Review Summary: While the remixes aren’t as interesting as they could have been, the artists chosen to be put in charge here complement the vibes of the original songs and recreate them at the same time, making this above par when compared to most remix albums.
Remix albums tend to have a casual nature about them. The remixes never aim to be better versions of the originals, just to provide different spins on the original song. And while the majority of remixes are indeed different, there’s rarely anything standout about them, or even particularly memorable for that matter. This is usually due to uninspired, rehashed ideas being applied to the songs as recreations, but for his second remix album
Mondo Sex Head, Rob Zombie has fortunately succeeded in assembling a team of artists that are able to give twists distinct of their style to the biggest hits in Zombie’s discography.
Mondo Sex Head serves as a career-spanning remix album, featuring remixes of singles from every one of Zombie’s solo albums, as well as including the 2 most renowned songs from his days with White Zombie, “Thunder Kiss ‘65“ and “More Human Than Human”. In this way, the album provides listener’s with a good mix of familiar highlights from every Zombie era.
Some of the more notable remixers on the album include comrade Jonathan Davis of Korn premiering his DJ alias “JDevil Number of the Beast” for his dubstep infusion in “Thunder Kiss ‘65“, and Deftones frontman Chino Moreno’s electronic side project Crosses offering a more atmospheric minimalist trance contrast to the thundering Zombie staple “Dragula”. Elsewhere, Das Kapital supplies more dubwubs with his hammering, titan-like revision of “Lords of Salem”, though despite this, dubstep styled remixing is actually kept to a minimum on the album, which is both surprising and refreshing amid the current dubstep-dominated electronic music scene.
Though these mixes do possess the stamps of these artist's defined styles moreso than the stamps of a genre's general style, their trademarks can feel a bit understated at times. Traits of these artists may be prevalent, but the songs don't exactly feel embellished by these traits. At it's foundation, this compilation of remixes hardly separates itself from other remixes that are material made for the club only, and the formulaic methods of injecting these already manifested with industrial songs with even more processed electro-groove. Although these remixes define themselves, that sense is more subtle than it needs to be, and that cushions the effectiveness, especially when the somewhat generic workings of this music's core shines through too easily.
Ultimately,
Mondo Sex Head succeeds in being a more largely interesting remix album than most others because Zombie found the right people to take the wheel. These are memorable interpretations of already memorable songs, where these artists make their presence known without diminishing the true spirit and essence of Rob Zombie’s work. This album will please those looking for a remix album that has prominent vibes of something unique in each track, and even the most committed of Rob Zombie's fan base will most certainly be happy with the results this experimental project has yielded, even with others at the helm of the Zombie songs they celebrate most.
