Probot - Probot (2004)

So Dave Grohl is a headbanger. Cool. The former Nirvana/current Foo Fighters frontman lays down this heavy set featuring a different metal vocalist from the bands who've inspired him and also decides he wants to play all the instruments (except for a few instances). I'm going to begin first with the not-so-great. I've noticed that, generally, bands begin albums quite strongly and then cop a lemming and walk off a cliff. (This obviously does not apply to great albums, just other middling affairs.) Probot is guilty of the same. Sure enough, "Centuries Of Sin" opens the album with a boom, followed by the excellent "Red War" with Max Cavalera. Need more? Well, no true heavy set is complete without Lemmy and he does vocal duties for "Shake Your Blood," a sweet little crash and thrasher. "Access Babylon" then gives us Mike Dean and in true COC fashion, this awesome song is short, brutal and ends in less than 90 seconds. So short, you can hear it in its entirety.

Yet after "Silent Spring," I was quite disappointed with the first blah track, "Ice Cold Man," featuring Kim Thayil, formerly of Soundgarden, on guitar. "The Emerald Law" kind of resumes the "this is a great album" pace, but then we're let down again with "Big Sky," "My Tortured Soul" and "Sweet Dreams," featuring King Diamond. Even the "hidden" track "I Am The Warlock" with Jack Black is not good. Jack Black has great energy, but he adds a whole lot of camp to everything, and he really has no place among these other fellows, friend of Dave Grohl or not. Perhaps I'm just bitter Tom Araya from Slayer couldn't participate. Perhaps I'm even more irritated at the continued inclusion of the "hidden" track, an overused and stupid parlor trick -- what, do they think I'm not going to notice that the last song ends at four minutes but the track is fifteen minutes long? Otherwise, the first four songs take the cake, for sure. B-