205. Danzig / Danzig. 1988. 4/5.

Glenn Danzig had already had quite the storied career by the time we had reached the mid-1980's, with several smaller bands before he formed the Misfits in the 1970’s who became hugely influential, and then once that band collapsed in on itself, he went on to form Samhain in the early 1980’s. It was this band that attracted the attention of several influential people, including producer Rick Rubin who signed them to his Def Jam Recordings label. Apparently, the story goes that Rubin at first only wanted to sign Danzig and hoped to assemble a "super-group" with the talented vocalist at the centre, but Danzig refused to agree to the record deal unless bassist Eerie Von remained in the group. Rubin eventually agreed, but changes to the other two positions in the band came with the agreement, with guitarist Damien Marshall replaced by John Christ. Sometime in 1987, Danzig decided to change the name of Samhain to match his surname, Danzig. Varied reasons have been given for this move, the most cited being that this move would prevent him from ever again having to start anew, regardless of lineup changes in the band Rubin has suggested that he called for the change in band name to reflect the change in musical direction that they envisioned occurring between Samhain and Danzig. When London May was replaced with Chuck Biscuits on drums, Samhain officially ceased to exist, and the first Danzig lineup was complete.
Danzig has credited both Cliff Burton and James Hetfield from Metallica with helping to raise awareness about his music: quoted as saying "I first met them at a Black Flag gig, and then we became kinda friends. We'd often bump into each other on the road...James and Cliff helped to spread the word about my music, and I was very grateful to them."
Recorded at several different times between September 1987 and April 1988, the new band went into the studio on the back of a legacy built up over two different bands with a change in musical direction, and one that faced another refinement for the first album of the next generation.

In different periods of his career Glenn Danzig has been compared to both Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison, although more accurately he has been referred to as Evil Elvis. In particular it his crooning that probably brings about tis comparison, and it isn’t as wild as it may seem, and for me it really comes through on this album at times. The Elvis dulcet tones are certainly a feature in the slower portions of these songs, while he also has that Morrison charisma in his voice. But he makes it his own and not in a way where he is trying to be an imitator, as is proven when he crashes into the faster and high portions of his vocal capacity, with the smooth honeyed shriek that is as much a part of the songs of this band than anything else.
The songs all hit their maximum tempo which is set by the perfect groove of Chuck Biscuits’ bubbling drum beat and Eerie Von’s powerfully rumbling bass lines that hit you in the chest throughout. This gives John Christ the licence to punctuate the solid base of the song set up by these two with his short sharp riffing into his terrific solo’s that highlight each track.
Enter another entrant for best Album 1 Side 1 Track 1 contest, with the brilliant “Twist of Cain” that opens the album in style, featuring the best of all the band, but in particular those Glenn Danzig vocals, well supported by the back ups which include an uncredited but overexcited James Hetfield. This still ranks as one of the band best songs, and still gets sung at a loud volume whenever it gets played. “Not of This World” builds from a loosely sedate beginning to a faster and more overriding solo section with a building of speed and intensity in both music and vocals. Glenn builds in dominance throughout, while John Christ’s lead guitar holds fort in the second half of the song to rise above. Both “She Rides” and “Soul on Fire” are of a slower tempo than the first two tracks here but they hold their own, very much in a different direction than either of Glenn’s earlier bands would have moved, but highlight the progression this band was making from them.
The songs such as “Am I Demon” come along that resemble a freight train as it rumbles past and on into the distance, the rhythm that holds together all the way through the song, not swaying or changing in that pace, as John Christ struts that wonderful guitar riff throughout, only substituting a solo piece when it becomes necessary, and Glenn powering on vocals over the top. Just a terrific song. Then there is “Possession” which again shuffles along from start to finish with great attitude, but then the varied stylings of “End of Time” which comes with a staccato guitar riff for the verse before morphing into an almost pop riff onto the bridge. “End of Time” is the counter point to the majority of the songs on the album, but loses nothing in comparison and offers an interesting change in the style of the template. The cover of Albert King’s “The Hunter” is always an interesting one for me, mainly as it varies from the way the rest of the album is written. And that is evident again in the closing track “Evil Thing” that distances itself from the general template of what has come before it, with a faster tempo and Glenn really letting rip in a style perhaps closer to the hard core punk of earlier days.
The song that the album is probably best known for is “Mother”, which like most of Danzig’s best builds from a slow and almost maudlin beginning into a powerful explanation of Glenn’s vocals into the middle of the song, and brought home in style with Johnny Christ’s solo supreme. It’s the power of the instrument trio that makes this and every song on the album so spectacular, creating a bombastic piece of every track without shoving it down the throat of the listener. Each song finds a way to pound you through the chest and drag you into the album through the sheer character and essence of the basis of the songs – the powerful drums, the thumping bass guitar and the ripping guitar riffs.

For whatever reason it was, I missed this album on its release, and didn’t really find Danzig until their second album was released a couple of years later. That mistake was eventually rectified, and I had this album not long after. And there is no doubt that it was a lot different from what I was listening to at that time. 1990 was a pretty big year for albums, and it would have been better for me to have picked this up in 1988. But mixed in amongst the other goodness that I purchased in 1990, this still found a way to keep its head above water and get itself played every so often.
It wasn’t until 1992 and the release of the band’s third album “How the God’s Kill” that I really came to appreciate this album as it deserved to be, not only because that album was so good, but the lack of any real competition at that time meant this began to be played a lot more, and I was able to fully appreciate just how good an album it was. And is.
Over the years, that appreciation for this album, and my love of this album, has continued to grow. The four members are unique, and here produce a truly unique sound that stands the test of time. It is almost a flawless album, written and recorded in a time when this genre of music – if you can truly label it as a particular genre – was not one that was receiving all of the plaudits. That songs such as “Twist of Cain”, “She Rides”, “Am I Demon” and “Mother” among others can still be revered as they are is a testament to the quality of the album and of the band itself. And having seen them live in 1993, when they were at the peak of their powers, I can honestly say that everything on this album holds up live as much as it does here on the original studio recordings.