Customer Reviews

The Devil's Rejects

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

You've really got to hand it to Rob Zombie. With the Devil's Rejects, the sequel to his surprise 2003 hit House of 1000 Corpses, he could have just included his own music for the soundtrack (like he did with the 1000 Corpses soundtrack), but he didn't, and instead the soundtrack for the Devil's Rejects includes music from the era of the film's story, as well as some soundbytes from the film as well to go along with selections from fictional band Banjo & Sullivan, and it surprisingly works. Tracks from the James Gang, Three Dog Night, and the Allman Brothers are here, to go along with some selections from Terry Reid and Joe Walsh as well, and they all capture the tone of the film very well. Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" is here as well of course, and when you listen to this classic again after seeing the film, you'll never listen to it the same way again. Banjo & Sullivan (which there is a seperate album from this fictional group available as well, and is definitely worth checking out) provide "I'm at Home Getting Hammered (While She's Out Getting Nailed)", which must be heard to be believed, and the dialogue snippets from the film heard throughout this disc are a nice plus as well. All in all, much like the film, the soundtrack to the Devil's Rejects is exactly like the film: definitely not for everyone, but imaginitive and entertaining, and further proof that Rob Zombie knows what he's doing.

This CD, the soundtrack to Rob Zombie's "The Devil's Rejects" is a great summer album! The CD consists primarily of 70's classic rock and a pair of country songs from the 1950's and 1960's. There are two versions of the album out there, this one with soundbites from the movie, and another version without the soundbites. The soundbites for just sort of add a little bit more to the listening experience. Keep in mind though that the sound bites all contain vulgarity, in most cases the "f" word, that one word is spoken by every character in the movie in nearly every line of the script. But getting back to the music. We start off with The Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider" which seems to set the mood for the whole album. I was very surprised to see the two country songs on there, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" by Kitty Wells, and "Satan's Got To Get Along Without Me" from Buck Owens. These two seem somewhat out of place, but as I said in my headline, listening to this album is like a funhouse ride, so you just go along with it.
"Rocky Mountain Way" was used to perfection in the movie with it's sleazy guitar riff, "Free Bird" works really well also. The three Terry Reid tracks are standouts. Hearing these songs back to back and with sound bites, you can feel the heat of the summer and the reckless abandon depicted in the movie.
The album closes with a few tracks from Banjo & Sullivan who also have a complete album out (Banjo & Sullivan are the fictious country band in the movie). What's interesting though is that although they are on the soundtrack and have a "Hits" album, you don't hear any of their songs in the movie.
I like this album, I liked the movie. If you're a fan of 70's classic rock you'll probably like this album as well. It's a great album to play while going for a summer drive.

Rob Zombie is something like a modern day Renaissance man, living in a world gone mad. His music forged rock, funk, and psych into a whole new genre, making soundtracks for a wasted generation raised on Hot Rod, Hustler, and Tales from The Crypt magazines. After his earthshattering work with White Zombie, Rob did what the critics and fans said he could never do....top himself. He blew everyone away with his first solo CD, Hellbilly Deluxe, and then the incredible tour he did with Korn. Rob began to desire the conquering of a new medium, film. After directing a writing a short segment in "Beavis and Butthead Do America," Rob began to work for his first film, nearly capturing the right to direct a film in the Crow franchise. Disenchanted with the 'red tape' in the film industry, and disgusted with the recent 'bubblegum' type horror movies, Rob set out to create his own horrors....a completely new and original horror film, while still showing his respect to the gritty, bloodspattered films of the seventies. House of 1,000 Corpses brought back memories of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead....while giving us new faces to fear. Watching this film was like living it. You felt emotionally drained when you came out on the other side.

The soundtrack for House came out a few weeks before the movie, and I'm sure there was a lot of confusion about the choice of tracks, from cuts by Buck Owens, Helen Kane, and Slim Whitman. But I don't think anyone can deny the power those songs had in the final work. I know I'll never listen to "I Remember You" in the same way again, after watching Otis, in painful, deliberate pause, delay the shooting of the cowardly police officer.

