Danzig (album)

Music and recording

Danzig was recorded at Atlantic Recording Studios and Chung King Metal, and mixed at Smoke Tree and Village. These sessions took place between September 1987 and April 1988.

The song "Mother", retitled as "Mother '93" and with live audience overdubs, became a hit on radio and MTV in 1993-94 after a new video-single with live footage was created to mark its inclusion on Thrall: Demonsweatlive. The song was also later included on various hard rock and heavy metal music compilations, and featured in the video games Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, True Crime: New York City, the Guitar Hero series, and F.E.A.R. 3. It also appeared on the soundtrack to the 2013 film The Hangover Part III.

Glenn Danzig originally wrote the songs "Twist of Cain" and "Possession" for his previous band, Samhain. Lyrically, "Twist of Cain" is inspired by the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Guitarist John Christ described the recording of "Twist of Cain": “We started writing that song even before [drummer] Biscuits joined the band. At first we started recording it in G, then at the last minute we decided that A was better. We kept the drum tracks as they were and re-recorded the guitars, bass and vocals. Not many people know this, but James Hetfield (of Metallica) came down and recorded some backing vocals on that track.” Hetfield also recorded backing vocals on "Possession", however, due to contractual reasons he could not be credited in the album insert. A backwards piano track is used during the intro to "Possession".

John Christ has described "She Rides" as “Our first sex song...it's such a stripped-down song, just a couple of guitar tracks and almost no bass. "She Rides" probably has the best vocal performance on the album, though. There are also some really weird background noises and moaning sounds on it.” Generally the song refers to mythology on Lilith. References to "she rides/from the daylight in chains" reflect traditional methods for binding demons. The song also appears to take inspiration from the poetry of Christopher Brennan, in particular part xiii of the "Lilith" sequence of The Forest of Night: "She is the night: all horror is of her..."

While the album's liner notes expressly state "All songs written by Glenn Danzig", the song "The Hunter" was written by Booker T. & the M.G.'s and Carl Wells. Originally recorded by Albert King, the Danzig version of the song only features slightly modified lyrics.

Folk musician Bonnie 'Prince' Billy recorded a cover version of "Am I Demon" for his 2007 EP Ask Forgiveness.

Artwork and packaging

Original LP, CD, and cassette versions of the album cover had no identifying text whatsoever, only a white skull on a black background. The skull, also used on the Samhain albums Initium and November-Coming-Fire, was taken from the cover of the Marvel comic book The Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior (issue 8). It was drawn by the artist Michael Golden.

Later pressings of the compact disc added the Danzig band name logo in the lower right. While 1990-1998 pressings of the CD had the Parental Advisory label in the form of a sticker on the cellophane wrap, pressings since 1998 have the label printed on the artwork. Danzig is one of few albums labeled as "explicit" despite the virtual absence of profanity, save for one use of "whore". Glenn Danzig commented on this use of the advisory label: “That's because of its content. We're making people think. You're not allowed to make people think in the United States. You're not allowed to have them question the government or authority.”

Reception

Music videos

Music videos were released for the songs "Twist of Cain", "Am I Demon", "Mother" and "She Rides". Upon its release the music video for "Mother" was banned by MTV for containing controversial imagery. All four music videos later appeared on the Danzig Home Video.

Track listing

1. "Twist of Cain" – 4:17
2. "Not of This World" – 3:42
3. "She Rides" – 5:10
4. "Soul on Fire" – 4:36
5. "Am I Demon" – 4:57
6. "Mother" – 3:24
7. "Possession" – 3:56
8. "End of Time" – 4:02
9. "The Hunter" – 3:31
10. "Evil Thing" – 3:16

All songs written by Glenn Danzig, except "The Hunter" by Booker T. Jones, Al Jackson, Jr., Donald Dunn, Steve Cropper and Carl Wells

Credits

Production