"Ghost Rider" is a song by the protopunk band Suicide appearing on their 1977 debut album Suicide. The song is based on the Marvel Comics Ghost Rider character, which vocalist Alan Vega said "was my favorite comic because it had all these religious, metaphysical things going on in it."
In 1981, Suicide's lead vocalist Alan Vega re-recorded the song for his second solo album, Collision Drive. Vega later expressed his wish that the original version of the song would be used in the 2007 Ghost Rider film based on the comic, but that did not happen.
Contents
Reception
The Atlantic said, "Vega gibbers and swoons over a filthy, driving three-note electronic riff: America, America is killin' its youth. What can you do but follow this trail of incineration across the sky?"
Accolades
(*) designates unordered lists.
Personnel
Adapted from the Suicide liner notes.
Cover versions
R.E.M. recorded a cover version in 1989, which was released as a B-side of the "Orange Crush" single and later was included on The Automatic Box compilation. Double J in Australia described R.E.M.'s version as a "surprising cover for a jangle-pop band". Years earlier, the Henry Rollins Band "delivered a pummelling and epic hard rock rendering" of the song in 1982, "a great tribute to the pure punk aesthetic" of Suicide.