La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One

La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One is the third studio album by White Zombie, released on March 31, 1992 by Geffen Records. The album marked a major artistic and commercial turning point for the band. After the recruitment of guitarist Jay Noel Yuenger, White Zombie was able to successfully embrace the heavy metal sound they had pursued since Make Them Die Slowly (1989), while incorporating more groove-based elements into their sound. The album was the band's last to feature drummer Ivan de Prume.

La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One
Studio album by White Zombie
Released	March 31, 1992 (1992-03-31)
Recorded	May 1991 (1991-05)
Studio	321 Studios, New York City
Genre	Groove metal heavy metal[1]
Length	57:30
Label	Geffen
Producer	Andy Wallace
White Zombie chronology
God of Thunder (1989) La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One (1992) Astro-Creep: 2000 (1995)
Singles from La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One
"Thunder Kiss '65" Released: 1992 "Black Sunshine" Released: 1992

The album was a critical and commercial success for White Zombie after the artistic failure of Make Them Die Slowly. La Sexorcisto became the band's first charting album and debuted on the Billboard 200 in 1993. The singles "Thunder Kiss '65" and "Black Sunshine" received heavy rotation on rock radio and MTV, the former earning the band their first Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance. The album has been certified two times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States.

Album information

The album's sound is a mix of groove metal and heavy metal with multiple B-movie samples. Rob Zombie explained he "wanted to keep a groovable dance element in the music", a trait that is often absent in metal music. Contrary to rumors, a "Devil Music Volume Two" was never planned for recording or release. Almost every song on the album made an appearance on the 1994 video game Way of the Warrior.

Touring and promotion

White Zombie toured for two years to promote La Sexorcisto. The tour was a critical success and some archived footage of the shows can be seen on the Let Sleeping Corpses Lie DVD. White Zombie began a five-month U.S. tour in April 1992, supporting such bands as My Sister's Machine, Paw, Testament, Pantera, Trouble and Crowbar.[2] In the fall of 1992, the band opened for Danzig on their How the Gods Kill tour in Europe and the United States, and wrapped up the year doing a brief U.S. tour, again supporting Pantera.[2] White Zombie spent most of 1993 and 1994 touring non-stop in support of La Sexorcisto. They toured with Monster Magnet in February and March 1993 and with Anthrax and Quicksand that summer.[2] White Zombie embarked on two more U.S. tours: one with Chemlab and Nudeswirl in the fall of 1993, and another with Prong and The Obsessed in early 1994.[2] The La Sexorcisto tour concluded in May 1994 with four Japanese shows, which were supported by Pantera.[2]

Release and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[3]
Rock Hard (de)	9/10[4]

La Sexorcisto was both a critical and commercial success for White Zombie, climbing up the charts in the US and gaining massive MTV video airplay and mainstream rock radio airplay with "Thunder Kiss '65" and "Black Sunshine". Although released in early 1992, La Sexorcisto did not enter the Billboard 200 until 1993,[5] after the success of "Thunder Kiss '65", which reached number 26 on the Mainstream Rock chart.[6] It was certified Double Platinum by the RIAA, and gold by the CRIA.

Jacob N. Lunders of Allmusic praised the album with 4.5 out of 5 stars and claimed "Perhaps co-defining the future of heavy metal, White Zombie's major-label debut nearly equals fellow classics Guns N' Roses's Appetite for Destruction, The Cult's Electric, and Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger in significance".[1] In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked La Sexorcisto as 93rd on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.'[7]

