A Review of Ooky Spooky by Voltaire

Veteran goth musician Voltaire has done it again with his fifth full length album, Ooky Spooky. Fans of Voltaire have anxiously awaited this album, which has been in the works for more than a year. Ooky Spooky was definitely worth the long wait, as Voltaire has released another great CD, full of plenty of dark humor and geeky references.

The opening track, "Land of the Dead," was written for a special episode of the Cartoon Network show, "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy." Though the song is short, as it was designed to accompany a cartoon, it's still a lot of fun.

"Zombie Prostitute" veers directly into adult territory, as Voltaire sings about his encounters with an undead lady of the night. This song maintains that quick pace that opens Ooky Spooky, and the highlight (aside from the hilarious lyrics) is a violin solo followed by a horn solo.

The next song, "Cannibal Buffet," is largely reminiscent of Captain Jack Sparrow's encounter with the cannibal islanders in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," but with Voltaire's own spin on the subject. One of the best lines in the song is "So if you really want to know what's eating me / It's the man-eaters on the coast of Barbary."

The next two songs, "Day of the Dead" and "Blue-eyed Matador" are a less interesting part of the album, in my opinion. "Day of the Dead" does feature some Spanish lyrics, which are probably just repeating the chorus of the song in Spanish. I think that someone who understood Spanish might appreciate this song a little bit more. "Blue-eyed Matador" seems like it may have a deeper meaning to it, but I haven't quite caught on to what that meaning might be. It is also one of the slowest tempo songs on the CD, which also contributes to my dislike of the song--Voltaire is typically at his best when he's singing faster songs.

Luckily, Ooky Spooky improves greatly with the sixth track, "Bomb New Jersey." Voltaire grew up in New Jersey, though he currently lives in New York. With the long standing rivalry between New Jersey and New York, it is unsurprising that he wants to see his home state obliterated. Voltaire also apparently has a special distaste for New Jersey for the residents' intolerance of his gothic inclinations.

"Cantina" is a seriously adult oriented song, making not-so-veiled references to homosexuality in the Mos Eisley Cantina, from Star Wars. The song has a bit of a country feel to it, which is a departure for Voltaire's music, but he makes it work for this specific song.

Easily my favorite song on the album is "Stuck with You," which Voltaire sings with Amanda Palmer, lead singer of The Dresden Dolls. The song tells the tale of a married couple who really can't stand one another. In the end, however, they realize that they would rather be together than alone, and are happy to be stuck with one another. The song is both bitter and sweet, and the combined vocals of Voltaire and Amanda Palmer really work well together.

"Dead" is a very blasphemous song, but anyone who has listened to Voltaire in the past knows that this is an area in which he excels. (Just listen to "God Thinks" from Voltaire's album Almost Human if you don't believe me.) The bulk of the song seems fairly repetitive, but the final lyrics made me an instant fan of this song.

"Reggae Mortis" is probably the only other slow spot on the album. I'm not sure if Voltaire was trying his hand at a few different musical styles, but if he wanted to write a reggae song, this is not it. This song contains a brief dig at the goth band Bella Morte, which got a brief chuckle out of me, but that's about it.

"Hell in a Handbasket," the final song of Ooky Spooky, returns to the quick and fun pace of the majority of the album. Though tempo-wise, it might have been better earlier in the album, I think Voltaire did well to place it as the last track, so that the album doesn't just fade into oblivion.

Overall, the biggest complaint some might have about Ooky Spooky is the very similar sound and tempo of several of the songs. Even I will admit that it is a bit difficult to distinguish between the intros of some of the songs. However, there is enough diversity of style when the album is taken as a whole that the similarity of a handful of songs should not bother most Voltaire fans.

Ooky Spooky comes out on July 31st, 2007. Fans of Voltaire who catch him on tour before that date might be lucky enough to snag an advance copy of the CD. If you're doubly lucky, Voltaire may even sign your copy of Ooky Spooky!