From White Zombie's debut LP, Soul Crusher, to Rob's last solo offering, The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser, Robert Bartleh Cummings has been making music since the goddamn Eighties, smashing together elements of heavy metal, classic rock, industrial, noise, disco, psychedelia, movie soundtracks and probably a few dead body parts into his dreadlock-thrashing sonic horrorshow. So what is his single greatest song? With a new Zombie album on the horizon, we asked you, the fans, and you hit social media with your votes. Below are the top 5 results.
5. "Superbeast"
Even among the grand scheme of Zombie's consistent output, "Superbeast" is a straight-up motherfucker. Heavier than most of his songs but retaining his signature sing-along-ability (just tuned down and growled out), it stands as potentially his sludgiest, dirtiest cut, and the darkly poetic lyrics forewarn of the titular Superbeast, a mythical man/animal, lusted and prayed for, who has come to seek violent retribution for his summoning. Zombie's self-declaration of arrival is at once arrogant, foreboding and sexually enticing — all the ingredients that make his singular brand recognizable and grand.
4. "Black Sunshine"
With a spoken intro from Iggy Pop and subject matter revolving around an old-school Mustang, "Black Sunshine" is the living definition of badass and serves as one of the coolest songs in White Zombie's discography. The song moves fast, thoroughly imitating the feeling of jamming down a highway in a gas-guzzling hot rod, Zombie's lyrics feeling like an 80-mile-per-hour acid trip that crashes with the chorus' proclamation of "Black Sunshine."
3. "More Human Than Human"
The infectious riffs, shout-able lyrics and ever-present "yeahs" that permeate Rob Zombie's musical catalog are on full display here, making "More Human Than Human" the enduring radio classic it remains today. The nods to sci-fi are fun (specifically, to Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and post-apocalyptic porno Café Flesh), but really, it's the slide guitar that takes the proverbial cake.
2. "Thunder Kiss '65"
In a lot of ways, White Zombie's "Thunder Kiss '65" is the nucleus around which Rob Zombie's later material has been spun — from the subject matter to the crunch of the guitars. Many people's first exposure to Zombie's work, the single captivated with its exploitation-film samples, and how wild the band looked in the music video. Equal parts psychedelic and gritty, "Thunder Kiss '65" is a rip-roaring head trip of horror and good times.
1. "Dragula"
It's no surprise that Zombie's top-rated song by fans here is also the one responsible for solidifying his public-image shift from the funky weirdo fronting White Zombie to horror-obsessed god of the underworld freaks. Inspired by an episode of short-lived but iconic 1960s series The Munsters, the song and video cast Zombie as the formidable yet sexy otherworldly leader, one whose ghastly minions dance about with creepy robots and ghoulish figures of the night. As with all Rob Zombie songs, the lyrics are fairly nonsensical but topical to his vision, and the immensely catchy structure and chorus reign supremely infectious above his entire oeuvre.
