I. OPENING THOUGHTS
for the month of November (2014), being written live, bytheway at #BCC
(Bramalea City Centre mall), and of all days, BLACK (FUCKIN) FRIDAY!
And while a good 90% the peeps here came to *shop* and "find deals",
I came simply to have a cup of coffee, and do, whatever (blog???).
So I bring to you here 2 of my all-time favorite electronic-themed records,
Skrillex's "Bangarang" (2012) and the "Spawn" Movie Soundtrack (1997),
featuring the likes of The Crystal Method, The Prodigy, Moby, and others,
teaming up with big name rock bands (Metallica, Korn, Marilyn Manson),
indeed, my all-time fave movie soundtrack, to a movie I never seen (btw).
II. THOUGHTS ON SPAWN
"Spawn", for those who don't know, is a comic-book/fictional character
(est. 1992) created by world-famous artist/illustrator Todd McFarlane,
by "Image Comics" (no connection to Marvel or DC, which would eventually
be put into a movie adaption, in 1997, and hyped as "the next big thing",
in terms of comic-to-movie success (ie. Batman, Superman, Spider-Man),
but needless to say, it flopped badly, and was never to be heard from again.
But what it left behind was, no doubt, one of the greatest soundtracks ever!
Featuring collaborations from rock and electronic's finest acts (circa 1997),
creating some thunderous (and some, not so) results and a riot of a record).
III. TRACKLISTING
1. Filter And The Crystal Method - "(Can't You) Trip Like I Do" (4:28)
(40% Filter, 60% The Crystal Method)
2. Marilyn Manson And The Sneaker Pimps - "Long Hard Road..." (4:21)
(90% Marilyn Manson, 10% The Sneaker Pimps)
3. Orbital And Kirk Hammett - "Satan" (3:45)
(60% Orbital, 40% Kirk Hammet)
4. Korn And The Dust Brothers - "Kick The P.A." (3:21)
(60% Korn, 40% The Dust Brothers)
5. Butthole Surfers And Moby - "Tiny Rubberband" (4:12)
(50% Butthole Servers, 50% Moby)
6. Metallica And DJ Spooky - "For Whom The Bell Tolls" (4:39)
(40% Metallica, 60% DJ Spooky)
7. Stabbing Westward And Wink - "Torn Apart" (4:53)
(60% Stabbing Westard, 50% Wink)
8. Mansun And 808 State - "Skin Up Pin Up" (5:27)
(50% Mansun, 50% 808 State)
9. The Prodigy And Tom Morello - "One Man Army" (4:14)
(60% The Prodigy, 40% Tom Morello)
10. Silverchair And Vitro - "Spawn" (4:28)
(60% Silverchair, 40% Vitro)
11. Henry Rollins And Goldie - "T-4 Strain" (5:19)
(30% Henry Rollins, 70% Goldie)
12. Incubus And DJ Greyboy - "Familiar" (3:22)
(50% Incubus, 50% DJ Greyboy)
13. Slayer And Atari Teenage Riot - "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)" (4:16)
(5% Slayer, 95% Atari Teenage Riot)
14. Soul Coughing And Roni Size - "A Plane Scraped Its Belly..." (5:26)
(20% Soul Coughing, 80% Roni Size)
(40% Filter, 60% The Crystal Method)
2. Marilyn Manson And The Sneaker Pimps - "Long Hard Road..." (4:21)
(90% Marilyn Manson, 10% The Sneaker Pimps)
3. Orbital And Kirk Hammett - "Satan" (3:45)
(60% Orbital, 40% Kirk Hammet)
4. Korn And The Dust Brothers - "Kick The P.A." (3:21)
(60% Korn, 40% The Dust Brothers)
5. Butthole Surfers And Moby - "Tiny Rubberband" (4:12)
(50% Butthole Servers, 50% Moby)
6. Metallica And DJ Spooky - "For Whom The Bell Tolls" (4:39)
(40% Metallica, 60% DJ Spooky)
7. Stabbing Westward And Wink - "Torn Apart" (4:53)
(60% Stabbing Westard, 50% Wink)
8. Mansun And 808 State - "Skin Up Pin Up" (5:27)
(50% Mansun, 50% 808 State)
9. The Prodigy And Tom Morello - "One Man Army" (4:14)
(60% The Prodigy, 40% Tom Morello)
10. Silverchair And Vitro - "Spawn" (4:28)
(60% Silverchair, 40% Vitro)
11. Henry Rollins And Goldie - "T-4 Strain" (5:19)
(30% Henry Rollins, 70% Goldie)
12. Incubus And DJ Greyboy - "Familiar" (3:22)
(50% Incubus, 50% DJ Greyboy)
13. Slayer And Atari Teenage Riot - "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)" (4:16)
(5% Slayer, 95% Atari Teenage Riot)
14. Soul Coughing And Roni Size - "A Plane Scraped Its Belly..." (5:26)
(20% Soul Coughing, 80% Roni Size)
IV. TRACK REFERENCE
1. Filter And The Crystal Method - "(Can't You) Trip Like I Do" ★★★★★
2. Marilyn Manson And The Sneaker Pimps - "Long Hard Road..." ★★★★★
13. Slayer And Atari Teenage Riot - "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)" ★★★★★
8. Mansun And 808 State - "Skin Up Pin Up" ★★★★
9. The Prodigy And Tom Morello - "One Man Army" ★★★★
3. Orbital And Kirk Hammett - "Satan" ★★★★
10. Silverchair And Vitro - "Spawn" ★★★★
4. Korn And The Dust Brothers - "Kick The P.A." ★★★
7. Stabbing Westward And Wink - "Torn Apart" ★★★
12. Incubus And DJ Greyboy - "Familiar" ★★★
6. Metallica And DJ Spooky - "For Whom The Bell Tolls" ★★
