Danzig Sings Elvis

I love Danzig. I was hooked the moment I heard ‘Twist of Cain’. I played Danzig I & II into the ground during my early teen years. My wife and I did our first dance to ‘Blood and Tears’ at our wedding reception. The man has never been a joke to me. Danzig buying cat litter? Fine. Dude punching Danzig in the face back stage? Grounds for summary execution.

Still, I wouldn't consider myself a Danzig apologist. I adore the first four albums, but frankly haven't enjoyed much of Danzig's output since the Christ/Von/Biscuits era. Full respect to Tommy Victor, but the magic just hasn't been there with any of the lineups since that golden age for me.

Or at least it hadn't been until I heard 2015's Skeletons, which—admittedly—was a bit of a mixed bag. But it did have just enough highs to remind me how much I still love Danzig. One of my favorites from that album was his cover of The Everly Brothers' ‘Crying in the Rain’. I like it when Glenn shows his softer side ('Cold, Cold Rain' being a particular favorite). So, while some might chuckle at the idea of Danzig singing Elvis tunes, I knew it had the potential to be something really special.

Things get off to a decent start with ‘Is It So Strange’. It's just about what you would expect Danzig singing Elvis to sound like, and Glenn does the song justice. Things get a little shaky after this, with tracks like ‘One Night’, ‘Baby Let’s Play House', and ‘Love Me’ occasionally showing Danzig's weaknesses as a singer at the stage in his life. Hearing him all strained and sandy with age makes me sad in a way that doesn't always enhance the music. It doesn't ruin the album by any stretch, but it does make me wish these songs had been recorded thirty years ago when Glenn was still a magnificent force of nature.

Fortunately, the album hits its stride with Danzig's thoroughly trippy take on ‘Pocket Full of Rainbows’. If you can listen to this song without picturing a David Lynch movie playing to it…well, maybe you've never seen a David Lynch movie. It's such a bizarre choice for Danzig to cover, but damn it if it doesn't work better than nearly anything else on the album.

The off-kilter tone continues with Danzig's surprisingly sultry take on ‘Fever’. And as the second half of Danzig Sings Elvis rolls along, the album's charms begin to outweigh any weaknesses in Danzig's voice. This isn't a perfect album, but there's something sweet, authentic, and…kinda magical about it. ‘Always on My Mind’, ‘Loving Arms’, and ‘Girl of My Best Friend’ are all solid and weird enough to be genuinely transportive… to some bizarro 1950's diner where the patrons have all gone home, and the staff are cleaning up while the jukebox plays Elvis songs. Only this Elvis is just a wee bit evil.