Accolades

Year	Publication	Country	Accolade	Rank
1996	Visions	Germany	"The Eternal Readers Charts"	36	[8]
2006	Rock Sound	United Kingdom	"Les 150 Albums De La Génération"	95	[9]
2005	Rock Hard	Germany	"The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time"	282	[10]
2017	Rolling Stone	United States	"The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time"	93	[11]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Rob Zombie; all music is composed by White Zombie.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag"	6:21
2.	"Knuckle Duster (Radio 1-A)"	0:21
3.	"Thunder Kiss '65"	3:54
4.	"Black Sunshine" (featuring Iggy Pop)	4:49
5.	"Soul-Crusher" (featuring Iggy Pop)	5:07
6.	"Cosmic Monsters Inc."	5:13
7.	"Spiderbaby (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah)"	5:01
8.	"I Am Legend"	5:08
9.	"Knuckle Duster (Radio 2-B)"	0:25
10.	"Thrust!"	5:04
11.	"One Big Crunch"	0:21
12.	"Grindhouse (A Go-Go)"	4:05
13.	"Starface"	5:02
14.	"Warp Asylum"	6:44
Total length:		57:30

Some pressings of the CD incorrectly divide tracks 12 and 13, beginning track 13 at 3:31 of "Grindhouse (A Go-Go)."

Sample overview

#	Title	Samples[12]
1	"Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag"	0:25 - The explosion and sounds of growling is taken from the 1989 anime Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend. 1:31 - "Fuckin' kiss me." is Tori Welles, sampled from the first scene of "True Confessions of Tori Welles" (with Tori Welles and Jerry Butler). 1:48 - "Now let's move", "but let's take the back door" and the sample right at the end of the song are from the 1965 exploitation film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. 2:40 - "Oh, wow!"/"Cool it." and "You wanna start a rumble?" is taken from the 1958 crime drama film High School Confidential. 4:14 - "Do you have to open graves to find girls to fall in love with?" is taken from the 1932 horror film The Mummy. 4:35 - "Get up and kill!" is taken from the 1978 zombie film Dawn of the Dead. 5:43 - "Hula fast shorts, swing with a gassy chick. Turn on to a thousand joys, smile on what happened. Then check what's gonna happen, you'll miss what's happening. Turn your eyes inside and dig the vacuum. Tomorrow, drag" is Phillipa Fallon performing beat poetry in the 1958 teen film High School Confidential.
2	"Knuckle Duster (Radio 1-A)"	0:02 - "Ahorre, no compre sin visitar Empori..." is taken from a radio ad in Spanish. Translates to "Save, don't buy without visiting Empori..." 0:07 - "We know how fast we can go" is taken from the 1965 cult film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! 0:17 - "These are the facts as we know them. There is an epidemic of mass murders being committed by a virtual army of unidentified assassins" is taken from the 1968 horror film Night of the Living Dead during a radio broadcast. 0:17 - The screaming in the background (sans falling lumber) is from the first scene of "True Confessions of Tori Welles" (with Tori Welles and Jerry Butler), approximately 10 minutes in.
3	"Thunder Kiss '65"	1:28 - "You're all shook up, aren't you baby? I never try anything. I just do it. Wanna try me?" is taken from the 1965 exploitation film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
4	"Black Sunshine"	3:25 - "I work on this baby the same way, trying to get maximum performance" is taken from the 1965 exploitation film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
5	"Soul-Crusher"	0:00 - "Drop it, buster!" is taken from the 1958 crime drama film High School Confidential
6	"Cosmic Monsters Inc."	0:00 - "Meanwhile, behind the façade of this innocent-looking bookstore" is taken from the "Zelda The Great" episode of 1966 Batman television series. 1:26 - "You're all shook up, aren't you baby?" is taken from the 1965 exploitation film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! 3:20 - "They come from the bowels of hell..." is taken from the trailer for the 1959 science fiction film Plan 9 from Outer Space 4:16 - "The only thing square about this world are the cats what live in it!" is taken from the 1958 crime drama film High School Confidential
7	"Spiderbaby (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah)"	0:00 - The bell sounds at the beginning of the song are from the 1988 horror film Hellbound: Hellraiser II 2:23 - The ominous chanting that listeners hear is in fact the score from the 1976 horror film The Omen 4:00 - The Arabic chanting is taken from The Exorcist
8	"I Am Legend"	--
9	"Knuckle Duster (Radio 2-B)"	0:00 - "Now, what we have to ask is why is it that God has admonished us to hate evil? Well, first of all, God loves ..." from a sermon by Atlanta pastor, Dr. Charles Stanley (pastor). 0:09 - "Y cuando tu vuelvas.." Daniel Santos - "Como se van las noches" 0:14 - "... And strangled them and finally dismembered their bodies" 0:20 - "homelessness and all that ..." sample are the words of the American radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. 0:21 - "And now, the voice you've been waiting for ..."
10	"Thrust!"	0:00 - The speaking at the introduction of this song is taken from the 1989 manga Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend 1:50 - "It has been established..." sample is taken from the 1968 zombie film Night Of The Living Dead
11	"One Big Crunch"	0:00 - The music in the background is from the 1968 horror film, Night Of The Living Dead. 0:01 - "Only parts of the corpse had been removed" is from the 1974 horror film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 0:10 - "He steps to the water and plunges in, making far more impression on his skull than on the lady" is from a 1950s teen instructional swimming film.
12	"Grindhouse (A Go-Go)"	--
13	"Starface"	0:00 - "One. One is the beginning..." and "Oh Herbert, you are stiff!" samples from the beginning and end of the song are taken from the 1969 episode of Star Trek: The Original Series entitled "The Way to Eden" 0:18 - "X minus 5 seconds..." sample is taken from the 1950 science fiction film Rocketship X-M 2:27 - In the background there is an eerie jingle playing, this is from 1979's Phantasm. This sound effect was used earlier as the shuttlecraft interior sound effects throughout the run of the aforementioned Star Trek: The Original Series. (On the album "Star Trek: Sound Effects from the Original TV Soundtrack", it is Track 69-- do a search for "shuttlecraft interior" on YouTube for confirmation.)
14	"Warp Asylum"

