Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best Misfits you'll ever hear, May 4, 2005
"Walk Among Us" indeed features the best material to come from the Misfits, but it's also one of the finest American punk rock albums of all time. Glenn Danzig's ungodly howl fuels fan favorite, classic tracks like "20 Eyes", "I Turned Into a Martian", "All Hell Breaks Loose", "Vampira", "Night of the Living Dead", "Skulls", and of course, "Violent World" and "Astro Zombies". This is the best the Danzig-era Misfits have ever sounded, and even the live take of "Mommy Can I Go Out & Kill Tonight" sounds great here. For classic punk enthusiasts, "Walk Among Us" ranks up there with Black Flag's "Damaged", the Dead Kennedys' "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables", and Minor Threat's "Complete Discography"; real punk rock that wasn't fashioned or produced for radio play. If you are looking to get into the Misfits or just classic punk in general, you can't go wrong with "Walk Among Us".
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30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Collect the heads of little girls and put 'em on my wall.", February 7, 2006
The Misfits in their glory days represented the trashy, over-the-top, and campy side of punk rock in the late '70s and '80s--they were the anti-Minor Threat. They, along with The Cramps, also played up punk's similarities to the mindless fun of '50s rock 'n' roll and rockabilly, given a modern makeover through silly makeup, shocking lyrics, and B-grade horror.
Which is not to say that Glenn Danzig & Co. didn't rock with absolute fury; they certainly did (there's a reason why Metallica and later metal bands loved covering these guys). But they were also infectious and fun like few other punk bands. And Walk Among Us ably demonstrates the height of The Misfits' powers.
No one can talk about prime Misfits without taking note of Glenn Danzig's glorious "Dark Elvis" voice or his hilariously campy and often offensive (though to their credit they never try to come off as serious, unlike bands like Slayer) lyrics that will have even concerned parents singing along despite themselves. Songs about spontaneously turning into martians and zombies eating brains will never go out of style. It's too bad Glenn started buying into his own sp00k image after leaving The Misfits and became an unintentionally hilarious parody of himself, but no such worries here--it's just good, gore-stained fun for the whole family.
The music behind Glenn is an off-the-wall mix of rockabilly-informed punk with a metal edge (this would be even more prominent on the following release Earth A.D./Wolfsblood, which while good isn't in the same league as this album), insanely catchy harmonies, and blazing speed. Every song is a hit, with the manic 20 Eyes, melodic classic Hatebreeders, ragingly intense Mommy Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight? (performed live), morbidly funny and excessive anthem Skulls, and hilarious ode to zombie destruction Braineaters (complete with "Oi!" chants) being my favorites.
So, why only 4.5 stars if the music is so good? Simple, it's too bloody short. At about 24 minutes Walk Among Us is the shortest real album I own, shorter even than some EP's. I hope this gets re-released with some bonus tracks, because shelling out twelve bucks for only 24 minutes isn't exactly great value. In all fairness though, I'd rather have 24 minutes of absolute classic material than 50 minutes of mixed killer 'n' filler. Anyway, if you claim to love punk at least one Misfits album is mandatory, and this is as good a place to start as any.
P.S. Pay no heed to the Michael Graves-fronted abomination that passes themselves off as The Misfits today; they are nothing more than a cheap imitation.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life Changing Album (6 Stars), August 16, 2005
There are not many albums in my life that could really be described as "life changing". The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" (the album that got me into music), The Clash's "London Calling" (the album that made me a little more open minded), and this legendary album, the one that got me into "real" punk rock. At the time that I got this, I was listening to crappy skater punk like Anti Flag and Pennywise. This record really changed the way I looked at punk rock.
Onto the album: The songs are great, and some of the catchiest I've ever heard. In fact, the classics "I Turned Into A Martian" and "Astro Zombies" could very well be my favorite songs of all time. The Misfits were great because of their Ramones-esque simplicity, and because of their funny lyrics, which may seem a little shocking ("Collect the heads of little girls and put 'em on my wall"). However, the best part of this band is Glenn Danzig's amazing voice, which may remind you a bit of Elvis gone punk rock.
If I had one minor complaint, it would be this: I have to admit I enjoy the "Collection" versions of "Vampira", "Hatebreeders", "Skulls", "Astro Zombies", and "Braineaters" quite a bit more. There is just a certain passion on those versions that is not on these versions. Despite that complaint, this is easily the best Misfits studio album, and probably the best punk record of all time.
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