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Rating:
Sometimes it's hard to be objective. Take dear old Rob, for example: he's been delighting headbangers with his unmistakable techno-groove metal for 21 years now, juggling between objective masterpieces (the phenomenal "Astro-Creep: 2000" by his epochal White Zombie, or his first solo effort "Hellbilly Deluxe") and other decent albums we might call "workmanlike" (pretty much everything else). Yet the very personal connection I feel with this Author (the uppercase is not accidental) goes beyond his music, beyond the quality of what he offers, beyond the mere judgment of how his records sound: simply put, Uncle Rob and I are attracted to the same themes, we adore the same "fantastic" B-movie-esque world populated by monsters, cannibal aliens, and scantily-clad dolls. We like the same things, basically. To put it another way, Rob talks about things I would talk about if I ever wrote metal pieces.
Adding to this his amazing career as a director, the deal is sealed: fifteen years ago, Rob had me spellbound from the first note; with his cinematic debut "House of 1000 Corpses," he did the same from the first frame.
Discussing the now well-known cinematic detour of Roberto the Undead would actually be out of place for reviewing any of his other albums, but in my opinion, in this case, it's necessary: his latest studio work, dated 2006, indeed comes after his experience behind the camera and therefore carries with it a typically cinematic mood and baggage.
In this sense, the themes of the album have not undergone major upheavals, since Rob has always accustomed us to consider his albums as mini-movies, at least narratively. If anything, he has definitively veered away from the frivolous '50s sci-fi in "Ed Wood" style to explore another underground very dear to him, that of freak shows and traveling carnivals, as also suggested by the artwork and at least one song, the evocative "The Death Of It All".
Returning to the music, the tempos become more dilated and introspective, while the song structure becomes more "traditional," favoring an almost hard-rock atmosphere over the classic somewhat rowdy and danceable metal. This is achieved by minimizing the electronic inserts and samples to a couple of female moans in the super-single "Foxy Foxy" and the usual dialogue intro borrowed from some unknown old horror film. Overall, Rob does nothing but express his overwhelming love for the Seventies, which in previous works was mostly expressed in an endless play of film and criminal record references from the decade in question and now expands to actual music.
On this album, what’s "Zombielike" is indeed only the voice, which remains mostly unchanged since the Eighties, while everything else has undergone a drastic upheaval thanks also to the addition of John 5 (if I say ex-Marilyn Manson, don't run away, please), a gifted axeman with a distinctive touch who assumes an almost "retro" approach here, well exemplified in tracks like "The Scorpion Sleeps" (already a CLASSIC) and the two semi-acoustic ones, the aforementioned "The Death Of It All" and "The Devil's Reject" (the latter inspired by protagonists of the film of the same name) with a vague almost western flavor. There are no shortage of more intense tracks, probably meant to shine in live performances (in which Our Guy excels), such as the highly enjoyable "American Witch", "Let It All Bleed Out", "Ride", and the overwhelming "The Lords Of Salem".
Ultimately, at least for the writer, a good album. And above all, in an ever more crowded metal universe of subgenres and fleeting trends, how satisfying is it to finally be able to simply call an album "HEAVY METAL"?
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
02 American Witch (03:48)
Body of a monkey and the feet of a cock,
Dragged from her home on the killing rock,
The black dog dying on the weather vain,
The Devil's in a cat and the baby's brain,
[Chorus]
The End - The End of The American,
The End - The End of The American,
The End - The End of The American,
The End - The End of The American Witch,
Alone on the hill and ready to die,
The cancer of darkness - a blackened eye,
The mark of the wolf and the sign of the calf,
Angels bleed down above the raft,
We all pray for 20 innocents,
We all bow down 20 innocents,
We all hang high - 20 innocents,
We all accused - 20 innocents,
[Chorus]
Do you want to know where their dreams come from?
Some showed the faith and some showed none.
We all pray for 20 innocents,
We all bow down 20 innocents,
We all hang high - 20 innocents,
We all accused - 20 innocents,
[Chorus]
Do you want to know where their dreams come from?
Some showed the faith and some showed none.
The End - The End of The American Witch
03 Foxy Foxy (03:29)
He who gets slapped and he who gets saved,
He who brutalizes the timeless stage.
He is the mongrel, he wants it all,
He lives for relics, hang on the wall.
Don't you wanna ride it?
Educated Horses
Don't you wanna ride it?
Educated Horses
Foxy, Foxy, what's it gonna be?
Foxy, Foxy, what's it gonna be?
Foxy, Foxy, what's it gonna be?
Foxy, Foxy, what's it gonna be?
She who looks back, and she looks away,
She internalizes the motion wave.
