Ultimate Fanboy's Dream

Now this an album that me has been searching fer quite a few years now. It is a side project of Dave Grohl (of Foo Fighters / Nirvana fame). Anyways, me was chuffed to bits to finally have located it. Anyways, below is a run down of said album by guest reviewer, Nick Mun (of 23.psi fame).

Probot - Probot (Rhino Record 2004)

Let me say at the outset that I'm going to sound effusive about Dave Grohl's side project Probot. Perhaps it's just that nothing that emerged from the nu metal years of the late 90s till the millennium and beyond have been remarkable or groundbreaking. It seems not only has it all been done before, but it's been done remarkably well too. Perhaps it is in the nature of side projects that allow their movers far greater creative freedom than they normally have, turning it into something more than a welcomed distraction.

Probot began as a boy's dream to play with his heavy metal heroes. It's just that this boy was Grohl. Musically, Grohl has been a revelation in his own right, starting out drumming for various hardcore DC bands (most notably Scream) before joining Nirvana in 1990. But it was only with the demise of Kurt Cobain (and Nirvana) that he emerges as a complete singer-songwriter-musician. In 1995, Grohl wrote and recorded on his own for his debut as Foo Fighters. It was only on stage that the services of Pat Smear (ex Germs), Nate Mendel et al were called upon.

Grohl approached Probot in much the same way. Instead of opting for the straight forward cover version tribute route, he wrote all the tracks and performed most of the instrumentation. The recordings were then sent to each of his heroes for the vocals to be layered on. Moving from studio to studio, Probot was eventually completed and released in 2004.

What's outstanding is how Grohl has managed to stay true to the vibe of his favourite bands. It really could have been Cathedral (Ice Cold Man), Sepultura (Red War) or Motorhead (Shake Your Blood) that you're listening to. But what is revealing from the very first track (Centuries of Sin featuring Cronos from Venom) is that Probot is way better than anything Grohl has done with Foo Fighters.

Perhaps the comparison is unfair. After all Grohl assembled such an impressive line-up for Probot that it was bound to eclipse anything he had done or will do with Foo Fighters. Indeed, Probot is testament of just how complete Grohl is as a musician, a fact that was overshadowed when he was in Nirvana. Indeed it must have been a labour of love fuelled no less by that boyhood dream of playing with one's heavy metal heroes.

As an aside, Grohl had also sought the participation of Death's Chuck Schuldiner and Slayer's Tom Araya. Schuldiner unfortunately passed away of brain cancer before any collaboration could take place while Araya was kept off the project due to scheduling conflict. The 11th song (Sweet Dreams, King Diamond) has a hidden track, I Am The Warlock which features Jack Black. Grohl also collaborates on Black's Tenacious D. It is rumoured that Probot will release its second album in 2009. - Nick Mun

Artwork fer thhis album was done by Voivod's Away.

Me urges you to fooking please, please download this fooking awesome LP at : http://rapidshare.com/files/23696081/Project_Probot_-_Probot_-_by_Mad_Wolf_-_MusikFactory.rar .

Below is the vid to Shake Your Blood which features 66 adult entertainment actesses - the Suicide Girls (Hold yer horses, Kerp!). Have a great weekend, hopefully whilst blasting Probot!