Quick Spins
Wednesday, February 18, 2004; Page C05
Washington Post
PROBOT
Probot
Dave Grohl is a greedy man. It wasn't enough for him to drum for Nirvana, the biggest band of the '90s. Nor is he content to play guitar and sing for his own successful rock group, Foo Fighters. Nope.
Unsatisfied with his portion of life's generosities, Grohl recorded an album's worth of skull-smashing instrumentals in his basement, then mailed them to all the underground metal singers he worshiped as a teenager. His request: Please return with vocals.
Infuriatingly enough, everybody did it: Tom G. Warrior from Celtic Frost. Cronos from Venom. King Diamond from Mercyful Fate. Don't you just want to punch the TV when you see Probot's first video, "Shake Your Blood"? There's Lemmy from Motorhead -- Lemmy! -- pounding a bass and unleashing his wonderfully lycanthropic vocals while Grohl twirls a drumstick and wears a Richie Rich grin. And just to rub salt in our wounds, Grohl has half-naked lesbians -- actually Goth models from the infamous Suicide Girls Web site -- writhing around the stage. Despicable.
The rest of Probot's CD is equally disheartening, because it isn't the disjointed mess that you'd expect from 11 different vocalists.
Oh sure, Kurt Brecht from D.R.I. sounds goofy singing a tree-hugger tune when the other old dogs are shrieking about vampires and stuff. But overall, there's no arguing with Probot. It was a cool idea. It's a cool album. "I can finally die a happy man," Grohl writes in the liner notes.
Whatever, dude: You're probably already bored with it. Did I mention that Grohl is drumming on the next Garbage CD?
-- Michael Deeds