She is the butcher,
She wants the air,
She hides the scars under her hair.
Don't you wanna ride it?
Educated Horses
Don't you wanna ride it?
Educated Horses
Foxy, Foxy, what's it gonna be?
Foxy, Foxy, what's it gonna be?
Foxy, Foxy, what's it gonna be?
Foxy, Foxy, what's it gonna be?
Don't you wanna ride it?
Educated Horses
Don't you wanna ride it?
Educated Horses
Foxy, Foxy, what's it gonna be?
Foxy, Foxy, what's it gonna be?
Foxy, Foxy, what's it gonna be?
Foxy, Foxy, what's it gonna be?
Don't you wanna ride it?
Educated Horses
Don't you wanna ride it?
Educated Horses
05 The Scorpion Sleeps (03:38)
Yeah,
Yeah,
Midnight candy four cups of coffee,
I ate my breakfast with a side of eggs,
I saw something in the jungle,
Low in gear - black mudd on my legs,
She was something stretch before me,
Her arms into wings into pillbox heads,
Can the side show - wherever you go,
Two naked figures in my breath,
Can you see it?
If you feel it,
The Scorpion Sleeps right in my hand,
A poison dealer,
An evil wheeler,
How can I make you understand?
Yeah alright - Said it's alright - Yeah alright
A blue light shindig - Well I'm addicted,
Killing black kettle is what they saw,
I feel like something in the congo,
Dead were the women not the warriors,
Last great road show - A canvas tilt go,
Arms into wings into pillbox heads,
Creep the high-go and keep the down low,
Into the mind of a melting man,
Can you see it?
If you feel it,
The Scorpion Sleeps right in my hand,
A poison dealer,
An evil wheeler,
How can I make you understand?
Yeah alright - Said it's alright - Yeah alright
Can you see it?
If you feel it,
The Scorpion Sleeps right in my hand,
A poison dealer,
An evil wheeler,
How can I make you understand?
Yeah alright - Said it's alright - Yeah alright
07 Let It All Bleed Out (04:09)
(One time I saw a Filipino cab driver, cut out a cancer with a rusty butter knife.)
BLEED - BLEED - BLEED IT OUT - YEAH!
A rat on the scraps,
Jaws to the fossil,
Turn into conventional man, yeah!
(conventional man, yeah!) [x3]
Persistance of the system,
Acccumilate collection like a
Hype show on the surface,
(On the surface) [x3]
Let It All Bleed Out
Let It All Bleed Out
Let It All Bleed Out
Let It All Bleed Out!
(Bleed Out!)
High status freaks,
Grandize and screaming,
I'm a Major, Prince, Squire and King, Yeah!
(Squire and King, Yeah!) [x3]
Black tie appearance,
Circus roles for nothing,
All the odd ones leave'em screaming,
(Leave'em screaming) [x3]
Let It All Bleed Out
Let It All Bleed Out
Let It All Bleed Out
Let It All Bleed Out!
(Bleed Out!)
(Let it all,
Let it all,
Let it all bleed out,)
BLEED - BLEED - BLEED IT OUT - YEAH!
BLEED - BLEED - BLEED IT OUT - YEAH!
A rat on the scraps,
Jaws to the fossil,
Turn into conventional man, yeah!
(conventional man, yeah!) [x3]
Persistance of the system,
Acccumilate collection like a
Hype show on the surface,
(On the surface) [x3]
Let It All Bleed Out
Let It All Bleed Out
Let It All Bleed Out
Let It All Bleed Out!
(Bleed Out!)
(Let It All Bleed Out)
11 The Lords of Salem (04:14)
([Crowd Chants:] Zombie! Zombie! Zombie! Zombie!)
I speak the truth,
I dare not tell a lie,
One child is in fits,
The other child dies,
Now the yellow bird sits upon her finger,
The yellow bird a specter lost to linger,
God Hates - The Lords of Salem,
No can ever save them,
God Hates - The Lords of Salem,
No one can destroy them,
Do you think they suffered,
Up on Gallows Hill?
Burn me and hang me,
And I always will,
Tumble like a swine,
A victim of the fury,
Glory to the saint,
Before you start to bury,
God Hates - The Lords of Salem,
No can ever save them,
God Hates - The Lords of Salem,
No one can destroy them,
God Hates - The Lords of Salem,
No can ever save them,
God Hates - The Lords of Salem,
No one can destroy them,
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Other reviews
By GustavoTanz
Rob perhaps dared too much, paying less attention to quality.
'Educated Horses' is far from being a masterpiece, but despite everything, it is not the mediocre CD some claimed it was at the time.
