guy who seems to actually take it seriously. I enjoyed this record, but American Psycho was better. Glenn Danzig must hate me now. |