5. Butthole Surfers And Moby - "Tiny Rubberband" ★★
11. Henry Rollins And Goldie - "T-4 Strain" ★
14. Soul Coughing And Roni Size - "A Plane Scraped Its Belly..." ★
2. Marilyn Manson And The Sneaker Pimps - "Long Hard Road..." ★★★★★
13. Slayer And Atari Teenage Riot - "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)" ★★★★★
8. Mansun And 808 State - "Skin Up Pin Up" ★★★★
9. The Prodigy And Tom Morello - "One Man Army" ★★★★
3. Orbital And Kirk Hammett - "Satan" ★★★★
10. Silverchair And Vitro - "Spawn" ★★★★
4. Korn And The Dust Brothers - "Kick The P.A." ★★★
7. Stabbing Westward And Wink - "Torn Apart" ★★★
12. Incubus And DJ Greyboy - "Familiar" ★★★
6. Metallica And DJ Spooky - "For Whom The Bell Tolls" ★★
5. Butthole Surfers And Moby - "Tiny Rubberband" ★★
11. Henry Rollins And Goldie - "T-4 Strain" ★
14. Soul Coughing And Roni Size - "A Plane Scraped Its Belly..." ★
V. FAVORITE TRACK
mighta actually been more of a commercial success than 'the movie',
at a time when mp3's didn't exist, btw, and when people had to buy music.
So the 'big hit' song (I guess you can say) off of "Spawn: The Album" was
its lead-off track (Track 1) "(Can't You) Trip Like I Do", made by American
hard rock band Filter and American dance music duo The Crystal Method,
indeed, my favorite track, for its awesomeness (and aggressiveness).
It starts off slow and hypnotic, and full of all this techno babble and hoopla,
and suddenly, it's like you're thrown into this inferno of rage (and guitars).
One of the greatest (yet overlooked) moments in genre-mashing history.
VI. OTHER STANDOUT TRACKS
a collaboration of (goth rock icon) Marilyn Manson and (the now-defunct,
trip-hop group) The Sneaker Pimps, as well as its (somewhat hard-to-watch)
music video, featuring Marilyn Manson 'naked', in full "transvestite" mode,
putting aside the BS, the song itself was amazing, and highly underrated.
Another standout track is (Track 13) "No Remorse" by (legendary) Slayer
and (Germany's) Atari Teenage Riot, despite it being somewhat lopsided
(5% Slayer, at most) collaboration, nonetheless, an intense, killer track.
And finally, (Track 3) "Satan", by ambient group Orbital with Metallica
guitarist Kirk Hammett, with their dance-metal salute to one, Mr. Satan.
VII. LEAST FAVORITE TRACKS
but there were indeed some duds on this record, that need be pointed out,
such as (Track 4) "Kick The P.A." by Korn and The Dust Brothers, although,
not a 'boring song' by any means, but for "korn-standards", it's a dud.
And yeah, there's some tracks on this record that were meant to please the
"hardcore electronic" listener, these being (tracks 11 and 14) "T-4 Strain"
and "A Plane Scraped Its Belly..." (long, idiotic title that goes on...), which
amazingly, got the most praise of all tracks on the record, despite the fact,
they were BORING AS FUCK (and complete choirs) to have to listen to.
All in all, the number of *killers* far outnumber *the fillers*, on this record.
VIII. ARTWORK
I'm not a partaker in the whole "comic book/superhero" phenomenon deal,
cause to me, it's just all drawings with words, I don't get the whole "thrill",
but yeah, the cover of "Spawn: The Album" is the work of Todd McFarlane,
and also should note, there's 2 different album covers, one for the CD
(with a silhouette of the Spawn character's face), and one for the vinyl
(with a more colourfully drawn, artwork display of Spawn, in full action).
Tho they both look wicked, I personally like the more simpler (CD) cover,
as opposed to the other (vinyl) geared more to entice the "comic book fan".
The vinyls themselves, btw, are that of a transparent (SATANIC, EVIL) red.
IX. CLOSING THOUGHTS
each track, a collaboration, between an artist/band (past, present, future)
of 2 complete different genres (rock/metal VS. techno/drum n' bass), tho
it been done once before, with the Judgement Night soundtrack (1991),
featuring top, prominent rock bands and rap acts, but wasn't all that good,
with this compilation, it was not only better, in terms of having better songs,
but it felt like there was more time/effort put into each song/collaboration.
Had Spawn 'the movie' actually been a success, yeah, there coulda been
not only a sequel to the movie, but to this amazing soundtrack, but sadly,
it failed, and Spawn (the comic character) would later fade into obscurity.
(FRONT COVER)
(BACK COVER)
(SLEEVE FRONT COVER, SAME FOR ALL 3)
(SLEEVE 1, BACK)
(SLEEVE 2, BACK)
(SLEEVE 3, BACK)
(VINYL 1 & 2)
(VINYL 1, SIDE A)
(VINYL 1, SIDE B)
(VINYL 2, SIDE A)
(VINYL 2, SIDE B)
(VINYL 3, SIDE A)
(VINYL 3, SIDE B)
(ALL TOGETHER)