Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Rob Zombie - Educated Horses

I've never been able to make up my mind on what my Favourite Rob Zombie album is. I know I like Rob Zombie much better than White Zombie, and I know I will take flack for that. White Zombie was cool and they had their place, but the real talent didn't start to show until Rob went solo.

I will say that the album Educated Horses instantly became my favourite within a couple of listenings, however he has released material since this album that I love just as much, or maybe more. Like I said, I can't make up my mind.

The album opens with Sawdust In The Blood which is a great, dark, haunting, and very ominous sounding kind of track. It's like those opening moments in a movie when the men are trying to hunker down for the night, because when they come rushing out of the trenches in the morning, it will most likely be the last time.

American Witch follows that up, which is cool, but I think this is one of the weakest songs on the album. It's very typically Rob Zombie, and actually sounds a bit like a hang over from the White Zombie days.

I love Foxy Foxy. It's dark, sexy, and has a great rhythm. "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?" It just repeats the pre chorus and chorus after that. This song is why Rob Zombie is the man. Because this song is so Metal, but so danceable at the same time, and without that stupid remixing bullshit.

There's a great Eastern feel to 17 Year Locust, and then it goes all heavy and slick, and creepy and slimy, and all kinds of fun. This is especially fun when you consider that the song is pretty much about cicada, which are the insects that make that crazy high pitched buzz you hear from trees in the summer.

The Scorpion Sleeps rocks. This song has a great boogie woogie and a rockin' chorus, that beckons you to sing along. "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?" This is one of my favourite songs on the album. It's just way too much fun.

After that it's another really wicked instrumental piece called 100 Ways, which I pretty much view as a lead in to Let It All Bleed Out. Now, if you want to talk about good old fashioned Rock villiany, this is the song to bring up. This song is pretty much what The Doors would have sounded like if they had come out in the new millenium.

The longest song on this album is only 4:23 which to me seems short by most of my standards, but this song has that epic length feel. I don't mean in some type of silliness that runs on for too long. I mean it more in the sense that it really takes you on a journey that seems to last forever but in a good way. This is that beautiful dark western like story. There's such a vibe to this song that you'd almost think it was recorded in a shack out in the middle of no where, at night, with only the moon to guide them.

Ride is a decent enough track to listen to, but not much to write about. It's a pretty standard track for him.

The Devil's Rejects is much like Death Of It All. There's this great underlying Western like feel with a great Goth Folk Rock sound that just resonates with such rich audio beauty.

The album finishes with The Lords Of Salem. This song is evil bad assness to the umpteenth degree of Black Sabbath (the song). It's the rumbling evil coming up from the ground to bring terror upon the weak and pathetic. This is how a great Metal song should sound to me.

8/10 - content

8/10 - production

9/10 - personal bias

No comments:

Post a Comment