Fan Poll: Top 5 Misfits Songs | Revolver

Fan Poll: Top 5 Misfits Songs

See which horror-punk classic beat out "Last Caress" and "Astro Zombies"
Danzig Misfits Early Eighties Getty , Alison Braun/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Danzig with the Misfits in the early Eighties
photograph by Alison Braun/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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The Misfits' catalog isn't an easy one to rank. With multiple different eras of the band — the original years, their reformation when vocalist Michale Graves replaced Glenn Danzig, and the subsequent reunion with their founding frontman — and a discography that's spread across seven studio albums and several compilations that are just as essential, whittling down the horror-punk originators' playbook into a handful of standouts is quite a lofty undertaking. Nevertheless, we asked and the answers you gave were just as sprawling as we expected. Below, are the top five vote-getters.

5. "Dig Up Her Bones"

This anthem from the Michale Graves iteration of the band is an obvious Misfits all-timer. Arriving shortly after the group reformed in 1995, it was the only single from 1997's American Psycho, the first album in which Graves replaced Danzig on the mic. There are only a handful of bands in history who've been able to successfully reunite with a brand new vocalist, but this song's chunky riffage and enormous refrain proved that their reformation wasn't a sloppy cash-grab, but the beginning of a fresh and vital new era.

4. "London Dungeon"

Although many Misfits songs take inspiration from the supernatural and are obviously fantastical, this eerily-titled track is anything but. Originally released on 1981's 3 Hits From Hell EP, and then later included on the essential Misfits compilation, "London Dungeon" was written while Danzig and then-guitarist Bobby Steele were locked up in a Brixton, England, jail after a nasty fight with some skinheads. Deciding to use their time wisely, the pair crafted a punk tune about the "British hell" they were confined to for a couple nights, and its clangy reverb and desperate wails recall that dank environment.

3. "Astro Zombies"

This beloved album track from the band's 1982 debut album, Walk Among Us, shows just how fun the standard Misfits formula can be. With just a few simple power chords, a jittery rhythm and Danzig's signature howl, the band turned a tale about an army of mutant zombies — inspired by the infamous 1968 b-horror movie, The Astro-Zombies — into catchy horror-punk perfection.

2. "Last Caress"

Despite this song's controversial lyrics about rape and murder, which Danzig recently commented on in a polarizing interview, "Last Caress" remains the band's most iconic song to date. After initially appearing on their 1980 EP, Beware, the four-chord jaunt became a go-to cover song that's been covered by the likes of AFI, NOFX and most prominently, Metallica, who slapped it into a medley with the Misfits' 1983 track "Green Hell" for their 1987 release, The $5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited. Its over-the-top lyrics are certainly shocking to hear in 2021, but the music is timeless as ever.

1. "Hybrid Moments"

This standard from 1996's Static Age may not be the most notable Misfits song, but their sound really doesn't get much better than this. It was initially recorded way back in 1978, and it's from an era of the band when Danzig was wearing his classicist vocal influences on his sleeve. His delivery on this track's stupendously ascending hook has been repeatedly compared to that of Roy Orbison, and hearing him belt atop the stomping drums and perfectly blown-out guitars never gets old.