Danzig: "Skeletons"

Going into this the cover which features a shirtless Danzig who looks more Jack Black cosplaying him than the man on the cover of "Lucifuge" , but it opens with a cover of Davie Allan and the Arrows' "Devil's Angels" which has a rough edged punk production quality making it sound like it could have come off of a Misfits album. So this raised the bar high for the more questionable theme song of movie  "Satan's Sadists" which finds the guitar further behind his sometimes strained voice. Granted this song is more of a crooner affair, but more love could have been given to the vocals like re tracking the flat note on the word child where he sounds like he could lose his voice at any minute. The guitar tone improves on "Let Yourself Go". Danzig covering Elvis is no surprise. It is a heavier take on the song than I expected. Something about it just feels lacking in the energy the Elvis version has.

Now it's no secret Ozzy and Glenn have much different ranges, but it almost sounds he is talking his way through "N.I.B". The stomp they have added to the song works, but I can hear Elvis punching his baritone into this if he had ever covered Sabbath in the Vegas days and what I hear in my head is what I expected from Glenn here. His approach works better on "Lord of the Thighs" which is no where close to hitting Steven Tyler's notes either it just works better here , though the guitar on the Sabbath cover was more dialed in then what is going on here.I suppose he was hoping his fan base would not be as familiar was these songs. "Action Woman" has more of the punch and power that I want from Danzig. It may not be as strong as his more classic work, but holds up to everything post-"Black Acid Devil" . His voice sounds strong and the guitar is thick and in your face.

"Rough Boy" is off of ZZ-Top's "After Burner" album and he brings more of a 50's crooner feel to it, but it works, taking all of the 80s out of it. Up top in a few places he is iffy, but his voice still sounds better than on most of the album. He returns to more of a Misfits like punk on "With A Girl a Girl You" though it isn't as effective as the opener. His voice does have a much needed grit added to it. Sure it doesn't sound like the Troggs , but I'm o.k with that. The guitar improves on the darker handling of "Find Somebody" by the Rascals. The more punk treatment of the chorus should have been handled in a more metal manner like the verses were approached as it sounds a little like a cop-out, but this song still isn't half bad.

The ballad "Crying in the Rain" finds the band pretty much dropping out, but Glenn sings the song well for what it is. I'll give this one a 7.5, if you have ignored the ravages of age he is letting plague him, because there are plenty singers such as King Diamond, Morrissey and Bowie in that age range who can still belt it out, you might be more forgiving . There are a few songs where Glenn proves he still can, he however dials it in sometimes not realizing he need to try and little harder than he used to. This also makes me more hesitant to try and catch him live now. The mix on this album is inconsistent which also plays against it, however if you are a Danzig fan there are a few songs worth having in your iPod.