Michale Graves

Illusions Live – Viretta Park

[3/5]

Some will inevitably dismiss this record immediately, either because they never got over Michale Graves taking Glenn Danzig’s place in the reconstituted Misfits from 1996 to 2001, or because of his staunch conservative views infamously highlighted during the 2004 presidential election. That’s a shame, because his solo work isn’t half bad, as the handful of his releases since 2001 attest. Illusions Live has the horror-punk purveyor stripping things down to just him and his acoustic guitar (accompanied occasionally by a second guitarist), revisiting Misfits tunes (“Fiend Club,” a powerful “Shining”), as well as older solo material (“Beware,” “Butchershop”) and performing a bunch off 2007’s Illusions (the exceptional “Almost Home,” the lyrically intense “Wormwood”). The finest tracks are the most sweetly sad, like “Ophelia” and “Scream,” though they’re not all winners (avoid “Crying On Saturday Night” and “Lucifer I Am”). This beautifully emotional live record adeptly showcases Graves’ songwriting and vocal abilities. (SCREAMING CROW) Janelle Jones