This edition in
Universal's 20th Century Masters, Millennium Collection series (aka
The Best of Rob Zombie) is somewhat confusing because this little set, packing as it does a powerful little wallop of evil fun, has been released in two versions. The trick is, both of them are exactly the same musically. However, a phyical release includes a real plastic jewel case and a bonus DVD with three unreleased videos. It includes two for
"American Witch," one directed by
Zombie, the other directed and animated by
David Hartman, and you get the
Zombie-directed video for
"Foxie, Foxie."
This
20th Century Masters version of
Best Of from
Universal comes in an environmentally friendly, dodgy digipack with no DVD. The music cops the best tunes off
Zombie's records and lays it out here in all its devilish metallic fury. There are ten cuts clocking in at a little under 53 minutes, and include four
White Zombie tracks --
"Thunder Kiss '65," "Black Sunshine," "More Human Than Human," and
"Super-Charger Heaven," where
Zombie established himself as a
Tesco Vee-cum-
Alice Cooper for the
metal set. Interestingly, these are the weaker tracks -- though they all rock -- when compared to the stellar solo material.
"Dragula," "Superbeast," "Never Gonna Stop," and the nine-and-a-half minute
"House of 1,000 Corpses," the theme song to the film
Zombie directed by the same name. The
industrial rhythms, the churning guitars,
Zombie's sickly growl, and the sheer density of the mixes are what makes these tunes perfect for any rotten occasion. The swampy
"The Devil's Rejects" -- another title theme to the 2005 sequel of sorts to
House of 1,000 Corpses -- starts with a killer
Delta blues slide lick and then moves the
blues toward
metal in one fell swoop. If you don't have the album already, this is a great place to start. ~ Thom Jurek