Rob's use of music is brilliant and visceral. It hearkens to Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. I'm sure nobody will forget the sinister tone "Stuck In the Middle With You" by Stealers Wheel took during the torture of the police officer.

And now, we have the soundtrack for The Devil's Rejects, and it's deja vu all over again. The only review for this CD so far is by a person who dislikes cuts from the 70's, and wonders why Rob Zombie didn't cut any new tracks for this CD.

Rob has explained this himself, in many interviews. The reason is simple- Rejects is going to be more serious, more driven, more dark. It's a different movie than House. Rob says that he is driving for the more 'documentary' feel of 70's horror, and since Rejects is set in the 70's.....well, you figure it out.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this CD. The audio cuts from the movie only tantalize me with thoughts about what Captain Spaulding, Otis, and the rest of the Firefly Clan will be doing in this movie. And....listening to these great songs makes me wonder what I'll be thinking AFTER I watch this movie.

TRACK LISTING:
MIDNIGHT RIDER- The Allman Brothers Band
SHAMBALA- Three Dog Night
BRAVE AWAKENING- Terry Reid
IT WASN'T GOD WHO MADE HONKY TONK ANGELS- Kitty Wells
SATAN'S GOT TO GET ALONG WITHOUT ME- Buck Owens
FOOLED AROUND AND FELL IN LOVE- Elvin Bishop
I CAN'T QUIT YOU BABY- Otis Rush
FUNK #49- The James Gang
ROCK ON- David Essex
ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY- Joe Walsh
TO BE TREATED- Terry Reid
FREE BIRD- Lynyrd Skynyrd
SEED OF MEMORY- Terry Reid
I'M AT HOME GETTING HAMMERED- Banjo & Sullivan.

The use of these songs is fitting and correct. They will only add to the style of the movie. If you still don't get it, go rent The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Dawn of the Dead....

Zombie is turning out to have the Scorsese/Tarantino knack of choosing the right songs for the right scene. Being a musician as well as the director of many of his own videos, "Dragula" being my favorite, this should be no real surprise. Some of my favorite scenes in House Of 1000 Corpses involved music. Namely the Helen Kane number, and Slim Whitman singing "I'll Remember You" while Otis executes a wet-behind-the-ears deputy.

With the sequel, this talent has grown even more. This time out, Zombie decides to ditch any of his own music and instead favoring southern rock type songs. Joe Walsh, The Allman Brothers Band and Lynard Skynard provide perhaps some of the biggest rock anthems in this collection. And though I'm a little weary of "Freebird" it played well in the movie and I suppose it should be in anyones well-rounded music library just as a staple. There are a couple of old-style country and blues which I have a real soft spot for. "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels by Kitty Wells is a great track. It makes me want to go to a dank, smelly bar and drink Pabst out of a dirty glass. My real favorites here, however, were the tunes by Terry Reid who I had never heard of before and released only one album I believe. These are a few of the best songs I've heard in a while, and they really played well in the movie. I have to thank Mr. Zombie for making these otherwise forgotten songs available. Also I should mention the song by the ill-fated country duo, Banjo & Sullivan singing "I'm At Home Getting Hammered While She's Out Getting Nailed". You can't forget that one.

Of course on this soundtrack we are treated with a nice number of sound clips from the movie. There really are some funny moments in this otherwise brutal film. And the Dual Disc features a twenty making-of documentary which has a few clips of the movie, comments from the stars and behind-the-scenes footage during filming.

So if you like southern rock, 70's music, and violence and mayhem, buy this CD and crank it while you're barreling down a hot dusty highway with the heat on you're trail.

This is without a doubt, one of the best movie soundtracks ever compiled. Some of the best songs from the 70's and some really cool soundbites. Of course the movie had so many good lines that not all of them would have fit. A must have for anyone who has seen the movie.

