Roadrunner "Famous Monsters" - Misfits

I won't lie about -- this record had a painful birth. Kinda like Belial in "Basket Case" or the "It's Alive" baby. In some ways, the making of "Famous Monsters" was a horrorshow unto itself. Some of us didn't make it out alive. Some were fairly bloodied. Some finally saw the light of day. I can remember one moment where Doyle Von Frankenstein (a really sweet and good dude) got so pissed he almost grabbed a bat and murdered everyone in the room!
Yep, all trace of Danzig is gone from this one. Where the 'fits "comeback" LP (and reciprocal for Jerry & Doyle's post-fit's project Kryst the Conquerer) "American Psycho" at least tried to hang onto the Legacy (of Brutality) just a bit -- this one eschews it in favor of simply becoming its own occasionally goofy beast. The energy is there as we get an ode to Charlton Heston "Forbidden Zone" kicking things off. From there on in it's heaven or hell. Songs that need to walk among us and a few that should have stayed in the grave.
The high-points come in the shape of "Scream": the Misfits' last great song before Doyle, Chud and Graves split the scene and Jerry started making weird 50's tribute records with Dez from Black Flag. As well as the great 50's "horror at the drive-in" number "Saturday Night". Yes, there might come a night where you find lead ghoul Mikey Graves crooning away at The Villagio on Rte. 17 near Lodi! (Lil' Jersey humor there, kids!)
Make no mistake, there are a few "what the hell were they thinking?" moments. The double whammy of "Pumpkin Head" and rockabilly romp "Scarecrow Man" being the most obvious. Still, "Fiend Club", "Hunting Humans" and the ultra-strange tribute to Jennifer Lynch's "Helena" somehow make this monster mash OK.
Hey, some people including Cradle of Filth's Dani Filth swear by this record!
While "Famous Monsters of Filmland" editor Forest J. Ackerman is on his deathbed as I write this, he can pass onto the great Universal backlot in the sky knowing that The Misfits pretty much did him right.