Personnel

Adapted from the La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One liner notes.[13]

White Zombie Rob Zombie – vocals, illustrations, art direction Jay Yuenger – guitar Sean Yseult – bass, art direction, design Ivan de Prume – drums Additional musicians Iggy Pop – spoken word (tracks 4 and 5)

Production and additional personnel Kristin Callahan – photography David Carpenter – assistant engineer Alison Dyer – photography Michael Golob – cover art, art direction Andy Wallace – production, engineering, mixing Howie Weinberg – mastering

Chart positions

Album Chart (1992) Position US Billboard 200[14] 26 Heatseekers[14] 2

Singles Single Chart (1993) Position "Thunder Kiss '65" US Mainstream Rock Tracks[15] 26 New Zealand Albums Chart[16] 47 Single Chart (1994) Position "Black Sunshine" US Mainstream Rock Tracks[15] 39

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United States	1992	Geffen	CD, CS, LP	GEF 24460
Europe	2012	Music on Vinyl	LP	MOVLP534

References

1. Lunders, Jacob N. "White Zombie: La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1 > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
2. "White Zombie Tour Dates". metallipromo.com. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
3. Brackett, Nathan. "White Zombie". November 2004. pg. 870, cited March 17, 2010.
4. Deese, Uwe. "Rock Hard review". issue 60. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
5. "La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1 - White Zombie : Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
6. "White Zombie - Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
7. http://www.theprp.com/2017/06/21/news/rolling-stone-share-choices-100-greatest-metal-albums-time/
8. "Visions - The Eternal Readers Charts". Visions. Archived from the original on 2008-12-27. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
9. "Rock Sound - Les 150 Albums De La Génération". Rock Sound. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
10. [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 99. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
11. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-100-greatest-metal-albums-of-all-time-w486923/white-zombie-la-sexorcisto-devil-music-volume-one-1992-w487139
12. "White Zombie's Sample-Based Music". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
13. La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One (booklet). White Zombie. Los Angeles, California: Geffen Records. 1992.CS1 maint: others (link)
14. "White Zombie – Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
15. "White Zombie – Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
16. White Zombie in New Zealand Charts. Charts.Org.NZ. Retrieved on June 3, 2009.

External links

• La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1 at Discogs (list of releases)