Misfits - Evilive (1982 / 1987)

I picked the 1987 edition of this vinyl at a record store once, along with "Disco Volante" by Mr. Bungle. I didn't even have a record player but I was on a real mission to protect my virginity that day.

"Raw", "dirty", and "profane" aren't just words you'd use to describe your racist uncle at Thanksgiving dinner, but also to describe this Misfits live album, which could be best described as "cassette tape plugged into sound booth" level of quality, so basically a bootleg, but an OFFICIAL bootleg, y'know? If you took a good portion of "Walk Among Us" into Audacity, and used some filter to make it sound shittier, you could add a cup of drunken stupidity into the mix, and BAM, you have a DIY "Evilive" at your fingertips!

It sounds pretty much exactly as you'd expect it to: A compilation of tracks where bassist Jerry Only occasionally yells "ONE TWO THREE FOH!!" as a signal for vocalist Glenn Danzig to promptly trip over his own lyrics and lose his breath almost comically at times, but damn, it does sound like they're having a royally rambunctious time up there doing the punk rock and shit. This ain't no "Let's gather around in a circle and play "Happy-Go-Grab-Ass" and pray" Cannibal Corpse hippy bullshit, this is PUNK ROCK and you can tell that by the lack of a shit given on a lot of shit, including the unusually loud drums on "Ghouls Night Out" and the (drunken?) guest appearance by none other than Black Flag's vocalist Henry Rollins on "We Are 138" who, despite apparently being a big fan of the band, doesn't seem to know any of the lyrics, hinted by him repeatedly going "WHAAA!!" in the background. The humor in that is only rivaled by vocalist Glenn Danzig threatening an audience member during a song with "ONE MORE TIME, YOU ASSHOLE, YOU DIE!!"

Sounds like it would've been a fun show to attend, but not necessarily a fun one to listen to, because if I wanted to hear the raw, unprofessional sound of a few teenagers ripping up some songs that sound like they were recorded in a steel trash can, I'd listen to the superior "Walk Among Us" itself, because at least that sounds like a stainless steel trash can!

6/10
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Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!