Misfits Albums- Defining Horror Punk Rock

You can’t imagine horror punk rock without the complete collection of Misfits albums. This particular genre may seem unusual to you and this may partly be because it isn’t a very widespread sub genre. The Misfits are regarded as the pioneers in it and hardly any other group excels in what they do.

Glenn Danzig is generally credited for coming up with the initial band idea. The name is a reference to Marilyn Monroe’s final film. Joining Danzig in 1977 were Diane DiPiazza, Jimmy Battle and Manny Martinez. Battle and DiPiazza didn’t stay very long with the group and Jerry Caiafa or Jerry Only came into the group after the two original members left. Danzig and Only are the two musicians who have stayed longest with the group. Except for them, membership in the band has been erratic, with a total of 17 people coming and going.

Soon after the band was created, they began recording songs for their first album, Static Age. Unfortunately, no one wanted to offer a contract agreement to the group. As a compromise, the band simply released singles. Twenty years more passed before this work saw the light of day in its entirety.

By 1978, the band began to move in a direction that would firmly establish their horror punk reputation. At first Danzig merely added the horror themes in songs. Eventually though, the appearance of band members transitioned to the horror genre as well. Danzig in particular took to wearing goth clothing with skeleton prints while Only was the first to adopt the devilock hairstyle. Other members soon began sporting it too. It was then that Misfits albums became strongly linked to horror.

For four years, the band saw more recording and performance action. But it was only really in 1982, five years after they started as a group, that Walk Among Us came out. This was to be their first real full album release since Static Age did not materialize yet at this time. A year after this development though, things
started to take an ugly turn. Danzig, who, up to this point was the prime mover, no longer wanted to continue. He went off tangent and founded Samhain. Band member Only eventually also founded his own group, Kryst the Conqueror.

As fate would have it though, the Misfits didn’t disappear entirely. After band members went separate ways, renewed interest in the group and its music emerged. It was so strong that Only decided he wanted the Misfits back in action. This started a legal battle with Danzig on the opposing end. Before the conflict could really reach the court though, an agreement was set. Only could use the name and logo but Misfits merch rights had to be shared with Danzig. This was even if Danzig no longer wanted to have anything to do with the group.

Only became the new default band leader but problems with the line up ensued. The possibility of releasing a new Misfit album dimmed in 2001 when Only was the only member left in the group. He was however, eventually able to recruit Dez Cadena and Julio “Robo” Valencia to join him. They recorded Land of the Dead together.