REVIEW FOR FEBRUARY 8, 2004 (MARCH 21, 2004)
PROBOT 
PROBOT
SOUTHERN LORD RECORDINGS/ROSWELL RECORDS, 2004
3 OUT OF 5
I guess if I were one of those über-commercial 'zine whores I would talk about how this album kicks ass, how Dave Grohl's into bondage gear etc. Of course, seeing as how I seem to be pissing off the artistes with my reviews (which, of course, results in me continuing to pour hundreds of dollars into this albatross of a site that I call UR without getting much in return) I can't fellate Southern Lord for getting a lot of mainstream press for this kitty. This is a vanity project, pure and simple. Probot is obviously Dave Grohl playacting and whoring himself to as many bands as humanly possible. It's sad, in a way - here's a guy famous for being a member of a band led by a basket case who millions of people worship in a way, and Dave Grohl managed to parlay that into stints with Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age and Killing Joke (of all bands.) No one in the mainstream could give a flying shit about decades-long scenesters like Lemmy, Lee Dorrian or Wino - no, this is Dave Grohl's project. Anybody who doesn't like it can go eat a dick.
As for the music itself, it's average. The problem with the all-star project that is Probot is that Grohl is aping styles left and right while adding to none. The Lemmy song "Shake Your Blood" sounds like Mötorhead, the Wino song "The Emerald Law" apes The Obsessed, Kurt Brecht's song recalls D.R.I. and so on. Sure, Kim Thayil and other guitarists get crumbs here and there but Probot is essentially Dave Grohl putting on a mask and cosplaying musically, which pisses me off greatly. This is what the hype was about? Grohl putting on his "metal" face? I'm not impressed.
Don't get me wrong. I'm happy that Southern Lord's breakthrough into the mainstream was successful. I'm just disappointed all that hype was wasted on what happens to be a mediocre album.
SOUTHERN LORD RECORDINGS
PO Box 291967
Los Angeles, CA 90029
USA
http://www.southernlord.com/
[email protected]
