Now I’m not anti-Zombie in anyway but is anyone
else feeling weird about the fact that the man has
more specialty album releases (remixes, greatest hits,
soundtracks, and now a live album) than he has actual
releases? As good as Educated Horses was in comparison
with his past material, I’m not sure I would
have rushed to put out another, essentially, “greatest
hits” album. But of course, I’m not Rob
Zombie and if his movies are indicative of his personality
than I’m glad I’m not. I’d never
sleep!
As you’d suspect this is a mix of theme songs
and solo material with some White Zombie material
thrown in for good measure. Recorded during the Educated
Horses tour there are no real surprises or much to
get riled up about. That said, it is interesting to
hear John 5 bring the old material, particularly the
White Zombie songs, to life. Seriously the most underrated
guitarist in the here and now, he manages to travel
the straight and narrow when necessary and breathe
new life when necessary. “Living Dead Girl”
and “House of 1,000 Corpses” benefit the
most from his skilled guitar work but it all comes
off a little bigger and a lot more organic than the
originals do.
Overall this is a mostly forgettable release. It’s
not bad but it doesn’t do much to keep your
attention either. I imagine that a DVD would fare
a lot better than the audio does because Zombie always
puts on a good show and without the frenzy it loses
a lot of its luster. If you are a die hard fan then,
of course, you’ll want this but if you already
have one of his greatest hits collections than you
may not be so interested in this.
Key Tracks: “Demonoid Phenomenon” and
“Living Dead Girl”
Reviewed by Mark Fisher |
