The Misfits were formed in New Jersey by Glenn Danzig in 1977. They were a punk band that was obsessed with B-grade horror movies, and their songs reflected that. The Misfits are sighted as an influence by various bands, ranging from
Metallica to
Guns N Roses to
AFI. They developed a cult-like following in their 6 years of existence. This following continued to grow even after Danzig disbanded the first incarnation of the Misfits in 1983, after which Danzig worked on other projects, such as
Samhain and
Danzig.
This constant growth in the Misfits spawned two collections of older Misfits songs. Together, they contain the entire Earth A.D. album and older Misfits singles.
However, Collection II is somewhat controversial to some Misfits fans. Six of the songs (Cough/Cool, Hatebreeders, Braineaters, Nike-A-Go-Go, Devil's Whorehouse, and Mephisto's Waltz) weren't the Misfits versions. They were all were recorded previously by the Misfits, but those versions don't appear on Collection II. The ones that do were recorded by Danzig and Samhain bassist Eerie Von in 1986, years after the Misfits' break-up.
The recording quality of the songs on Collection II is rather poor. However, this is somewhat fitting as low-quality horror films were a passion of Danzig. The guitar parts usually just consist of power chords, but where they lack in technicality, they more than make up for it in tone. The trebly sound of the guitars is excellent. However, Doyle von Frankenstein's guitar riffs sometimes don't fit the mood of the song. For example,
Last Caress possesses an upbeat riff, yet it's about killing babies. However, Last Caress is one of the best songs on the compilation.
This isn't always the case, though.
Bloodfeast is a song about possessing someone and having a "grizzly bloodfeast", and its riff is rather dark and apocalyptic.
One of the main things that drew me to the Misfits was Danzig's powerful and unique singing voice. It somewhat reminds me of a darker Jim Morrison. I find it difficult to make out what he's saying a good bit of the time, but most of the lyrics are about death and killing. One of the vocal highlights of the collection is
Halloween, Danzig's tribute to the notoriously demonic holiday. Glenn conjures up memories of various Halloween mischief, such as razor blades wedged into apples and dead cats and corpses hanging on poles. You know, kid's stuff. This is all brought together by a long moan of "Halloween" in the chorus. There is also a sequel to Halloween titled
Halloween II that follows. This has a much darker feel than Halloween and is in Latin, which gives Danzig's vocals a cult-like quality.
Unfortunately, this album, while only being about 35 minutes long, starts to drag about halfway through. Most of the songs sound the same. For example, the outro of
Nike-A-Go-Go sounds almost identical to the chorus of
Devil's Whorehouse, and they are placed right next to each other on the track listing.
These songs are for the most part excellent. The Misfits were an original band and their influence can still be felt today, over 20 years after the break-up of the classic lineup. This is an excellent album for anyone who isn't familiar with the Misfits, or an older Misfits fan who doesn't have their older material on CD.
Pros:
-Danzig's voice
-Features many of the Misfit's best songs
-Energetic
Cons:
-Begins to drag
-Songs don't flow well since it's a compilation
-Songs sound the same for the most part
Recommended Tracks
We Are 138
Last Caress
Halloween
We Bite
Bloodfeast
Final Rating: 3.5/5
