Customer Reviews

Tattooed Beat Messiah

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

 

 

The Album is great, no question about it. The bonus tracks are the b-side singles that you could never find. Laughing In The Face Of Death, Hangover From Hell, and Mess With The Killer were from the Prime Mover single. The best part of these fun songs are at the very end where Zodiac throws in a few jokes. You had to buy two versions of the Prime Mover single to get these songs. Whore Of Babylon, Lager Women From Hell, and Messin' With My Best Friends Girl (She's 6 foot 1 and had a gun) These were the b-sides of the Backseat Education single. Lager Women from Hell is one of my favorite Zodiac songs of all time. Dog Face Driver, Go Go Baby Dream Show, and Born To Be Wild are the b-sides from the Plant Girl single. I feel these were the worst of the bonus tracks on this CD. If you don't have these songs, and love Zodiac, you need to buy this.

Now we just need Psycho Active, and I Want Your Love. Maybe they could re-issue High Priest of Love with these as bonus tracks.

These guys were/are great I wish they would have gotten bigger in the States. I only remember them coming around once. They opened for GNR, and I missed the show, due to work. If you read this Zodiac, Please come back to the states! Come to Chicago, I've been giving people around here a taste of your music since '88 and we all want to see you! Stop writting books long enough to come vist us.

"Well I love TV and I love T. Rex. I can see through your skirt. I've got X-Ray spex. I came from the sky like a 747. I'm the bad boy, baby. I fell out of Heaven."
Zodiac Mindwarp was more than just the singer with the Love Reaction: he was metal's Poet Laureate and this album showcases Zody at his sublime best. Every verse, every chorus, every syllable is rock poetry. The album encapsulates the confidence of T. Rex without the campness, the rawness of Motörhead without the bludgeon, the scorching riffs of AC/DC, the swagger of a heavy metal Jagger, and the otherworldly coolness of the Cult. At a time when the trend in metal was leaning towards LA-style glam with excessive make-up and bubblegum melodies, Zody represented the last bastion of chest-beating, dirty, raw, feral and unashamedly masculine heavy metal. He was the Tattooed Beat Messiah, the Skull Spark Joker, the High Priest of Love with the Untamed Stare.
'Prime Mover' kickstarts the album as an anthemic statement of intent; the Love Reaction had been coming for a while, but this track made it clear they had arrived. Its twin guitar attack and snarling vocals gave the band a deserved hit single.
'Backseat Education' opens with, "You wanna ride, baby? This is a special car - two accelerators...no brakes!" Those words set the tone for the song and, indeed, for the rest of the album. It's full speed ahead, driven frantically onwards by razor-sharp riffs, thunderous drumming and cosmic lyrical genius.
'Untamed Stare' is relentless in both velocity and energy; Zody spits out words like weapons. "I love this war `cause I never lose. Cut me baby, I just bleed booze." 'Nuff said.
In 'Tattooed Beat Messiah', when Mr Mindwarp sings, "I'm a tattooed beat messiah...I tell ya nobody can take you higher," he truly believes it: authenticity oozes from the vocal delivery. The title track's musical structure is close to that of 'Prime Mover': raw riffs, singalong choruses and a swirling guitar solo, all given purpose by flawless lyrics.
The album's highpoint is 'Driving on Holy Gasoline', its lyrics out of this world: "Consecrated by the Reverend James Brown, I just drove out of crazy town. You talk about life, here's an injection - a steel-caged jockey with a star-born connection. Drop your halo, baby. I got a mission. I got the keys to your ignition. I'm driving on holy gasoline." The vocal delivery on this song gets my vote for the most effortlessly cool performance in musical history. Listen and be wowed.
'Planet Girl' trawls the outer reaches of the cosmos, lyrically speaking, with Zody professing his love for an extra-terrestrial Goddess of love.
'Kid's Stuff' is the only let-up in the heaviness; the intensity and velocity drop down a few notches to make way for an uncharacteristically poignant vocal.
The original release of the album featured twelve tracks. This remaster adds another nine gems from the archives, a mixture of old B-sides and unreleased material. 'Born to be Wild' is a workmanlike cover of Steppenwolf's biker anthem. Both 'Lager Woman from Hell' and 'Messin' with my Best Friend's Girl' are cautionary tales of what can happen when one combines copious amounts of alcohol with near-vicinity to females whom it would be best to steer clear of.
There isn't a weak track anywhere. The least exciting point is the Steppenwolf cover, and even that's a good track but it lacks the messianic genius of Zodiac-penned lyrics. In 1988, musically and lyrically, Zod was God. It's just that simple. Over twenty years later, the music sounds sharper, smarter and more vital than ever.
Buy it.
Play it loud.
Repeat.

Zodiac's first album is well known and already hailed as a classic. Therefore my review will concentrate on the seven bonus tracks. Overall, they are probably all demos and it's no wonder some of them didn't make it onto an album anywhere. Highlights are Whore of Babylon which is classic Zodiac Mindwarp and a great rock track and Messin' With My Best Friend's Girl, also a great ZM track. Lowlights are the fist two bonus tracks: Laughing In The Face Of Death and Hangover From Hell. Both are poor and really only show the band playing around with their studio time to make filler tracks.

Of the album itself, buy it - like I said above it's a classic, Zodiac is a great songwriter with a wry sense of humour and the band are as tight a rock group as you'd hope to hear.

Not for everyone, but for those of you who remember any of their music its awesome to have it again (and available on CD).
2 drinks into a Friday night.....it can't be beat.

This was an album that a freind of mine let me borrow in 87.Havent seen a copy since.When I found this it was like finding 20$ in an old winter coat.There not everyones cup of tea but at least their different and original.