Are The Misfits Really That Influential?
 

I see that ****ing skull logo everywhere on the internet and in real life. Even the most hardcore metalheads wear that skull logo. Are the misfits really that influential or do people just wear their logo just because it looks cool?

Both. It's just one of those phenomena that got popular with a simple logo. There are people out there that wear Misfits shoes and the Crimson Ghost logo, but couldn't tell you the name of a Misfits song. It's a bastardization. For somebody like me, who actually likes the old Misfits tunes, but doesn't buy the clothes, it's as sad as it is not surprising.
But in the world of music, not fashion, they created their own sub-genre, horror punk. I know bands like Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer were influenced by the Misfits. And without the Misfits, you wouldn't have any bands like Wednesday 13, 69 Eyes, or the Horrorpops. I'm not saying that's a good thing, but they did influence a lot of people and create an entire new scene.

I feel like they really are that influential, but of course they have one of those logos that you can wear at anytime.

This. Very influential band for multiple rock genres, with members who unfortunately didn't know when to quit and have been tarnishing the band's reputation. And the logo is very simple & recognizable, too bad people that know nothing about the band (or at least the original band) are wearing that stuff, if that's the case.

Much respect for the Danzig-era Misfits.

danzig was a goul rock crooner. mad props

I don't think they were really that influential.

They might have influenced a handful of other punk bands or a few metal bands but nothing more than that.

As for image wise, I get the impression that most of the bands that use that whole 50s B-movie image thing are probably more likely to be influenced by The Cramps than by The Misfits.

That's not to say I dislike them,although they should have called it a day when Danzig went.

I don't think they mean influential to other bands, I think they mean to people who listen to music and wear that style. >.>

And they had a good gimmick that was marketable.


Happy? ;)

[= Yes.
So they were influential.

I never said that :D

I said that!
>.<

Really? When I hear "was ... influential" I think of how the band influenced other bands, or a genre, or a movement. Not the listeners or fashion styles. The question is more about was the band that influential (musically) to warrant the amount of support they are getting from people wearing their merch. IMO.

That's what I'm saying, so it doesn't concern other music as much as people's choice to wear their merch.
I feel like you contradicted yourself, but I think I'm just misunderstanding something.

Bah whatever. :p: It doesn't matter enough to pick it apart.

^_^ Agreed.

Well, I think with the creation of an entire sub-genre, they proved themselves prolific and influential. Why else is it so chic these days to cover a Misfits song? It is true, though. Danzig was definitely the driving force. They had a few good tunes with Michael Graves, but nothing that really touches "Bullet" or "Last Caress" or "Hollywood Babylon" or "Skulls". Their sound was a little too polished at that point, in my opinion. And now, with Jerry Only being the primary vocalist, its painful to listen to. The dude's pretty tone-deaf.

Jerry Only certainly took advantage of that. It's a shame that the whole Misfits franchise got so popular, the Misfits logo, the Crimson Ghost and the whole image overshadowed the actual music. And the original Misfits had some bitchin' tunes.

It's sad that I would be embarrassed to wear a Misfits shirt these days, even though I love the real Misfits. :(

http://www.muchmusic.com/tv/disband/...eos_header.jpg

i still wear my misfits shirt despite bull**** like this

I have a Misfits hoodie that I still wear all the time. :P

They've been one of my favorite bands since I first heard them. I'm probably one of the few fans of their that enjoys everything under the Misfits name, instead of just Danzig stuff, since I got into them originally through famous Monsters and American Psycho. I actually heard those 2 CDs before I worked my way backwards through their earlier stuff. I even enjoy the newer stuff like the album of 1950's covers where the only remaining member is Jerry Only. ><

As far as how influential they are...I mean of course they are influenced a ton of bands and covers as well, as people have mentioned. Maybe not quite as much as you'd expect just from looking around and "seeing all the skulls" I suppose, but I'd say almost. /shrug

I think they were just as good and influential as most other punk bands around the 80s-90s ish.
But they were some smart mother ****ers to pump out so much merchandise with that logo on it.
I'll bet 90% of the people on the website own something with the skull on it.

