The Misfits - Earth A.D. / Wolfs Blood

This is one of the more 'brutal' Misfits releases. If anything, it is the fastest, grimiest (studio) recording the band have done. Even the cover art alone is something more crust/grind-looking, although it was released a while before those genres really came into their own. This spins at 33rpm, which is surprising considering how short it is, I was expecting it to be a 45. Still though, Earth A.D. / Wolfs Blood is a short and sweet rampage through some fast-paced, horror-themed hardcore punk.

The speed of this record doesn't stop the few (obligatory) massive Misfits-patent choruses sneaking into a couple of tracks ("Death Comes Ripping", or "Queen Wasp"), with plenty of "whoaaaaaa"s for good measure, but tracks like "Wolfs Blood", "Devilock" and the massively grind-before-grind-existed "Demonomania" (at an impressive 45 seconds in length) are in territory that The Misfits would never stray into again.

 

I have this, and a couple of other Misfits things, on CD already, but I had to get it again, cuz y'know, old punk belongs on vinyl. The CD version however, combines this LP with the Die, Die My Darling 12" single (which I also have separately), and also adds the bonus track "Mommy Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight?", which is recorded live. The CD sounds a bit flat though, as with a lot of old shit turned into a digital format, so I (perhaps predictably) recommend purchasing the vinyl version. 

Misfits - Legacy of Brutality

Early Misfits seems to me to suffer to the same bane as Agathocles, all the same shit seems to be released on tons of different bloody albums. It is hard to tell what is the original recording of a track and what is different. I was going to start off by saying that Legacy of Brutality mixes alternate recordings of some tracks with other tracks that are originally off...then I drew a blank. They really didn't know how to handle their shit back in the day! Ha ha. 

I personally judge everything by Static Age, although it wasn't released until 1997 or some shit, it was the original record and that was how it was intended. Anything else is compared to that tracklist and mix to make things easier, including Legacy of Brutality, the most confusing 12" ever. For a start, the tracks are listed backwards on the sleeve. Side B is first, then A. Also there are a whole bunch of numbers running down the side of them like track lengths should. Fuck knows what they mean. I'll have to look it up. Crazy ol' Legacy of Brutality. Is it a compilation? It is a full length? EP? Who fucking knows, and when it comes to the music, who really fucking cares?

 

It is rather amazing for a band so typical of the punk sound to sound so unique. I guess Danzig's vocals have a lot to do with that, although the early Misfits sound very much out of tune, as if none of them can actually play a damned thing. There are some great tunes on this album though! "Where Eagles Dare" is a massive sing along of a tune, so is "Halloween" and "Hybrid Moments". "She" is one of my all time favourite songs ever, "Theme for a Jackal" is just downright odd, as is Danzig's best/worst Elvis impersonation on "American Nightmare", which oozes rockabilly grease and shitty guitars. All in all I can't help but love this collection of awesomesauce tunage, but if I were you, I'd just buy Static Age, which is so damned good and at least sounds like a coherent record rather than a jumble sale.