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The Sinister Urge

Rob Zombie - The Sinister Urge Audio CD

A fair review of the Rob Zombie "The Sinister Urge" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Rob Zombie reviews here, or go back to the Rob Zombie tabs.

Band: Rob Zombie
Title: The Sinister Urge
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-11-13
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Sinners Inc. 2: Demon Speeding 3: Dead Girl Superstar 4: Never Gonna Stop 5: Iron Head 6: Go To California 7: Feel So Numb 8: Transylvania Transmission 9: Bring Her Down 10: Scum Of The Earth 11: The Way You Like It - Adema 12: Black And White - Static X 13: Stop - Dope 14: Halo - Soil 15: Rot - Dry Kill Logic 16: Solitaire/Unraveling - Mushroomhead 17: T.R.I.C. - OTEP 18: Steppin' Away - Stereomud 19: Trouble - Cypress Hill 20: Payback - Flaw 21: White Noise - Sinisstar 22: Body Crumblez - Impur 23: Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja - Lostprophets 24: God Send Death - Slayer 25: Maybe Tomorrow - Mesh 26: Soul Creation - Cinder

Review of the Bonus Disc, not the Sinister Urge
There is nothing special about the Sinister Urge, this is just a bonus CD that comes in a cardboard jacket that is taped to the Sinister Urge jewel case that contains sample tracks from 2001 albums released on Interscope / Geffen Records. This is a review of the BONUS DISC that comes with the Sinister Urge (if you only want the Sinister Urge, I suggest you go get the version that doesn't come with the bonus). All of these songs are not bad and pretty much one of three genres: Nu Metal like Adema, Static X, Mesh and others. Then there is some Death Metal, which I am not a fan of, but if you like it, then this CD should be pretty good, with bands like Soul Creation and Mushroomhead. Then there is old school metal from bands like Slayer and Dope. The CD is worth a listen and if you like some of the bands on the bonus disc, there is an insert with all of the song names, history of the bands, and pictures of the albums that the songs had come from. Take a chance by getting the Sinister Urge with the BONUS DISC, it's the same price as the Sinister Urge without the BONUS DISC.

Good Disk, but not enough
Instead of just copying what worked on "Hellbilly" and "Dragula," he pounds out great song after great song. Sinister Surge has several really strong tracks.

Some of my personal favorites are:
"Dead Girl Superstar" which has a tremendous guitar riff
"Crippletown" which is slower, but doesn't lose it's edge
"Iron Head" which is a duet with Ozzy
"Feel So Numb" which has the coolest sample off the disk (from Manos the Hands of Fate)
and "Demond Speeding" which can be downloaded off of this site.

There were a few problems with this CD, however. Several of the tracks are non-musical samples from old horror movies. There is nothing wrong with that, except when the number of those is close to the number of real songs. The CD run time is about 35 minutes, too short. He pounds out song after song, and then just ends.

Good hidden track, however. The bonus disk which comes with this ASIN isn't all that spectacular. The only really good song comes from the up and coming group "Soil. ".

Good, yet too short...
Also, there are too many horror movie soundbites throughout the album. This is Rob's 2nd solo effort, and while it is as good as "Hellbilly Deluxe", it is too short. If you took out all of the soundbites, that would be like 1/2 the album right there. . . Key tracks include "Feel So Numb", "Dead Girl Superstar", and "Iron Head".

The bonus CD is a plus. It has great established bands such as Static X, Cypress Hill, and Slayer. It also has some awesome but not well known bands such as dope and Dry Kill Logic. A great compilation of artists.

Great Cooper, I mean Zombie Cd
This is not a bad thing, quite frankly it is awesome, its nice to hear an artist change his sound, and these songs have a groove that the previous work did not have. Minus Scum of the Earth and Dead Girl Superstar this cd sounds more like the newer Alice Cooper work than old school zombie (minus Rob's vocals of course). The only ones I don't like are Never Going to Stop (it lacks a good grove, and isn't very heavy) and Iron Head (the duo with Ozzy is cool, but Zombie sounding like Disturbed is not cool).

Return of the Living Zombie
Check. Okay, let's get the checklist: Dreadlock mop. A zillion soundbites and references to Monster Culture. Check. Raspy voice and catchy, crunching tunes. Check. There's only one Rob Zombie, and if you already love him then "The Sinister Urge" gives you more of exactly what you want. If you still (somehow) love "Living Dead Girl" and "Dragula" in spite of mass over-exposure but don't know if you're really into Zombie, then you might want to pass. All Zombie songs sound sort of the same, but like a good Ramones album, that's kind of the point. Zombie sold the same songs from 1998's "Hellbilly Deluxe" to so many movie soundtracks that I began to wonder if he ever needed to work again. If there weren't enough remixes available for you, he even released "American Music to Strip By" which was a complete remix of the entire "Hellbilly Deluxe" album! Finally, some new material (well, mostly)! After three years we only get 11 tracks and one of them ("Scum of the Earth") was previously released on the "Mission Impossible 2" soundtrack. Two other tracks are only soundbites and musical interludes. That means there are only 8 new songs. But it's not quanity, but quality that counts! How are the new tracks? Pretty good. The biggest innovation this time is the inclusion of classical instuments on several tracks like "Bring Her Down" and "Demon Speeding" which brings to mind the metal/ classical orchestral mix of Metallica's "S&M". "Demon Speeding" might be the most powerful track on the new CD, but it sounds like rank and file Zombie. "Dead Girl Superstar" is a pseudo sequel to "Living Dead Girl" and sequel rules apply: it's good but less than the original. The single, "Feel So Numb" isn't the best choice to introduce the CD to the public, but it's fine dark dance club material. "Never Gonna Stop (the red, red kroovy)" and "(go to California)" are the biggest stabs at "something different" and they are worth a listen. The stongest track on "The Sinister Urge" might be Zombie's duet with Ozzy Ozborne, "Iron Head. " The mix of their two different vocal styles makes for an interesting contrast of old meets new metal. The master and the pupil unite.
Finally, Rob's title track to his directorial debut, the still unreleased "House of 1,000 Corpses" is a great Southern Gothic anthem made for concert sing-a-long fun. After that track ends and 4 or 5 minutes of static noise, Zombie offers another hidden bonus track called "Unholy (just like you)" which feels like an unfinished song. It's REALLY short and just includes some more soundbites and a chorus, so I'm not counting it in the song count.

You can see a complete list of all Rob Zombie discography, or go back to the Rob Zombie tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.