Probot - S/T (2004)

Who else here has got some love for Dave Grohl's fabulous old school metal side project?? I was just listening to this one today for the first time in a while, and it still kicks my a** across the room every time I play it. This album has got to be one of my favorite CDs of the '00s thus far. How can you go wrong with an album that features vocals by a veritable "who's who" of '80s thrash metal/crossover heroes(including Cronos, Lemmy, Kurt Brecht, Mike Dean, and Snake, just to name a few)?

I'll admit I had my doubts when I first heard rumblings of this project a few years before its release, cuz up until that point I only knew Dave Grohl as the drummer for Nirvana and leader of the Foo Fighters, I never thought of him as a particularly "metal" guy, but obviously his love for the '80s underground stuff runs deep and true judging from the material on this album.

My favorite tracks would most likely be Cronos' "Centuries of Sin" (which re-ignited my interest in Venom, after losing touch with them for many years), Wino's "The Emerald Law" and Eric Wagner's "My Tortured Soul," but truthfully they're all sweet. The only song I find to be below par is Tom G Warrior's "Big Sky," mainly because I was hoping to hear some of Tom's old-school "UHHHH!" or "HEY-Y-Y!" grunts, but he put his vocals thru a processor and sounds like a Rob Zombie imitator. Disappointing.

Love it? Hate it? Fave songs? Discuss.

For those who may have missed this little gem back in '04:



Grohl, Lemmy, Wino, and lotsa hot chicks... does it get any more METAL than this???

(Grohl has said about this video shoot, "It was the best band I was ever in for one day. And we werent' even plugged in!" Haha)

I thought it was a decent album. I like some songs better than others. Since Grohl was catering the song to the guests, I think the album is a bit uneven, sounding more like a compilation album than a band album. Still, some enjoyable songs included.

I really like Dave Grohl, which says alot because I didn't like him at all in Nirvana.

This album is good, but the Foo Fighters stuff is much better.

My favorite is the Cronos song. That guy has some serious gravel in his throat or something.

I love this album. Like you Freddy, I had my doubts. I hated Nirvana and it took a long time before I warmed up to the Foo Fighters. So the idea of their drummer putting together a metal album seemed like a joke.

I'll say this, Grohl could have put out a lame covers album, re-doing hard rock/metal covers of songs that have been covered a million times over in a effort not to offend any teeny-boppers or radio fans. Instead he actually went and wrote a bunch of tunes and got some fairly underground metal guys to put up vocals, almost guaranteeing that none of these songs would get any commercial airplay. Also, the songs he wrote sound like the bands he was paying homage to. For the most part, every song on the cd sounds like it could have been at least a b-side release from each band member represented. That Lemmy song "Shake Your Blood" for example, could have easily appeared on a Motorhead album.

I'd encourage any metal fans to give this a listen. It certainly ain't no Foo Fighters record, that's for sure.

Didn't like it.

Don't even care

i like it ok, but i think some of the songs could have been stronger.

ultmetal wrote:

Since Grohl was catering the song to the guests, I think the album is a bit uneven, sounding more like a compilation album than a band album.

With all the different sounding styles/songs, PROBOT does kinda have the feel of an old "Metal Massacre" compilation. Who knows, maybe that's the feel that Grohl was going for.

I'm a huge Grohl fan. I think when it comes to talent, he's head and shoulders above most out there. I'll be honest, I didn't know what to expect with Probot. I knew he was an old school metalhead, but I basically had Nirvana and Foo Fighters to go on (big Foo Fighters fan here!). That still didn't convince me, though.

But the album is great! I agree with Ult that it's a bit uneven; but I guess that's expected. Either way, I would love to see Dave do a full-blown metal album, consistent in one style. I think he could do a killer album.

My favorites from the Probot album are "Red War," "Shake Your Blood," and "My Tortured Soul." The hidden track with Jack Black is kind of cool, too. Haha.

killer artwork by Away from voivod too.

ParanoidTime wrote:

killer artwork by Away from voivod too.

The artwork blows compared to the early Voivod artwork.

I have a red, 7" vinyl from the album. I think it has the Cronos and Wino songs on it... I wonder if it's worth anything?

I loved it when it came out, and I still listen to it from time to time. My personal favorite tune is "Ice Cold Man".

I'll be honest when I say that I, to, had my doubts considering that the brains behind it was the drummer for one of the most horrid 'musical' abominations to walk the face of the Earth, which I blame for ruining popular music for well over a DECADE......but his Foo Fighters stuff IS really good, so I was willing to give it a shot. Glad I did.

I still enjoy this record a good bit. It kind of loses a little steam towards the end but it's still good.

I remember it was towards the end of my 8th grade year when this one came out and me and my friends liked it quite a bit, I never owned it but I did like Lemmy's "Shake your blood" when my croneys would play it.

It sounds awesome from what I've heard I'll have to put this one on my want list

I really appreciated Dave Grohl paying tribute to some of the greats, but to be honest I didn't think the songs on this one were all that strong. Ironically I guess I liked the Jack Black track the most. The only song from the CD that has really stuck with me was Wino's "Emerald Law". I actually prefer Iommi's solo album from a few years before to Probot. It's a similar (but reversed) concept I guess. An old guy using mostly young singers.

Speaking of cool Motorhead collabs, remember this gem from the Airheads soundtrack?



Awesome! Ice T stinks, but Whitfield Crane remains one of my all-time vocalists.

Eyesore wrote:

I think the artwork sucks. Haha.

really? exactly what's so bad about it?

Got a sudden craving to hear this one today, so I had to go digging through boxes but finally found it...

As others have mentioned, the album is a little uneven (primarily in song-writing). However, when it's firing on all cylinders....LOOK OUT...this puppy rocks! The Cronos song is one of the best metal tunes I've heard in recent years; in addition the songs with Lemmy, Wino, Eric Wagener and Snake are my favorites.

This album has grown on me over the years, I think I enjoy it more now than I did when it was first released.

It's a decent album. Centuries Of Sin and Red War are my faves.

I still like this album. I'd like to see him do another just like this or perhaps, like someone else mentioned, just a straight-up metal album with one vocalist, insead a hodge-podge of singers. Dave on drums, Lemmy on bass, Wino on guitar and the Trouble guy (his names escapes me) on vocals.

Yea, that'll happen.

Im a big fan of Dave Grohl I bought this when it came out but I need to spin it as i havent in ages

I liked this album.........good fun time!