Danzig : Danzig

MOTHER

TELL YOUR CHILDREN 
NOT TO WALK MY WAY
TELL YOUR CHILDREN
NOT TO HEAR MY WORDS
WHAT THEY MEAN
WHAT THEY SAY
MOTHER

Danzig 

is the debut 

studio album 

by American 

Heavy Metal band

 Danzig 

released in 

August 1988.

 The album was

 the first release 

on producer 

Rick Rubin's 

new label

 Def American Recordings

Def American's successor, 

American Recordings, 

reissued the album

 in the United States 

and United Kingdom 

in 1998. 

It remains the band's

 best-selling album

 having been 

certified gold 

in the U.S.

 in 1994, 

and has since

 been certified

 platinum. 

Danzig

 promoted the album

 with a 

successful world tour

 in 1988–1989.

Music and Recording

Danzig 

was recorded at 

Atlantic Recording Studios

 and 

Chung King Metal, 

and mixed at

 Smoke Tree and Village. 

These sessions took place 

between

 September 

1987 

and

 April 1988.

The song

 "Mother",

 retitled as

 "Mother '93" 

and with 

live audience overdubs, 

became a hit 

on radio 

and MTV

 in 1993–94 

after a new

 video-single 

with live footage 

was created to

 mark its inclusion on

 Thrall-Demonsweatlive. 

The song was also

 later included on

 various hard rock 

and heavy metal 

music compilations, 

and featured in the 

video game series

 Guitar Hero.

 It also appeared on

 the soundtrack to

 the 2013 film 

The Hangover Part III.

Glenn Danzig

 originally wrote the songs

 "Twist of Cain" 

and

 "Possession" 

for his previous band,

 Samhain.

 Lyrically,

 "Twist of Cain" 

is inspired by

 the biblical story 

of Cain and Abel. 

Guitarist 

John Christ 

described the recording of

 "Twist of Cain": 

"We started writing 

that song even

 before 

[drummer] 

Biscuits 

joined the band. 

At first we started 

recording it in G,

 then at the last minute 

we decided that A 

was better. 

We kept the 

drum tracks 

as they were 

and re-recorded

 the guitars,

 bass and vocals. 

Not many people know this, 

but 

James Hetfield

 (of Metallica)

 came down 

and recorded

 some backing vocals

 on that track.

" Hetfield also recorded

 backing vocals on

 "Possession";

 however, 

due to contractual reasons,

 he could not be credited 

in the album insert.

 A backwards piano track

 is used during the

 intro to 

"Possession".

John Christ 

has described 

"She Rides" 

as 

"Our first sex song...

it's such a stripped-down song,

 just a couple of 

guitar tracks 

and almost no bass. 

"She Rides" 

probably has the 

best vocal performance

 on the album,

 though. 

There are also some 

really weird background noises 

and moaning sounds on it." 

 Generally the song

 refers to mythology 

on Lilith.

 References to

 "she rides/from the daylight in chains"

 reflect traditional methods 

for binding demons. 

The song also appears 

to take inspiration from

 the poetry of 

Christopher Brennan,

 in particular

 part xiii of the

 "Lilith" sequence 

of The Forest of Night: 

"She is the night: all horror is of her..."

While the album's

 liner notes expressly state

 "All songs written by

 Glenn Danzig",

 the song 

"The Hunter"

 was written by 

Booker T. & the M.G.'s 

and 

Carl Wells. 

Originally recorded by

 Albert King, 

the Danzig version

 of the song only

 features slightly 

modified lyrics.

Artwork and Packaging

Original LP, 

CD, and

 cassette versions

 of the album cover 

had no identifying

 text whatsoever, 

only a 

white skull on a 

black background.

 The skull, 

also used on the 

Samhain albums

 Initium 

and 

November-Coming-Fire, 

was taken from

 the cover

 of the 

Marvel comic book

 The Saga of Crystar, 

Crystal Warrior

 (issue 8).

 It was drawn by 

artist 

Michael Golden, 

who is not credited. 

The skull on the

 album cover

 was drawn by 

Danzig.

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