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Band Name: Scum of the Earth
Album Name: Blah Blah Blah Love Songs for the New Millennium
Rating: 4 / 5 User Rating: 3 / 5
Label: Eclipse Records
Buy Album: Amazon.com
Rate Album: Rate
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Tracklist
1. I am the Scum
2. Bloodsucking Freakshow
3. Get Your Dead On
4. Little Spider
5. Murder Song
6. Altargirl 13
7. Pawnstar Champion
8. Nothing Girl
9. The Devil Made Me Do It
10. Give Up Your Ghost
11. Beneath the Living
12. Get Your Dead On (umixit)
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First off, any record with a naked chick sporting horns and red skin on the cover is unequivocally cool with me! Exactly what you will find here is a gruesome monster of an album as the walking dead dude known as Riggs (Rob Zombie) unleashes his new solo project, Scum Of The Earth, upon the unsuspecting masses! On 'Blah...Blah...Blah...,' we find Riggs producing some of the same type of shock your booty material that helped to make the Rob Zombie project so successful. The imagery and the music is akin to the coolest B-grade horror movie fare, conjuring nightmarish images of she-demons, axe-murderers and scantily clad, super hot chicks just waiting to be splattered amongst a backdrop of wailing, buzzing guitars, mechanized hyped-up beats and far-out sound effects and noises.
'I Am The Scum' is a driving, freakish rocker that is 100% spooktacular fun while 'Bloodsuckinfreakshow' features vampish female vocals during the chorus amidst a flurry of palm muted stop-action guitar riffs. This is exactly the type of stuff that packs the arenas with bloodthirsty fans, enticing them to scream along with the chanting choruses while whipping up whirling mosh pits! Very killer indeed.
As the lead off single and video, 'Get Your Dead On' incorporates all of the elements you've enjoyed in Riggs' past work, with a very catchy chorus and cheerleader of death go-go chanting. It's highly unlikely that you're going to see the complete version of the video for this track on commercial television ala MTV. Featuring plenty of blood as well as non-stop scenes of gore and nudity throughout the piece, this vid is more liable to become infamous than famous. It's a move that perhaps will work in the groups favor, as there certainly is a lot of talk flying around on the boards about it. It's a tie-in for the film Shadow Walker as well, and was produced by Rob Prior, the man behind the movie. So, be sure to keep an eye out for a future DVD or check the net for this must see uncensored clip.
Riggs proves that he can mix things up a bit with acoustically driven tracks like 'Little Spider' (featuring orchestral percussion courtesy of System Of A Down's talented John Dolmayan) and the haunting 'Give Up Your Ghost', which at times is reminiscent of a more sinister Pink Floyd. This track's lyrics are very personal for Riggs as they deal with the recent death of his grandfather, the father figure in the songwriter's life who raised him. It's a nice counterpoint to the more up-tempo fare, giving the record a sense of dynamic balance.
'Blah…Blah…Blah…' also marks the first collaboration of brothers Mike and John Tempesta (Exodus, Testament, White Zombie, Rob Zombie, Helmet…how's that for an ass kickin' heavy metal resume?). Metal fans know Mike as the guitarist for Powerman 5000. Mike Tempesta co-wrote two of the tracks on the record, including the album's first single as well as the ominous Altargirl 13. His brother appears on both of these spooky tunes as well as the album's bang-up closer 'Beneath The Living'. Bassist Clay Others chimes in with appropriately scary bass lines that serve to add to the chills and thrills of 'Murder Song'. The lyrics which grace this track are more over the top than the watered down shock rock of Rob Zombie, so where's the parental advisory? Eclipse Records probably figures that most fans already know what they're in for with this project, but boy do those little black and white banners sell the 1s and 0s…
Brandon Belski (Velvet Revolver, Staind, Static-X) lends his mixing talent on four of the albums hottest songs, while the rest of the fader pulling is handled by Frank Gryner. Throughout the album the mixes are top notch and it's not easily recognizable that the project was mixed by two separate engineers. The key to a great record relies on the tones put to tape, which Riggs and Ben Burkhart pulled off very well, but the mix is equally as impressive, with the bass parts in particular standing out and driving the material throughout the album. Astonishingly, we find another talented production team gracing the project, however unusual. The Neptunes and rap strongman Irv Gotti lend their skills on a track penned by Riggs and producer Michael Beinhorn called 'Pornstar Champion'. Featuring an extended sample of the Queen classic, 'We Will Rock You', this song was originally intended for release on the 'Any Given Sunday' soundtrack (which sucked). Luckily, it finds it's way on to this album. The song's amusingly demented twist on the lyrics of 'We Will Rock You' is as entertaining as it is evil.
One of the coolest parts about this album is the UMIXIT technology included on the enhanced portion of the disc, allowing users to actually mix the track 'Get Your Dead On' to their own personal liking. Not that this first single really requires any remixing to begin with. The knob turning of Frank Gryner on this song is excellent; and I really can't see what you would want to change. Regardless the UMIXIT feature adds value to the package on the whole, incorporating a degree of interaction that makes it fun for the listener by letting them call the shots for a change. Drop the vocals and sing along yourself, if you'd like.
So from out of the left field of the graveyard, 'Blah…Blah…Blah…' comes off as the metal surprise of the year. More importantly, Riggs casts a little bit of light upon the real corpse behind the Zombie sound. This record is crucial, crushing and most importantly, a lot of fun to listen to. Get your dead on, metalheads!
Review by: EF
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