The soundtrack to The Devils Rejects by far surpasses most movie soundtracks that come out. Most of the time, the listener doesn't appreciate all of the music on the disc, and also, doesn't appreciate soundbites from the film, unless, like me, they are completely in love with the movie. The songs on this disc have become some of my most favorites, espescially Free Bird and Midnight Rider. This soundtrack is absoluelty phenomanel, and I have recommended to complete strangers browsing the soundtrack sections of my local music stores.

This soundtrack is full of great classic rock and twisted sound clips from the movie. If that isn't enough, there is also a 20 minute "making of" feature. For anyone who is a fan of classic rock and/or The Devil's Rejects, this soundtrack is a must-have.

Note: Unlike some "soundtracks", the music on this CD was actually featured IN the movie, not just thrown together after the fact for the sake of making a soundtrack.

The disc starts off with the twangy guitars and faded harmonized vocals of the Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider". The song helps set the tone of the long, scary journey that lies ahead. There's more country twang from Three Dog Night on "Shambala". The vocals are smooth in their performance with just enough falsetto emphasis. There's some great slide guitar as well. "Satan's Got to Get Along Without Me" by Buck Owens and his Buckaroos is pure honky-tonk blues, right down to its devil references and southern drawl.

Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" is more of a 50's doo wop song. The vocals are melodic and even more so when they are doubled up on the choruses. For some reason I think that some poor guy may be getting killed by the movies lead female character while this one plays in the background. You might recall the stacked, fuzzy riffs of The James Gang's "Funk #49" from a current TV commercial. I'm glad that Zombie chose to reintroduce David Essex's "Rock On" after the over-produced Michael Damien version of the early nineties. This stripped down version sounds much better.

Do I need to say anything about Skynyrd's "Freebird"? It's only shouted out at every rock concert. Clearly Banjo & Sullivan are the hillbilly versions of They Might Be Giants with their contribution of "I'm at Home Getting Hammered (While She's Out Getting Nailed)". If you get the dual disc version you'll get a DVD version of the soundtrack, plus a 20 minute `making of' documentary, movie photos, and trailers.

The Bad
The soundtrack combines sound clips from the movie with the music tracks; I think this takes away from the continuity of the disc. The clips give no real insight to the movie and they are probably some of the most vulgar. There's a lot of country music mixed in with the classic rock music.

The Verdict
The soundtrack is a diverse mix of classic seventies rock and country. It's hard to see how all these songs fit together without seeing the movie. As I said before, the audio clips seem to take away from the music and should have been left out. Of course that's what Rob's Zombie's music is known for.

As others have reviewed, the music in the CD is phenomenal. Very well put together, and deliviered.
My only problem with it was, the skits are between EVERY song, and it is difficult to sit through without skipping around.
After the third time I listened to this in whole, I couldn't listen to the movie parts...AT ALL. Dont get me wrong the MUSIC MADE THE MOVIE...but the soundtrack could've been better set up.

If you're a fan of Quentin Tarantino soundtracks, and need a quick fix, look no further than this wild collection of vintage rock and roll, suffused with potty-mouthed (and humorous) soundtrack excerpts. "The Devil's Rejects" is the latest film directed by Rob Zombie, and although I haven't seen the movie (yet), the excerpts on the CD portray a tale of sexual depravity, and hillbilly horror. Although you might expect the soundtrack to be full of obvious trash-gore performers (like Rob Zombie), the soundtrack features The Allman Brothers Band, Joe Walsh, Elvin Bishop, Kitty Wells (!) and Three Dog Night(!!). Heard in this context, the songs seem to take on a new life, especially Three Dog Night's "Shambala," which sounds much better here than my memory had previously allowed. It's all good, not-so-clean fun, and I'm sure you'll enjoy the disk, provided you don't flinch from the harsh dialog that ties all of the musical selections together. B+ Tom Ryan