Astro-Creep: 2000 – Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head

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Astro-Creep: 2000
File:WhiteZombie-AstroCreep2000.jpg
Studio album by White Zombie
Released April 11, 1995
Recorded 1994 at NRG Studios, Los Angeles, California
Genre Alternative metal, heavy metal, industrial metal, groove metal
Length 52:01
Label Geffen
Producer Terry Date
White Zombie chronology
La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One
(1992)La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One1992		 Astro-Creep: 2000
(1995)		 Supersexy Swingin' Sounds
(1996)Supersexy Swingin' Sounds1996
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4/5 stars[1]
Entertainment Weekly (B+)[2]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars[3]
Robert Christgau (dud)[4]
Q 3/5 stars[5]

Astro-Creep: 2000 – Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head (or simply Astro-Creep: 2000) is the fourth and final studio album by White Zombie, released on April 11, 1995 through Geffen Records. The album proved to be their most commercially successful recording, peaking at number six on the Billboard 200 with the aid of the popular hit singles "More Human than Human" and "Super-Charger Heaven". It was the band's only album to feature John Tempesta on drums.

Production

The album was highly anticipated due to the surprise success of the band's previous release La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One. Ivan DePrume, the drummer on La Sexorcisto, had left the band to start Burningsound studios during their touring sessions for that album. The band later recruited former Exodus and Testament drummer John Tempesta for the recording of this album. The album had help from significant industrial musicians, such as the keyboard work from Charlie Clouser, who had worked with artists like Nine Inch Nails, Rammstein, Marilyn Manson, Killing Joke, and more. They had also hired Terry Date (Deftones, Pantera, Soundgarden) to produce Astro-Creep: 2000 for them. According to J., the album is 72 track recording, 48 analog and 24 digital.[6] The entire album took three months to write and another three to record. For the album, the band had a much bigger recording budget and more freedom in time.

Music and lyrics

The album is much heavier than La Sexorcisto, having much more of an industrial metal style rather than the groove metal of the previous album.[citation needed] It has been called "white-trash-on-acid metal".[citation needed] The band also down-tuned the guitars and bass to give it the darker sound that the songs required, going from standard E tuning to dropped C# (1.5 steps below standard E).[citation needed]

Much of the lyrics are also darker and more disturbing than on the previous album, and are arranged more like twisted poetry than La Sexorcisto's pseudo-rap scores, dealing with murder, the undead, blasphemy, satanic elements and other such topics.

Also, as with the previous two albums, many of the songs feature snippets of dialogue from horror and cult films including The Omega Man, Shaft, The Haunting, The Curse of Frankenstein and To the Devil a Daughter. The title "More Human Than Human" is the motto of the Tyrell Corp. from the film Blade Runner and "I am the nexus one, I want more life fucker, I ain't done, yeah" is an artistic rephrasing of lines from Blade Runner.

Rob has said he favors this album to the previous one, stating, "I was never that happy with it [La Sexorcisto]. In some respects, it was probably the best thing we could do at the time under the circumstances; and that this record was exactly what we wanted it to sound like."[7]

Audio Samples

Electric Head Pt. 1 (The Agony)

"Perhaps you had better start from the beginning." - The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

Super-Charger Heaven

"Look, I know the supernatural is something that isn't supposed to happen, but it does happen." - The Haunting (1963)

"Insipientia corde suo, non es deus. Non est vita qui adorem, non es usque ad unum. Es excommunicatus, ex unione fidelium." (dramatization of a Catholic heresy trial), translated as: "Foolish of heart, thou art not a god. There is no life for those who do not adore, and to a man thou hast not. Thou art excommunicated from the union of the faithful." and "It is not heresy, and I will not recant!" - To the Devil a Daughter a.k.a. Child of Satan (1976 - starring Christopher Lee and Nastassia Kinski).

Real Solution #9

"Are you hurt in any way? Do you feel like hurting yourself?" - COPS (TV Series)

"Yeah, I remember her saying, 'I'm already dead.' " and "Well today I want you each to stand up and hold your hands in some stupid symbol... You're gonna get up and scream...You're gonna get up and burn an X in your head." - Taken from the 1994 Prime Time Live with Diane Sawyer interviewing Patricia Krenwinkel, one of the Manson family women. "Why are you still stabbing me, I'm already dead." was, according to Krenwinkel, Abigail Folger's last words. The quote "burn an X in your head" was said when discussing the actions Charles Manson had his group commit.

