The Misfits - Collection II

I don't remember how I bought The Misfits Collection II, I want to say it was used from Dr. Disc, but I'm not totally sure. I know where I had bought Collection I, and another disc I have since passed on to someone else. All I do remember is playing the hell out of this album afterward.

This album contains twenty tracks, with an average song length of two minutes. However, it's the wickedest forty or so minutes I have ever experienced with a Punk album.

The album opens with We Are 138. This is a fast and furious track. Lyrically it's rather simple, but it works. It basically sounds like a solid band riffing their little hearts out. A few extra props for being inspired by George Lucas' THX 1138. Attitude is your basic Punk track. The title, plus the genre, pretty much describes it all.

Cough/Cool has a wicked musical sound that typically wasn't found in Punk, in fact there's more of a New Wave feel. Not silly New Wave, but more of the Blondie cool New Wave. If it were not for the limited recording and production due to the time and costs, this could have been a real wild song.

There's a reason Metallica covered Last Caress, and that's because it's Metal. If this song had a lead in, a solo, and an outro, plus the production was cleaned up, it would so be a proper Heavy Metal track. Like something off Kill 'Em All.

The cool thing about Return Of The Fly, is the fact that Glen Danzig opted to focus on the second movie instead of the original. Musically this one is also really cool, especially the backing vocals.

Children In Heat reminds me of exactly why I love The Misfits. They are just like the Ramones, in the fact that their music is just real loud and brash 1950's Rock. They are not sloppy, underskilled musicians. It's a tight band that knows what they are doing, and have taken the time to get it right.

Rat Fink is one of my favourite tracks on this album. I love the simple style that can only be described as Cheerleading.

Horror Hotel is a decent enough track. It has all the cool traits I've mentioned above that make The Misfits so awesome. It's just not one of the tracks I'm totally into.

The next two tracks are my favourite Misfits songs, Halloween and Halloween II. "Bonfires burning bright / Pumpkin faces in the night / I remember halloween / Dead cats hanging from poles / Little dead are out in groves / I remember halloween / Brown leafed vertigo / Where skeletal life is known / I remember halloween / This day anything goes / Burning bodies hanging from poles / I remember halloween / Halloween, halloween, halloween, halloween / Candy apples and razor blades / Little dead are soon in graves / I remember halloween / This day anything goes / Burning bodies hanging from poles / I remember / Halloween, halloween, halloween, halloween / Halloween, halloween, halloween, halloween" and all of this done over a killer music track.

Which then flows into a song using a very simular music track, but instead it sounds like an incantation. "Formulae ueteres exorsismorum et excommunicationum / Strigas et fictos lupos credere / Daemon pellem lupinam / In trunco quodam cauae / Arboris occultandum / Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween / Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween / Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween / Metamorphoses lycanthropie / Possunt inquam / Metamorphoses lycanthropie / Possunt inquam / Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween / Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween". These two songs are just so Metal, Goth, and Dark; they are what I love in my music.

Hate Breeders is the longest track on the album at 2:46. It's a good track, but it doesn't tickle my fancy.

That is followed by Braineaters, which we use to sing at the bus stop. Just for fun. "Oi Oi Oi / Brains for dinner / Brains for lunch / Brains for breakfast / Brains for brunch / Brains at every single meal / Why can't we have some guts / Oi Oi Oi / Brains are all we ever get / In this rotten fuckin' place, Oi Oi / Brains are all we ever get / Why can't we have a change of pace / Brains for dinner / Brains for lunch / Brains for breakfast / Brains for brunch / Brains at every single meal / Why can't we have some guts, Oi Oi / Why can't we have some guts, Oi Oi / Why can't we have some fuckin' rotten guts / Oi Oi Oi Oi / Oi Oi Oi Oi". Aside from the fucks, it's a great chanting ditty, and can easily be done acapella.

Nike-A-Go-Go is cool, just not one of the tracks I'm into.

Devil's Whorehouse is okay for a Punk song, but pretty much filler for my personal taste, and Mephisto Waltz isn't much better. We Bite is pretty basic too. To be honest, After Braineaters, I normally tune out on this album for the most part. Queen Wasp, Demonomania and Hellhound are all the same as the other tracks in this paragraph.

The album does finish on a good note for me. Bloodfeast is awesome, and the production value's limitations cause an awesome effect that makes this track chilling.

I think this album would have been better if it had been recorded with better equipment. I think that the tracks I don't care for are mainly because of production, but not entirely. But, I also think this album should be part of any serious Rock fans collection. If for no other reason than the first twelve tracks.

7/10 - content

4/10 - production

8/10 - personal bias