Danzig - Danzig IV

About the album title: Initially released as Danzig 4P, a reference to the "Four P Movement" and the fact that this is the fourth volume of Danzig's (eponymous) body of work, this release is usually referred to as Danzig 4 or simply 4 on some occasions. The CD itself and the labels on the vinyl LP also state the title as being simply Danzig 4. In various 1994-1995 interviews, vocalist Glenn Danzig explained that he did not wish to give the album a title, as he felt that a logo or printing would ruin the artwork, which he wished to stand on its own. After pressure from representatives from American Recordings, who did not want to release an unlabeled album for fear that sales would plummet, Danzig relented and allowed a sticker reading Danzig 4 to be placed on the album's cellophane wrapper. To the right of the "4" he added a tiny letter "p", in reference to the "Four P Movement". Artwork and packagings: The album cover features artwork by Glenn Danzig. Glenn Danzig has referred to the symbols on the album cover as "Vehmic runes" that spell out "Danzig". They were taken from the alphabet of a secret tribunal group from Medieval Germany called the Vehmgericht. The liner notes contain a panoramic picture of the four band members in propped up caskets as a Bill Clinton impersonator shakes hands with a man wielding a sniper rifle. Glenn Danzig would later reveal that the FBI considered him a threat to Clinton, the American President at the time of the album release. The liner notes also include a yin yang symbol incorporating the Danzig skull, by artist Michael William Kaluta. The first pressings of the album were sold in a distinctive cardboard sleeve, which Glenn Danzig claimed was more like that of an old-fashioned LP and more environmentally-friendly than the common plastic CD jewel case. Since this initial release of the album, its cardboard packaging has been replaced by the jewel case. Like Danzig's previous three albums, Danzig 4 has been labeled with a Parental Advisory (originally in the form of a sticker until the repackaging in the jewel case) since its initial pressings, despite the absence of common profanity.