The Album Reviews:

	Title: Probot Artist: Probot Label: Southern Lord Release Date: 2/10/04	Judgment Committee Reviews	Rating
			4
			3
			4
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Abyss's Review:
In all honesty, I was never really expecting much from this record. When I first heard about it, I was curious as to how it would come out, but it seemed like a gimmick. I mean, I like Dave Grohl, he seems like a cool guy. Whenever I see an interview with him, I always seem to end up laughing, not to mention the fact that the Foo Fighters' videos are one of the few entertaining things on MTV. So all in all it's pretty cool to see him acknowledging metal, considering how much the whole Seattle Scene owed to the genre.

"One word review: Remarkable."

On first listen, this record almost sounds like a tribute album. There's no 'Foo Fighters meet metal' compromise on it. In fact, each song blatantly mimics the sound of each respective frontman's band (except King Diamond's), so much so that it could be confused with parody if it weren't done with such reverence and attention to detail.
The most striking aspect to this album is that it shows that Mr. Grohl is a true fan of metal. His choices in collaborators allude to this, but where it really comes across is in the songwriting, which shows a deep appreciation for the genre. Mr. Grohl also succeeds in bringing out the best in those he teams up with. I have never been much of a Motorhead fan, but "Shake Your Blood" with Lemmy - well it still sounds like one of his endless remakes of "Ace of Spades", but it sounds like a really good remake of "Ace of Spades". Add to this "Centuries of Sin" with Cronos, which brings the listener back to the early eighties and easily compares to any recent output by Venom.

"The most striking aspect to this album is that it shows that Mr. Grohl is a true fan of metal."

Dave seems to have a liking for all things doomy, evidenced by some of the strongest material on the record. "Ice Cold Man" with Lee Dorian and "The Emerald Law" with Wino are two early favorites that trudge along with an oppressive, smoky ambition that can excite even the most jaded fan of the genre. And the most inspired track on the record, "My Tortured Soul" with Trouble's Eric Wagner, is just a killer song regardless of what types of music you listen to. The album artwork immediately brings up visions of Voivod, and "Dictatosaurus" with Snake provides the soundtrack with satisfying success. "Sweet Dreams" with King Diamond (and ex-Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayli) may surprise a few, as it strays from the typical music we know King for. It has a charm all its own, however, and along with Cronos and the song with Tom G. Warrior ("Big Sky") represents the NWOBHM with pride.
Of course, tracks with Mike Dean and Kurt Brecht aren't really my type of thing, but they do seem to be handled well - giving punk attitude with an early hardcore vibe. The only track that might be a little hit or miss is the Max Cavalera song "Red War" which, rather than follow early Sepultura model, seems more in line with the Roots era. It ain't bad, but is probably as close to disappointing as anything gets on this album. One word review: Remarkable.

Death's Review:
Next on FOX-TV, "When Pop Stars Go Metal!" See an ex-Boy Band member wearing a tight GNR t-shirt,read an interview with someone at MTV actually praising the metal genre, watch as an over-sexed teen starlet transforms herself into a metal slut (complete with bullet belt accessory), just to sell more records, and hear a former Nirvana member make a metal album with Tom G. Warrior from Celtic Frost, King Diamond, and Snake from Voivod. Hell hasn't just frozen over - it has spilled out into mainstream American pop culture. Should we be ecstatic (we were right all along!), or disgusted?

"Probot is filled with integrity and legitimate metal feelings."

In the case of Dave Grohl's (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) Probot project, metalheads should indeed rejoice. I was no Nirvana fan, but it was always known that the grunge bands came from a slightly metal place (even though they helped to temporarily "kill" the genre's commercial firepower back in the mid-90's), and this effort proves it once and for all. Probot is filled with integrity and legitimate metal feelings. Inspired as an underground metal answer to Santana's guest performer-filled Supernatural record, Probot features the vocal talents of some of the best and the brightest from the 1980's scene. Remember those heady days when bands like Trouble, Celtic Frost, Venom, C.O.C., Voivod, Motorhead, Sepultura and Mercyful Fate ruled the scene? Grohl clearly does. For this alone he is worthy of praise, and his ability to pull together the frontmen from these and other important bands from that time onto a single album is a monumental achievement.

"Too bad the music is nothing special."

Too bad the music is nothing special. It's not bad, it just lands as standard-issue, underproduced, dirty metal. Simple riffs, lo-fi production (aptly fitting the Southern Lord label upon which the album is released), nothing too adventurous or different, this is merely a tribute to an era from a famous pop musician and should be taken as such. Grohl pretty much plays all of the instruments with the exception of the occasional guest musician, so it is clear that this is basically his unfiltered view of the metal scene. Most of the more successful tracks evoke the style of the band which contributed the singer; in other words, the Snake tune sounds like Voivod, the Eric Wagner tune is reminiscent of Trouble and the Lemmy tune sounds like Motorhead (btw, I'm not the hugest Lemmy fan, but his tune is Probot's most successful, at least in terms of catchiness and songwriting appeal). And while the King Diamond track is by no means as technical or as complex as stuff like Abigail or Them, it does kinda fit with the old Mercyful Fate vibe, even though it could qualify as a stoner rock tune (and believe me, King Diamond singing a stoner rock tune, evil laugh at the beginning and all, is definitely something to behold).
In the end, this is more of a novelty than a great record. It is cool that he did it, and if these singers ever got together for a one-off Probot show it would be an historic metal day. Otherwise, unless you are into the lo-fi dirty rock thing, there's not a lot going on here to get too excited about.

Hel's Review:
Of course, you can’t really even think about Dave Grohl without his old band, Nirvana, popping to mind. I, for one, could never stand that band. And Foo Fighters? Blah. ‘Nuff said. So I wasn’t particularly enticed by the thought of reviewing Grohl’s Probot project. Turns out, the dude seems to really like stoner/doom. Who would have guessed? Not me.
The way I see it, there are three things that need to be evaluated about this album: 1) Grohl’s performances (he plays almost everything on every track) and songwriting, 2) the performances of the guest vocalists (each song has a different guest star), and 3) how the aforementioned mesh together.

"It is a novelty, but, as a novelty should be, it’s fun."

Well, I’m not trying to knock anything here, but the truth of the matter is that Grohl’s predominant stylistic choice on this disc is probably one of the least complicated forms of metal to perform. So the fact that he does it well is not particularly astounding, nor is it a particularly remarkable achievement. But, his songs are on par with other quality acts of this ilk.
The people making guest appearances on the album are all notable figures. And for the most part, the spirit of Grohl’s songs suits the singers who perform them remarkably well. Lemmy’s song, “Shake Your Blood,” sounds just like “Ace of Spades” – just as every song I’ve ever heard him sing seems to. The song Snake sings on, “Dictatosaurus,” does sound a great deal like Voivod, and the list goes on. The notable exception is the King Diamond song. While it is undeniably King singing, it is King singing on a stoner rock track, which sounded sort of odd to me.
So in the end, it turns out that Probot is a lot better than I had expected. Is it the ultimate metal album? Absolutely not. Is it worth checking out? Almost definitely. The fact that this is being released on Southern lord speaks volumes about the sincerity behind the project and the performances of all the guests are stellar. It is a novelty, but, as a novelty should be, it’s fun.

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