White Zombie. The musical horrorshow that mixed dark pop culture with metallic hard rock has been resurrected on the 4-CD/1-DVD box set Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (Geffen/UMe), released November 25, 2008. The CDs bring together for the first time all 64 original studio recordings released by the band led by Rob Zombie during its 1985-1996 career. The DVD offers nine music videos, 10 live performances, and some hidden gems.
Disc One of Let Sleeping Corpses Lie includes all of the tracks released on the New York City band’s own Silent Explosion label–the four songs on the 1985 Gods On Voodoo Moon EP, of which only 300 copies were pressed; the two songs on the 1986 Pig Heaven EP, which had only 1,000 made; and the seven on 1987’s Psycho-Head Blowout EP, which Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain called one of his favorite albums.
Disc Two encompasses White Zombie’s first two full-length albums, 1987’s Soul-Crusher, which began on Silent Explosion but was re-released by Caroline Records the following year, and 1989’s Make Them Die Slowly. Disc Three offers the three-selection God Of Thunder EP and the band’s 1992 major label debut, La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1, which broke the band into the Top 40, earned double platinum and spawned the Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy-nominated “Thunder Kiss ‘65” and “Black Sunshine” (with Iggy Pop). Also heard is “I Am Hell” from the soundtrack to the 1993 animated flick The Beavis & Butt-head Experience.
Disc Four opens with “Children Of The Grave” from a 1994 Black Sabbath tribute album and “Feed The Gods” from that year’s Airheads soundtrack album. The centerpiece, however, is 1995’s Astro-Creep: 2000, Songs Of Love, Destruction And Other Synthetic Delusions Of The Electric Head, which ranked in the Top 10 for two months, was certified triple platinum and spun off the Modern Rock Top 10, Grammy nominated “More Human Than Human.” The 64 Let Sleeping Corpses Lie recordings conclude with 1996 soundtrack contributions to Escape From L.A., Beavis And Butt-head Do America and The Crow: City Of Angels, with its Grammy nominated cover of the disco hit “I’m Your Boogieman.”
Among the DVD’s videos are those for “More Human Than Human,” winner of the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hard Rock Video, as well as “Thunder Kiss ’65,” “Black Sunshine,” “Super-Charger Heaven,” “I’m Your Boogieman” and “The One.” Live performances include “Soul-Crusher,” “Spiderbaby (Yeah Yeah Yeah),” “I Am Hell” and “Creature Of The Wheel.”
White Zombie officially disbanded in 1998 after the release of the Hellbilly Deluxe, the triple platinum solo debut for Rob Zombie, who has since enjoyed continued success both on record and as a film director with his vision of the dark side.
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