Walk Among Us is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Misfits, released in March 1982 by Ruby Records and its parent label Slash Records. It was the first full-length album to be released by the band, although it was the third to be recorded, after Static Age and 12 Hits from Hell. The recording sessions for Walk Among Us took place at multiple studios between June 1981 and January 1982, and the album also includes the track "Mommy, Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight?", which was recorded live at the Ritz in New York City. The album features a re-recording of the single "Night of the Living Dead", which was released on October 31, 1979.
Recording
Prior to Walk Among Us, the Misfits had recorded and shelved two full-length albums: Static Age, which was recorded in 1978 but would remain unreleased in its entirety until 1996, and 12 Hits from Hell, which was recorded in 1980 and has never received an official wide release. The recording sessions for Walk Among Us took place at multiple studios. The majority of the songs were recorded at Mix-O-Lydian Studio in Boonton, New Jersey no later than August 1981, and these sessions also produced the recordings for the group's single "Halloween".
The track "Astro Zombies" takes its name from the title of the 1968 film The Astro-Zombies. Additionally, the album title was inspired by the 1956 film The Creature Walks Among Us.
Cover artwork
The cover for Walk Among Us features flying saucers from the 1956 film Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, as well as the "Rat-Bat-Spider" creature from the 1959 film The Angry Red Planet. The first pressing of the album in the United States (as well as the Italian-issued import) featured cover artwork with a pink background and logo, whereas the second pressing of the album introduced a purple background, though the pink logo was retained.
In a 2009 interview with Joe Matera, Danzig expressed his displeasure with the album's cover artwork, stating that "I remember I flipped out on our label because it was supposed to be in all these different colors such as red, black and orange but the way it came out was truly awful. But they had already printed them anyway, though they had not shown us any proofs beforehand".
The album was reissued on November 30, 2018, by Earache Records with six limited-run variant colored pressings, identified by the catalog number MOSH666. Pre-orders for the reissued variants were first announced no later than October 2, 2018, and both the green and purple variants sold out by October 10, 2018.
Critical reception
In his book This Music Leaves Stains: The Complete Story of the Misfits, author James, Jr. writes that Walk Among Us was considered "an instant triumph" among Misfits fans upon its release, and that it was "the record everyone had patiently been waiting for since Beware and 'Horror Business'." In a May 1982 issue of Sounds, music journalist Tim Sommer described it as "a truly awesome album". Forced Exposures review of the album stated: "Just [buy] this fuckin' record".
Ned Raggett of AllMusic gave the album a rating of 4.5 out of 5, writing that "Nearly every song on the album – 13 total, delivered in a light-speed 25 minutes – is a twisted classic, with the band's trademark '50s/'60s melodies run through a punk/metal meatgrinder on full display". In 2024, Loudwire staff elected it as the best hard rock album of 1982.
Track listing
Personnel
Personnel taken from Walk Among Us liner notes, except where noted.
Misfits
- Glenn Danzig – vocals
- Doyle – guitar
- Jerry Only – bass
- Arthur Googy – drums
Production
- Mike Taylor – producer
- Misfits – producers
- Pat Burnette – producer