Creature of the Wheel

"Creature of the Wheel, lord of the infernal engines" and "'And oh brothers and sisters...I ask you to look at him...does he have the marks? Do you see them?' 'No.'" - The Omega Man (1971)

Electric Head Pt. 2 (the Ecstasy)

"I just said up yours, baby." and "Watch your mouth man. I'll say any damn thing I want." and "I'll kill the motherfucker and come looking for you!" - Shaft (1971)

Grease Paint And Monkey Brains

"There's a lot of people who are running now. I could run. Man, there's a lot of people who are running now. You think it's right to run?" - Dawn of the Dead (1978)

I, Zombie

Music/shrieking sound - Awakening of the Beast (1970)

More Human Than Human

The moaning in the introduction of the song is sampled from the film Cafe Flesh.

Blur the Technicolor

"This is the end of your rotten life you motherfucking dope [pusher]" and "and you're gonna get it." - Coffy (1973)

Reception

The album is White Zombie's best-selling album, being certified Double Platinum by the RIAA and selling over 2,600,000 copies in America since its release. There was also a limited 50,000 pressings of this album on see-through blue vinyl. The album has been certified by CAN platinum. The album was nominated the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album and the band's biggest hit, "More Human than Human", nominated the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1996.

To promote the album, music videos for "More Human than Human", "Electric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)", and a live video for "Super-Charger Heaven" were released. In 1995, "More Human than Human" won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video and was considered by Rob to be his favorite White Zombie video.

There were also plans to start filming a video for "Blood, Milk and Sky" after Christmas as well as eventually filming a video for every song on the album.[8] However, these plans were scrapped when the band dissolved.

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Kerrang! United Kingdom "Albums of the Year"[9] 1995 2
Rocksound France "Albums of the Year"[10] 1995 20
OOR Netherlands "Albums of the Year"[11] 1995 23
RAW United Kingdom "90 essential albums for the 90s"[12] 1995 *
Kerrang! United Kingdom "100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die"[13] 1998 20
Pause & Play United States "The 90s Top 100 Essential Albums"[14] 1999 11
Visions Germany "The Most Important Albums of the 90s"[15] 2005 91
Classic Rock & Metal Hammer United Kingdom "The 200 Greatest Albums of the 90s"[16] 2006 *

Track listing

All lyrics written by Rob Zombie. 

No. Title Music Length
1. "Electric Head Pt. 1 (The Agony)"   Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta 4:54
2. "Super-Charger Heaven"   Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta 3:37
3. "Real Solution #9"   Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta 4:44
4. "Creature of the Wheel"   Yseult, Yuenger 3:25
5. "Electric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)"   Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta 3:53
6. "Grease Paint and Monkey Brains"   Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta 3:49
7. "I, Zombie"   Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta 3:31
8. "More Human than Human"   Yseult, Yuenger 4:28
9. "El Phantasmo and the Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama"   Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta 4:13
10. "Blur the Technicolor"   Yseult, Yuenger 4:09
11. "Blood, Milk and Sky[I]"   Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta 11:21
Total length:
 52:01

^ I "Blood, Milk and Sky" contains the hidden track "Where The Sidewalk Ends, The Bug Parade Begins" at 8:45.

Personnel

Band members

Technical crew

Chart positions

Album

Chart Peak
Billboard 200 6 [17]
New Zealand Chart 16 [18]
Australian Album Chart 26 [19]
Swedish Album Chart 30 [20]
Swiss Album Chart 40 [21]
French Album Chart 46 [22]

Singles

Year Title Peak Chart positions
US
Main		 US
Mod		 AUS[23] UK[24]
1995 "Electric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)" 27 — — 31
"More Human than Human" 10 7 11 51
1996 "Super-Charger Heaven" 39 — — —
"—" denotes singles that were released but did not chart.

Use in popular culture

The Song "Electric Head Pt. 1" was referenced in the manga series Black Lagoon and used in the Japanese dub of the anime series (a different, instrumental track was used in the English dub). "More Human Than Human" was used in the 1996 film The Cable Guy.

"El Phantasmo and the Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama" is used in the short film The Evolution of a Gen-X Music Purchaser which will premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Brackett, Nathan. "White Zombie". November 2004. pg. 870, cited March 17, 2010
  4. ↑ CG: White Zombie. Robert Christgau. Retrieved on 2011-10-03.
  5. ↑ 7/95, p.131
  6. ↑ Veneris, Andreas. "Interview: White Zombie/J". VIBE. December 8th, 1995 at Rosemont Horizon, Chicago. cited October 31, 2008
  7. ↑ Engleheart, Murray. "White Zombie Monster Cars & Monster Music". Rip. October, 1995. cited October 30, 2008
  8. ↑ Miller, Gerri. "White Zombie Live & Backstage". Metal Edge Magazine. March, 1996. cited October 30, 2008
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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