Misfits – Dea.d. Alive! (2013)

September 11, 2023

I like this a lot more than I have any right to. I fucking HATED The Devil’s Rain, but on the other hand I’ve seen the Jerry-era 3-piece multiple times with multiple line ups (the one with Dez on guitar and Robo on drums was by far the best) and I fully enjoyed their live shows, regardless of how pointless the Jerry-led band is when on paper. The sound here is fast and loose, and whilst in highlights how lazy both Jerry is on bass and Eric is on drums, I can’t help but really enjoy this set. It gives the stinkers off Devil’s Rain a much needed roughness to them, and some of the Graves-era stuff gets a fuckin’ shot in the arm (how fast is this version of “American Psycho”? Haha – crazy!).

Granted, there are some total shitters, like “Saturday Night”, Jerry should have probably left this one in the past. The clearly dubbed audience sounds are just cringe as fuck, and the cover of “Science Fiction / Double Feature” is appauling at best. The production also has a strange hollowness, which is odd because everything is fairly audible. Not sure what is causing that, but hey, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter.

Dead Alive then, is easily, the best thing that Jerry-led Misfits ever put out. That says a lot, I think.