Hello everyone, your resident Amazon and Shida Army General, The Oracle aka The Canary is bringing you his review on the new Rob Zombie album. For the first in it’s history, the Musical Hippie is getting a taste of Metal from yours truly, the resident metalhead and Joshi Prime Minister. Let’s get heavy!
So just a week and a half ago, the legend and film maker Rob Zombie, released his seventh full length studio album “The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy” and despite the absurdly long and ridiculous title, the album is actually a step up better than his previous album which also has a long ass title. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Zombie. And to me, the guy doesn’t have a bad album. The beauty about him is, he doesn’t give a zero fuck and does whatever he wants which is a rare find these days in the music industry. Most of the time, when an established artist steps out of bounds after having a consistent sound, fans shit on it for example: “Chinese Democracy” by Guns N Roses. Granted the album took over 15 years to get done and the songs were a far cry from classic Guns but when you listen to the album now, it’s really not bad. There’s some decent tracks. An underrated gem is “Shackler’s Revenge” but overall it isn’t bad. But this isn’t a review on that album. This is Rob Zombie we’re talking about. I’ll talk about that album another time but for now let’s talk about this latest offering.
The album starts off with an intro called “Expanding The Head of Zed” that segues into the first single off the album “The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition). The track itself has almost the same start up as “American Witch” from his third album “Educated Horses” but it’s far from it. The song has a little funk to it but that’s the beauty of it. Zombie has literally taken what Alice Cooper did with his “Welcome To My Nightmare” concept album to a whole another level. Which leads to the next track, “The Ballad of Sleazy Rider” which sounds like an Alice Cooper mashup of “Hey Stoopid” and “Feed My Frankenstein”. Unlike the previous track which had a little funk to it, this one is straight out hard rock and definitely I can see as a sleeper track. The next track is an interlude called “Hovering Over The Dull Earth” I won’t talk about the interludes because sometimes they’re good and some are bad but that’s on every album. After the interlude the next track is “Shadow Of The Cemetery Man”. Definitely sounds like an up tempo version of Eurythmics “Missionary Man”. John 5 definitely shows his guitar ability that makes him one of my guitar heroes. The next track is an interlude called “A Brief Static Hum and Then the Radio Blared” that goes into the next track “18th Century Cannibals, Excitable Morlocks and a One-Way Ticket on the Ghost Train” which definitely has a country twang to it that looks like it would fit in his Devil’s Rejects film. Definitely an unexpected surprise after hearing such straight up rock songs but I dig it. It’s definitely stands out on the album that’s for sure. The next track is the second single called “The Eternal Struggles of the Howling Man” which I’m sounds like a Deep Purple song sped up on steroids mixed with background music of a grindhouse flick which is ironic because if you watched Taratino and Rodriguez double feature Grindhouse, he created a fake trailer in there called “Nazi Women of the SS” which stars wrestler, the late Andrew Martin aka Test. It also happens to be the name of a song on his Hellbilly Deluxe 2 album. The following track “The Much Talked of Metamorphosis” is a mellow instrumental track that is a beautiful guitar piece that clearly highlights John 5’s insane guitar ability. I been a fan of his since his days with Marilyn Manson and as I stated he is one of my guitar heroes. Dude is an phenomenal guitarist and I definitely recommend checking out his work. The next track sounds like a cross up between Bile’s “In League” Ramone’s “Rock N Roll Radio” and Deep Purple’s “Space Truckin'” called “The Satanic Rites of Blacula”. This is definitely one of my favorite tracks on the album next to the instrumental that was the previous track. The next track is an interlude called “Shower of Stones” that leads into the next track that’s for all you women and smokers of the herb called “Shake Your Ass-Smoke Your Grass” that sounds like Marilyn Manson’s “Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon” and from his fifth album, “Dead City Radio”. Another favorite and this one hits in your system. The clearly underrated track on the album. The next track is called “Boom-Boom-Boom” that has a bluesy feel to it. Now I want to say all the best tracks are near the end of the album but that’s not the case. Me personally, a lot of my favorite tracks are in the second half of the album. Despite the blues sound, this thing also hits good and I can definitely see everyone just chilling with their alcohol and smoking in a dim lighted room or garage. It’s a mellow track that even those who don’t really listen to rock or metal can enjoy. The next track is another interlude called “What You Gonna Do With That Gun Mama?”It definitely sounds like the Trevor Rabin track “Gotta Have It”. The next track is called “Get Loose” which definitely sounds like he used a part of “Living Dead Girl” in there mixed with Ozzy’s “Let It Die”. Definitey has a vibe that you can easily sing along too. I can definitely see this song being performed live and just hearing the fans sing it, whenever that happens. The next track is the final interlude of the album called “The Serenity Of Witches” has a little sinister feel that fools you into thinking it’s going to sound evil but it’s really not. Sounds like intermission before the next act which is the final song on the album called “Crow Killer Blues”. It’s a shame because this song definitely sounds like it should’ve kicked off the second half of the album but it didn’t. It’s alright though, this album had more than enough tracks that I liked and shows Zombie can do whatever he wants. I mean I can’t be wrong when the album is number 1 on the billboard for Hard Rock and Rock albums and number 9 on the whole chart itself. Every studio album he has done has made the top 10 easily. Say what you want but the guy has staying power and has earned the right to do as he pleases. Hopefully concerts can start back up soon because I would love to see him and John live.
So there you have it folks. My review on the latest Rob Zombie album. If you haven’t listened to it, go ahead and give it a listen. It’s available on Spotify and Apple Music. You can purchase it in stores on Cd, or Vinyl. Quite honestly as much as I love his very first album, I really been loving his last 3 albums. I like to think this album alongside The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser and Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor is his triptych equivalent to Marilyn Manson’s Antichrist Superstar, Mechanical Animals and Holy Wood (In The Shadow of the Valley of Death). Question is, which is the first, last and middle album. You decide but give those albums a listen as well.
Anyways, Musical Hippies first metal review is now officially in the books. I give it a 4 out of 5 ♥. I am the resident metalhead Amazon and Shida Army General that also serves as the Joshi Prime Minister, The Oracle aka The Canary. Look for me on Twitter and Instagram. Will have a podcast up and running soon. Only one thing to say, I love love love you all so much. Stay awesome and remember be nice to each other. Stop with the hate and share the love. One love that is. And remember Zero Mideo, means zero fear. Oracle, out!
The Musical Hippie 