Ooky Spooky

Voltaire | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 31, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Projekt Records
• ASIN: B000SNUNKQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,135 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Having experimented very successfully with a straightforwardly serious album in Then and Again, Voltaire followed up his hilarious limited-edition live disc with a full new winner in the realm of truly black humor in Ooky Spooky. With Voltaire happily embracing mariachi horns as a new element to his music not perhaps as sudden a shift as Johnny Cash adding them to Ring of Fire, but with a similarly enjoyable effect, matched with the great cover art the result is probably one of the best musical fusions all around, not to mention a perfect Tejano album under another name (not too strange when you realize the Eastern European origins of both that and Voltaires previous efforts as a whole). The kick-up-your-heels, if your feet havent rotted away, kick of lead single Zombie Prostitute was already familiar I had a stiffy/For the stiff in front of me is just one perfect line of snark among many and unsurprisingly benefits from both the swirling strings and the brass interjections in equal measure. Meanwhile, seemingly the-joke-is-all-in-the-title efforts like Bomb New Jersey and Reggae Mortis prove to be thorough gutbusters, while Amanda Palmer from the often similarly minded Dresden Dolls takes a great guest turn on Stuck with You, a duet between obsessively dueling lovers who take it all the way to the grave and beyond. Throughout, Voltaire's excellent singing remains his not-so-secret weapon, jauntily vocalizing about white boy bullfighters and cannibal banquets with total élan. If there's a jaw-dropping moment, though, Cantina, returning from its appearance on the Zombie Prostitute EP, might just be it a classic high-and-lonesome country & western song about the legendary bar scene in Star Wars. Except said scene didn't feature the song's narrator being repeatedly had by all the denizens of the bar in a mass interspecies omnisexual orgy, an omission in the original movie now utterly, perfectly corrected. Do not play at insecure fanboys, however. Ned Raggett --Allmusic.com

Product Description

It s a Halloween party in a jewel box, Voltaire says
about Ooky Spooky, his most hilariously irreverent CD to
date. Contains a duet with The Dresden Dolls Amanda
Palmer and a track from a Cartoon Network movie!

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ooky Spooky = lots of fun, August 14, 2007

By 

E. Anderson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ooky Spooky (Audio CD)

In a music genre where most of the artists takes themselves way too seriously, Voltaire is the antithesis of the dark and gloomy goths that permeats goth culture. I have been a Voltaire fan for several years now. His music is a lot of fun too listen to. His lyrics are filled with biting humor and his music are addictively catchy.

OOKY SPOOKY is Voltaire's latest offering. As a long time Voltaire fan, I was not disappointed. What I have noticed on this album is that Voltaire incorporates brass instruments in a lot of his songs that weren't heard before on past Voltaire albums. There is even a ska influence to his music (intentional or not I don't know) like on "Day of the Dead". Other than the introduction of brass instruments, nothing else has changed in Voltaire's music. "Blue Eyed Matador" and "Bomb New Jersey" is what you would expect from Voltaire, sarcasm set to medieval folk music. Voltaire's humor is sharper as ever. "Bomb New Jersey", "Cantina" and "Hell in a Handbasket" says it all. Those songs got the biggest smiles from me when I ever I listen to them especially "Cantina" with its references to Star Wars characters.

OOKY SPOOKY may not be groundbreaking but it sure is heck of a lot of fun to listen to. I love how Voltaire takes the pretentiousness out of goth music and inject a healthy dose of humor which is rarely seen and heard. I enjoyed every song on the album. There were only a couple of so-so songs but even they weren't all that bad, just not as good as "Cantina" or "Stuck With You" (Voltaire's duet with Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer). Overall OOKY SPOOKY is well worth checking out.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He's "Dark Side Royalty", August 12, 2007

By 

CreepyT "CreepyTendencies" (Colorado, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ooky Spooky (Audio CD)

I had heard Voltaire perform live on numerous occasions at various conventions and events, and had always thought his music was fun and enjoyable. However, I had never bothered to pick up any of his albums until Ooky Spooky. Now I wish I had bought some of his work previously!

Never have zombies, cannibalism, prostitution, sacrilege, and hell been topics that are quite so aurally pleasing! Voltaire's hilarious lyrics are backed up by violins, cellos, and horns that definitely bring to mind the mariachi imagery found on the albums cover.

Among the highlights are "Zombie Prostitute," which has unforgettable lyrics and an extremely catchy brass chorus, and "Day of the Dead," which speaks of El Dia de Los Muertos and has a beat you can' help but want to get up and dance and sing to. "Cantina" speaks of the infamous bar scene from Star Wars. "Stuck with You" is a duet with Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls, and is about lovers who take their marital un-bliss to the grave, bringing axes and Korean bayonets into their duels. However, my personal favorite is the closing song, "Hell in a Handbasket."

Ooky Spooky is comedic, black-humored goth rock at its best. Voltaire really has a corner on the market in this genre, and his acclaim is well-deserved. Ooky Spooky would certainly be a great choice for any Halloween party, but I also highly recommend this album for anyone interested in checking creepy music with a jovial and light-hearted twist! Indeed, goth does not have to equate with doom and gloom. As Voltaire himself states "It's a Halloween party in a jewel box," and for those of us who could celebrate Halloween all year `round, it's an instant classic!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I lost more than my heart in that Cantina!!!, May 7, 2008

By 

Heather Henshaw "teufelskind" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ooky Spooky (Audio CD)

What can I say Voltaire has done it once again!! I think this is the funniest CD I have heard in some time. Voltaire is a Gothic Renaissance man!! Songs about love, death and well the undead!!! Voltaire is also knowen for hos comics he has done Chi-Chian, Deady, and Oh My Goth...