Danzig 4
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Danzig 4p is the fourth studio album by Danzig. It was released in 1994 on American Recordings following 1993's highly successful Thrall: Demonsweatlive EP and singer Glenn Danzig's 1992 instrumental solo effort, Black Aria. Though it is properly titled Danzig 4p, most fans, and the band members themselves, usually refer to it simply as Danzig 4.
It is notable as the band's final album on American Recordings, and as the last to feature the original lineup of John Christ (guitar), Eerie Von (bass), and Chuck Biscuits (drums). Shortly after the album had been recorded, Biscuits left the band, returned, and was finally fired. Just prior to the album's release he was replaced by Joey Castillo, who also appeared in Biscuits' place for the album's videosingles, "Cantspeak" and "I Don't Mind the Pain". Von and Christ left the band on July 5 the following year, following the tour in support of Danzig 4.
The CD release contains an unlisted or "hidden" thirteenth song that is not included on the cassette and vinyl versions of the album. According to Glenn Danzig, "Invocation" is its title. After track 12, "Let It Be Captured", there are several "blank" tracks, each 4 seconds long, so that "Invocation" is actually track 66. CD Players that display the "current track number" and "total disc time elapsed" in minutes thus read 66 63:06 on the display as the final track starts. This is perhaps an uncanny coincidence or an intentional reference to The Number of the Beast and the song We Are 138 that Danzig wrote during his days in The Misfits.
Since Danzig 4p's original release on CD, its distinctive cardboard packaging has been replaced with the common jewel-case. Like Danzig's self-titled album and How the Gods Kill, the album was labeled as "explicit" despite the virtual absence of profanity.
Track listing
All songs by Danzig.
- "Brand New God" – 4:29
- "Little Whip" – 5:10
- "Cantspeak" – 4:06
- "Going Down to Die" – 4:59
- "Until You Call on the Dark" – 4:24
- "Dominion" – 4:13
- "Bringer of Death" – 4:40
- "Sadistikal" – 5:07
- "Son of the Morning Star" – 5:04
- "I Don't Mind the Pain" – 4:45
- "Stalker Song" – 5:50
- "Let It Be Captured" – 5:17
- "Invocation" (unlisted track) – 2:59
Credits
- Rick Rubin - Producer
- Glenn Danzig - Artwork, Cover Art, Guitar, Vocals, Producer, Piano, Cover Design
- John Christ - Guitar
- Eerie Von - Bass
- Chuck Biscuits - Drums
- Jim Scott - Engineer
- Ken Lomas - Engineer
- Dirk Walter - Photography
- Michael William Kaluta - interior yin-yang "Angel/Skull" Illustration
- Stephen Marcussen - Mastering
Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The Billboard 200 | 29 |
Singles
| Year | Song | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "Cantspeak" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 39 |
Miscellanea
- According to Glenn Danzig, the CD's first pressing was the most-stolen release in history. Its unique cardboard packaging apparently allowed thieves to slip the CD out of many stores' plastic anti-theft containers.
- When released in a jewel case, the liner notes contained a panoramic picture of the four band members in propped up caskets as a Bill Clinton impersonator shook hands with a man wielding a sniper rifle.
- The guitar tracks for "Cantspeak" are really those of "Let It Be Captured" played in reverse, or "backmasked". The instrumental tracks of "Invocation" are likewise backmasked, as is Glenn Danzig's spoken introduction to the song: "All right, let's hear it back". Danzig had used the same effect on the song "Possession", the seventh track from their debut album.
- 4p The symbols on the cover of the album were taken from the alphabet of a secret tribunal group from Medieval Germany called the Vehmgericht. They spell out the word "Danzig." In an interview on Twec.Com on 01/27/2000, Glenn referred to them as "Zehmic runes." The entire alphabet is illustrated in Nigel Pennick's "Magical Alphabets" book, published by Samuel Wesier, Inc in 1992. The following information on the album title was supplied by American Recordings in 1994:
"The Four P movement is an alleged Satanic cult operating throughout the United States. An offshoot of the notorious Process Church of the Final Judgment, the Four P movement takes its name from the Process' original sigil: a swastika like form composed of four interlocking Ps. The Four P movement was supposedly begun in 1967, and has been connected to a number of ritual killings across the country, including the Son of Sam killings in New York and the Manson Family in California."