Spook & Destroy

Wednesday 13 has said in the past that in order to stay relevant in the world of music you either have to release an album or do something noticeable every six months, and that seems to be the intent of Spook & Destroy, to keep the band's name out there. The two new songs on the EP (MFTW and Halloween 13-13) are very "middle of the road" quality, and MFTW's "uh huh uh huh uh huh's" are nails on a chalkboard level annoying. The re-recorded versions of older songs on the album (Bad Things, Rambo and Mr. MF), lack the attitude and punch of their original incarnations, and basically serve as filler. The acoustic version of Curse of Me might sound promising but is pretty terrible, the vocals sound like a strange combination of a belch and a whisper. I'm not sure where Wednesday was going with that vocal approach, but it just doesn't work. The two remaining tracks are upbeat technoey remixes of Bad Things and Rambo which really can't be described as anything other than "filler." I wouldn't call exactly call Spook & Destroy a waste of money for a hardcore fan, but you have to accept this disk for what it is, a name drop in the form of an EP.

Lets remember right off the bat that this is an ep, NOT an lp. And for an E.P., it serves it's purpose. Great artwork and owning the physical copy is a plus. If you are new to Wednesday 13, I can see why you would really like this. If you've never heard Wednesday 13 before, this is NOT the album to purchase. Instead, get "Fang Bang" or "Transylvania 90210".

It's always cool getting new tunes, and "M.F.T.W." is really great! Heavy and catchy! The only other new track, "Halloween 13-13" is decent. I'm glad it exists, but it's not his best work. No where near as good as MFTW.

If you own everything from Wednesday 13, this album is kind of pointless. Might as well download the two new tracks. The re-recording of Rambo and Bad Things are pointless. Sort of ruined great songs by over production, in my opinion.

The best recording of Rambo is the version on the best of Frankenstein Drag Queens album, "6 Years, 6 Feet Under The Influence". And the only "Bad Things" that should exist is the one on the now classic first solo effort, "Transylvania 90210". Also, "Mr MF"...not as good as the original Frankenstein Drag Queen version.

Those original 3 songs had so much more life in them. They were great. The new versions sound so forced and are VERY over produced. I'm really afraid of what will come if Wednesday continues with this seemingly new found love of pseudo production value on his albums. It's taking all the energy and life out of the songs.

If you've never heard the originals, then maybe you will love these versions. But my ears have heard how great the others were.

His last album, "Calling All Corpses" also sounded a bit over produced at times. He should get a better recording engineer. It seems like he's trying to go for a more "polished" sound, but he's not doing it right.

And then the acoustic track, "Curse Of Me" is pretty cool. He uses a really weird voice on it though and it would have been nice to hear an acoustic version with a more normal singing voice instead of trying to sound scary. But it's still cool to have.

Basically, if you are a hard core fan like me and HAVE to own everyhting the man puts out, then this is a must! But if you are a casual fan, skip this one. You will be disapointed. And this is also a terrible introduction to the band if you are new. As I said earlier, get his first two albums for a great introduction to the band.

The overly produced re-recordings on this is just bad. It's sort of like the difference between Twisted Sisters "Stay Hungry" album, which was amazing, v.s. their "Still Hungry" re-recorded album, some 15 years later. The songs just lost a certain spark that they had initially. