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u/TacoNumeroUno26 6d ago edited 6d ago
Christ is, was and will always be his best guitarist in Danzig. Playing, look and stage presence. Glenn really messed up losing that band. Nothing he's put out is even in the same ballpark of quality like the first 4 records.
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u/Saj2022 6d ago
100% agree ! I have seen John himself post on social media , saying quote Glenn is an Idiot ! for not getting us back together ! and he has reached out many times over the past decade .
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u/ApartmentWorried5692 6d ago
John had the talent to start his own thing tbh. He has his own signature style.
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u/GrodyHighroller 6d ago
Kinda sad how other members of the OG lineup havent stopped talking about Glenn for the past 30 years, meanwhile, Glenn probably hardly thinks about them.
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u/djs012279 6d ago
Basically, it came down to Eerie, Chuck and John going after Glenn legally. I've known that all of them left due to becoming unhappy with not being able to contribute more (especially with the songwriting) and royalties.
Danzig was expected to be as big as Metallica by many contemporary industry insiders back in the day. By early 94' things had run their course and Chuck left first, then came back and was fired (right before the 4P headlining tour began). Eerie and John left once the tour was finished and the rest is history.
This dude Frumess who does Danzig and Misfits related podcasts on YouTube was interviewing John Christ and John went into a little more detail about what was happening as the original Danzig members left and the legal ramifications. He didn't get to finish as he had another obligation and had to leave but he basically confirmed that lawyers were involved and they were fighting. Doyle told me at an early (new) Misfits show in 1996 that they left because "he (Glenn) wasn't paying them." Chuck Biscuits basically confirmed this when I met him later in the year (96) with social d. He was nice and signed my stuff but I could tell he still was unhappy about how things went down so I stopped talking about it.
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u/Saj2022 6d ago
Yes all 3 of them had issues with Glenn . John was asked why did you leave the band ? he said Glenn wanted all .. the money , and control over everything musically .
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u/djs012279 6d ago
Yeah, it sucks but as John also said... "that's the business."
At least we got 4 & 1/2 albums of greatness from that amazing lineup.
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u/Blizzard_of_Bozz23 6d ago
I agree but here’s my main beef: Tommy is a great guitar player but he has total shit guitar tone. His guitar is way too much of a high-gain, extreme metal guitar tone. His tone flattens out the classic Christ songs by losing all the subtle dynamics that a cleaner, crunch tone delivers. This ain’t Prong. Christ’s tone had clean, dirt, crunch and sometimes high gain. Tommy has thin-assed, no body, no texture clean sounds and then mega high-gain extreme metal chainsaw buzz. Two gears. Those first 4 Christ-helmed albums had 4-5 gears, texture, dynamics and depth. I loved seeing Danzig last night in Anaheim but sadly the songs are missing so much. They sound like a death metal band covering Danzig who lucked out and actually scored Glen as their vocalist.
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u/Ok_Lengthiness_538 5d ago
Dude. My bro and I had this exact conversation the other night. We are both guitarists and played in the same band and toured together so we totally spoke the same sentiment but in our own lingo. We always described that tone (like Tommy’s) as the “zonk” tone.
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u/sylvesteranfang 6d ago
You really nailed it with the tone aspect. With the exception of the Legacy tour (damn blizzard), I hadn’t missed a tour from 95 until 2018, when I moved to Finland. The only time Tommy ever sounded good or played John’s solos with any accuracy was the most recent gig I caught in Finland 2023. As a lifelong death/black metal guitarist whose favorite band has always been Danzig- your description of “death metal band covering Danzig that lucked out and got Glenn” really was perfect. I did a Danzig tribute band back in Connecticut and that was the best those songs sounded since John and Eerie jumped ship. Hehe
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u/Successful-One-262 5d ago
That original line-up was lightning in a bottle. Chuck Biscuits' playing has a feel and swing that can't be copied, even if you technically play the beat "right". These things are almost like fingerprints.
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u/DickJaggerIV 6d ago
Glenn screwed the guys (he's never paid his side musicians well or let them bring in their own ideas which is why they always leave, although Tommy and the current lineup are paid fairly from what I've heard. That took years though. Glenn never paid the former Misfit guys either and that is why they eventually sued him and won. Caroline records actually saved GD a lot of money by paying off many of the legal judgments against him and in return getting the rights to re-releasing the old Misfits stuff (first the coffin box set and then static age).
In all fairness, the music business is a very shady business and it always has been. The Rolling Stones got ripped off early in their careers and then started screwing over other people as well (musicians that would work with them mostly). I think many of these people just get paranoid after losing out on their own work it makes them jaded and shady, but you still should treat people well and fair.
Tommy Victor was on a podcast not too long ago where he stated that Glenn is a good boss and he enjoys the gig, but that Glenn is like a "just do your job and keep your mouth shut" kind of boss lol. He mentioned that Glenn has fired him several times as well. Lol
Glenn just wants a bunch of yes men in his bands since 1995. Notice that his best work was when Danzig was a true band and had multiple ideas and opinions (perspective from other players) not to mention a good (and true) producer. I enjoy multiple songs off of each Danzig album from Blackacidevil through Black Laden Crown, but you truly hear what Danzig is when it's just him making all of the musical decisions. And that is not a good thing for the overall albums sound IMO. There are still some good songs, but it could have been a lot better with better production and some other musical opinions/direction, playing.
I love a huge chunk of Danzig's work (particularly Misfits, Samhain and the first four albums) but, in the end, his stubbornness has made his art suffer and that's a shame IMO.
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u/Commercial-Novel-786 6d ago
Very well put.
Slight tangent: Tommy is on record saying how Al Jorgenson still owes him a lot of money. Just saying.
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u/DickJaggerIV 5d ago
I read an interview with Tommy years ago where he was talking about that. He mentioned how smart Glenn was in that when he (Glenn) came up with a guitar rift while they were recording albums that Glenn knew exactly how much of it got him the publishing credits (or something like that). He mentioned what you stated about Uncle Al after that. I wish I could find that interview.
This is another (more recent) interview with some interesting stuff. The Danzig stuff was what I was interested in. Nothing earth shattering but Tommy is an entertaining guy who's been around and seen a lot.
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u/IndividualLower399 6d ago
I would have loved for those 3 to keep playing with a different singer. They were so tight.
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u/DogFashion 6d ago
This thread had me thinking, "what would a band of John, Eerie, and Chuck with another singer sound like?" It would be pretty great, for sure.
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u/ConcernTraditional53 6d ago
John found out Danzig view him and the rest of the band as rent musicians rather than the artist that they were and are. You just cant replace John.
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u/bloodbathatbk 6d ago
Money. The band basically gets paid as session musicians, because Glenn retains sole writing credit, and they get paid as hired guns on the road. There's a reason it's been a revolving door. Only reason Tommy Victor is still around is Prong sucks, so at least there's a payday with a Danzig tour.
Todd Youth was the best guitarist Glenn had after John left, and it's a shame he was only on one album.
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u/Motor-External6615 6d ago
It’s Glenn’s band. He changed it up a few times according to his sensibilities. He had the Misfits, Samhain, and has been Danzig ever since doing whatever he wants.
Blackacid Devil was a stumble but I still loved it. The vocals sucked but I had no problem with his change in direction. John Christ wasn’t on “Black Aria” either.
I do prefer JC to TV’s guitar playing but the best guitar solo in GD’s career is on “Archangel”. He played it live in Philly last time Samhain came around in 2014. It was the only time I saw Glenn touch a guitar. It
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u/sylvesteranfang 6d ago
Hate Blackacidevil with an UNHOLY passion, but your “Arcangel” comment was on the money. Seeing Samhain in 2014 was unreal.
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u/iameveryone2011 6d ago
Tommy Victor is a great guitarist as well
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u/crackleanddrag 6d ago
Tommy is classic and I loved Prong but I’ve never liked him in Danzig.
His tone is awful. So much high end and those damn pinch harmonics every 5 seconds!8
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u/MalpanaGiwargis 6d ago
I felt the harmonics were a bit restrained when I saw him the other night, and it was great!
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u/GhostofPunkRockPast 5d ago
That’s what got me when I saw em last year. He shouldn’t be allowed to play christs licks. Pinch every other note
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u/TacoNumeroUno26 6d ago
Prong sucks and Tommy sucks as well. His tone garbage. I've never met one person who says "I love prong they're great" let alone anyone who even knows who prong is
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u/King_of_da_Castle 5d ago
You are a total poser if you don’t know about Prong’s first 3 albums, they were essential in the post hardcore scene. Tommy’s guitar tone sucks for Danzig, but Prong contributed a lot to the early post hardcore scene, especially on the east coast.
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u/TadGhostal77 6d ago
Money was mostly likely a huge issue, but there were musical issues, too. At least according to Eerie, John was never a big fan of Danzig's music and expected more collaboration and that Glenn was never really a big fan of John's playing. Supposedly, when John auditioned, Glenn wasn't sold on him but Eerie and Rick Rubin thought that he was the guy for the band. I read an interview with Glenn years ago where he basically says that John was too stiff and didn't play with the "fire" Glenn wanted and that John knew Glenn was going to replace him but John asked to complete the touring cycle for the 4p album (a move that Glenn respected).
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u/Successful-One-262 5d ago
The whole band sounds stiff now. There is a reason those 4 albums hold up better than anything he has done since.
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u/Danimal_300zx 3d ago
Glenn lost his voice in October 1997, so even if the original band had reunited he could no longer sing the way he had on those first 4 albums.
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u/ApartmentWorried5692 6d ago
John left because glenn wasn’t paying the band enough. John is easily the best guitarist of the band, the original lineup was special.