Danzig Discography - History

History

Danzig traces its beginnings back to July 14, 1986, when Samhain performed at The Ritz in New York City. In attendance was Rick Rubin, who was scouting for potential bands to sign to his record label, Def Jam. Upon viewing Samhain's performance, Rubin was impressed with Glenn Danzig's powerful stage persona and vocal abilities. He met him after the show and propositioned him. At first, he wished only to sign Danzig, with the intent of making him the vocalist for a hard rock supergroup that Rubin envisioned. However, Danzig refused to sign to Rubin's label without Samhain's bassist, Eerie Von, with whom Danzig had become great friends. Rubin agreed to sign Samhain, and he began making suggestions for the new direction he felt the band should take. Rubin felt the music should be stripped down, and that Danzig's vocal talents should become the focal point for the band.

In 1987, the band evolved into a solid hard rock act, with the addition of John Christ on guitar and Chuck Biscuits on drums. To reflect the change in musical direction, and to avoid having to ever start anew in the event of future lineup changes, Danzig decided to change the name of Samhain to his own surname, Danzig. In 1988, the band issued its eponymous first album on Rubin's then-new label Def American (later renamed to American Recordings). The album featured polished production by Rubin, with heavy, blues-based guitar riffs and Danzig's powerful and melodic vocal performance—a harsh contrast to the gritty, raw-sounding production of Samhain's albums. Two years later, Danzig released their second album Lucifuge.

By 1992, Rubin's involvement with the band had waned and Danzig himself took credit for co-producing the third album, Danzig III: How the Gods Kill. In May 1993, the band released the Thrall: Demonsweatlive EP, which contained several live tracks from the band's 1992 Halloween show, as well as three new studio tracks. The EP provided a hit for the band when the live version of "Mother" (a song from the first Danzig album) became popular on hard rock radio stations. A new version of the "Mother" music video was created using live footage, and the video became a hit on MTV as well, pushing Danzig into the mainstream. In the fall of 1994, Danzig issued their fourth album, which was also successful and spawned the singles "Until You Call on the Dark" and "Cantspeak". However, shortly before the release of that album, Biscuits left the band and was replaced by future Queens of the Stone Age drummer Joey Castillo.

In 1995, Danzig began to fall apart when Christ and Eerie Von decided to quit the group, leaving Glenn the only remaining original member. Many lineup changes happened since and Danzig released six more albums albums: Blackacidevil (1996), Satan's Child (1999), I Luciferi (2002), Circle of Snakes (2004) and Deth Red Sabaoth (2010).

Danzig also recorded the song "Black Hell" for the soundtrack to the 2011 film The Hangover Part II.

Danzig's commented on record singles and the band's approach to releasing singles in America: "Singles? We don't do that in America. Maybe there will be for the European market. In America only people like Madonna and N’Sync record singles."