Reviews list for Danzig - The Lost Tracks of Danzig (2007)

Ah compilations. The money spinner for record labels to milk acts for all they are worth, keeping racks at motorway service stations stocked with CDs for those long drives or (depending on your mindset) to keep the most avid of collectors occupied. Advertised as the “lost” tracks of Danzig, I soon got to understanding that the only thing lost here was the need to release something, indeed anything from Danzig.

This is just a collection of what sound like demo quality jam sessions and tracks that got left on the cutting room floor and just got swept up and dropped in a box that someone mistakenly stored instead of throwing out. It is clear from listening through just a few tracks that most of these tracks are not complete (maybe that is where the “lost” bit comes in) in terms of ideas or the full rounding of what they started out to do.

First touted as a release by Glenn in 1999 these “b-sides, covers & rarities” are of mixed value and it is hard to say that the eight-year wait was worth it. Listening to it as a fan of Danzig who does not usually seek out this level of artefact detail in a band’s discography it is hard to feel anything other than a bit overwhelmed by this release. I mean it is twenty-six tracks long for a start and given the peaks and troughs over that number of tracks it is a bit much to sit through in one go. I found I had to break up the listen into three sittings. In terms of quality, it genuinely is not terrible, certainly when considering most of the content was not always intended for public consumption at first iteration. Considering the years this spans over the bands career (from first demo in 1987 all the way up to 2004’s Circle of Snakes) you would arguably expect more duds in all honesty. It is still very inconsistent though and therefore hard to pick on any thread to latch hold of really.

I genuinely think the release only suffers due to its form as opposed to any overall quality issues. These were tracks already not deemed worthy of inclusion on releases that span over seventeen years, so this review was never about uncovering any end-to-end brilliant record. What it does do successfully is showcase Danzig’s dark penchant for writing gloomy yet infectious music. Hazy and fuzzy riffs seem to bleed across the album as percussion elements beat out their usual thunderous cabaret. Glenn’s trademark throaty croon compliments most tracks well, although on at least one acoustic piece they do grate more than a little. Covering tracks by the likes of T. Rex, Bowie and The Germs there is an element of variety in here and it is interesting to hear Danzig’s take on these. The tracks are stronger when they stick to their own macabre brand of dark rock/metal, blending doom, elements of stoner and traditional heavy metal as we know they can do so well.

This compilation is worth a listen for the collectors out there, however its relevance to the more casual fan is severely diminished in comparison. In the latter scenario you will notice the occasions where Glenn’s vocals don’t appear to be mixed properly and he feels like he is sat outside of the main proceedings. Hard to give anything above a three though.