Customer Reviews

Punk Rock Is Dead

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

There was always more to Michale Graves than replacement frontman for Glenn Danzig in the Misfits, and on Punk Rock Is Dead, it shows. Doing vocals and playing everything except drums (by Paul Lifeless) on this album, Graves returns with a well-done and very fun collection of tunes that echoes his work in the 'Fits while at the same time giving us a promise of things to come (standout tracks: Beware, Radio Deadly, Queen Taste, and the title song).

Graves has been unfairly blasted in these reviews for his politically conservative stance, and those who have done so seem to think this has something to do with the quality of his music. It doesn't. Welcome back, Michale; keep flying.

This album isn't as bad as a lot of people here say. It's short and catchy, but the songs are sort of a mixed bag that range from pretty good to not-so-good. It's a pretty average record, with no really strong stand-outs, but it's quite listenable. Unfortunately, Graves didn't reach his status by settling for mediocrity, so seeing the trend of his post-Misfits stuff, it's pretty clear that he's not the horrorpunk icon that he once was, what with so many other bands out there doing it better and with more heart. But I think that's part of the problem: his heart doesn't seem to be totally into it anymore, and with his later stuff, he just breaks further and further away from the horror.

Michale has an awsome voice, and it's on fine form on this new cd. It's a sidestep from Gotham Road, but it's a good step. Stand out songs are Beware, Exit, and 1119! These songs live are awsome! Although this cd is only Michale and Paul Lifeless, i've been around these guys and Loki and JV for about two years now, and there live shows are awsome! Buy this cd, help support the cause! It's about the music, forget the politics. You can't fault a man for voiceing his opinion.

Anytime new music is released by this guy i get excited. I've been following his career since the beginning of his Misfits dayz. On Punk Rock Is Dead, he returns to his horror punk roots. The cd would be excellent other than the recording quality. It was recorded in 30 dayz and it shows. Stand out tracks are Beware, Earth vs. Spider, Godzilla, and the title track Punk Rock is Dead. Once you get past the quality, the disc is quite catchy and shows that punk rock is actualy quite alive and well........

not tired of Graves releasing albums or bands realasing songs that arent as good as old misfits songs. Im tired of people saying "Don't buy this! Buy Walk Among Us/Static Age/Earth A.D instead! Honestly, if you lookng at this, odds are you have every misfits album and since those songs are 20 years old, you want new songs and Michale Graves and other bands following the Misfits formula can be a good quick fix. When someone asks for some good new trash metal, you don't tell them to buy Master of Puppets or Fistful of Metal, you point them in the general direction of Kreator's latest album and send them on their way.

Michale Graves was the replacement singer for the ill-conceived resurrection of The Misfits
which thankfully dissolved after a couple bad albums which didn't really sound like The Misfits of
yesteryear at all. Now, in a supreme example of irony, Michale has returned with his own band,
none of them original Misfits members, but has succeeded at making a better Misfits record than
the reincarnated version of the band.

That's not to say this is anywhere near the timeless classics of the early Misfits but the better
songs on "Punk Rock Is Dead" utilize the same songwriting style of simple three chord punk with
campy horror lyrics you can sing along to in big, bold choruses. The only big difference is the
overall sound. The guitars are bigger and brighter than their predecessors with a nice low end,
having the benefit of modern production and the people on this record are actually good at their
instruments versus the sometimes horrendous playing by The Misfits. But most of the credit for
making this work should go to Michale. On the surface this attempt to recreate relatively simple
material would surely fail without Michale's strong vocals which, while not quite as distinctive as
Danzig, perfectly fit the horror punk style of evil Elvis crooning.

There are a few missteps here, mainly a couple of energy sapping Jim Morrison impersonations
on some slower material in the middle, but these can be forgiven by some truly standout cuts
book ended at the front and back of the album. A couple of these are just as catchy as the very
best of the Misfits songs and will really appeal to fans of that band, especially the ones like me
that were disappointed to see the latter version of that band fail so miserably.

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I like it , I love horror rock, and punk rock. I really think his voice is awesome its better than mediocre for sure. And I am a very judgemental person when it comes to music. Its not as good as some of his earlier stuff but what is. Buy it, if you're not closed minded, and don't expect anything. If you like Graves you'll like it, if you hate Graves why buy the album then complain. Its not a secret hes conservative, who cares, so am I. Green Day can say whatever they want but if someone's conservative all hell breaks loose, give me a break. He shows some real guts going against what people now consider punk, this album is an example about what punk rock used to be about not what someone said it should be about, and I salute him for that.

Michale Graves needs to keep making albums like this, he is quite good at this. Finally he steps out of the Misfits shadow.

The 1996 Misfits were really over-bashed. While they didn't have the originality/clever lyrics/attitude of the originals (obviously due to the lack of Danzig), they still managed to put out punk albums vastly superior than just about anything else coming out at the time. Graves didn't sound like Glenn Danzig, but that wasn't a bad thing; it was better for them to go for a new sound rather than get someone who was just imitating Danzig. After politics and in-fighting ended the Misfits' comeback, Graves cut a few albums on his own - the underwhelming Web of Dharma and the significantly more heavy Gotham Road, which is probably Graves' best work to date. Neither of those projects panned out.

Then he released Punk Rock is Dead, which really surprised me. Obviously he's tapping into the Misfits market with the title/artwork/concepts, but this really is a worthy successor to Famous Monsters (unlike the grasping for dollars "Cuts from the Crypt" or "Project 1950" Misfits albums). Not only do songs like Beware and Dawn of the Dead invoke memories of the 1990's Misfits, but Graves expands his sound towards more stylized and impressive material with tracks like 1119...hearing it for the first time reminded me of when I heard stuff like Theme for a Jackal and American Nightmare from the original Misfits.

Not everything is solid here; songs like Storybook & Rhyme, Exit, and Queen Taste I could leave behind without a second thought. Regardless, this is a very strong effort that should satisfy any Misfits fans (aside from those who refuse to let go of the past and continue to live in denial).

If you dig this album, check out the follow-up Return to Earth. It expands his style even more, drifting back toward Gotham Road a bit while throwing in some previously unexplored styles as well.

5 out of 5 may seem to fanboyish but i just love graves voice, dont get me wrong, i still love my op ivy, misfits, and black flag tunes as much as the next punk rocker but its nice to have a change of pace once in a while. the cd is rather short but i forgive that, also most of the songs lyrics are build around old horror movies which some people seem to have a problem with but i dont. The people that say this sucks and go buy a misfits cd need to see the fact that this is horror punk so yes, alot of the songs will sound like misfits songs because the misfits are horror punk as well (who would have though?). final word is this, forget the fact that he was ever in the misfits and treat this as a new band in the punk rock list.