I really like the Misfits, and I'm not ashamed to say I've got like 10 things with their logo on it.




lol I said 'on it' so many times..

I never had one though, so I'm not about to buy one now.

For whatever reason, I decided to check out the Amazon samples of that recently. It sounded so terrible...musically and vocally. :( Not that I really expected better, honestly. I'm not a fan of the Michael Graves stuff either.

Seriously? That seems like a gross exaggeration.

Maybe exaggerating,
but not grossly.

I'm just saying, they've gotta be rollin' the dough by now.

they probably made a lot more money off merchandise than all their album sales put together.

musically they are very overrated

If you include the newer-era material, yes. Otherwise? no. If you think that, chances are you're not into that type of music to begin with.

No. No. No. No.

Static Age was a good album though

I never bothered listening to them or checking them out because of their dumb merch. I think of the Misfits and I think they're exactly the same as KISS or the Insane Clown Posse. Ugh.
And "Dig up her Bones" or whatever is terrible. Sorry.

Their best in my opinion. They hadn't put image above music at that point. By the time you hit Earth A.D., looking scary and "being hard" was more important than sounding good and making quality music.

i think their music sounds tired now because they were so influential and we have plenty of bands ripping them off in the years since danzig. post danzig....yeah can't stand it. at the very least you can say they inspired many a teen to pick up an instrument and start a band. that says something.

That says pretty much next to nothing.

Inspiring != Influencing
Being Copied != Influencing
Being Popular with scene kids != Influencing
Having your logo pasted to everything != Influencing

Making music that speaks to people on some level and causes them to have an emotional reaction (positive or negative) = influencing.

How is being inspired not a result of some kind of influence? My hunger could INFLUENCE me to go pick up some food. I think everything you mentioned definitely points to an influence by the Misfits...whether you find it a good or bad influence is up to you.

.

That's just semantics that don't directly affect the argument at hand.

Do I think The Misfits influenced others? Totally! I'm a huge Misfits fan and enjoy their mix of punk and metal. The later sins of their Graves and Only eras don't change the fact they made some excellent music.

semantics...true...but still the things you were pointing out actually are a result of being influenced. and i stand by my point that listening to a band and being inspired to pick up an instrument and start a band yourself is showing that band has a GREAT influence on you. so if all that the misfits was was 10 songs and 1000 kids starting bands because of it...yes i would say they are highly influential.

Had I been born later, I may have found myself thinking the same thing. Luckily I wasn't. It's sad that that's the impression people are getting these days, and we know who to thank for that.

You're listening to the wrong Misfits.

who?

Graves and Only...the ones that kept the band going after Danzig. And their label/promoters, perhaps.

Graves was just a hired gun who was recruited when Jerry Only and Doyle reformed the band and is no longer a member so you can't blame him too much. It's really all on Jerry Only and to a lesser extent Doyle. They should never have resurrected the band.

On kind of a different subject, one of the weirdest things about the Misfits to me is that their popularity seems to increase exponentially by the year. My understanding is that they weren't well known at all during their original run with Danzig as frontman. It wasn't until Danzig got popular as a solo artist in the late 80s/early 90s that more people got into the Misfits and even then they were definitely a niche band. But these days they've somehow managed to permeate the culture to such a degree that their logo has become some kind of pop fashion accessory. Very strange.

I'd say it happened before that. Loads of thrash metal bands were wearing Misfits shirts long before Danzig released anything as a solo artist.

That's certainly how I became aware of them.

i think the merch has gotten to be such a pop culture icon that people don't even really know the music as much as the merch. i've talked to someone about the misfits before because of the shirt they were wearing and they couldn't even name an album of theirs. it was sad.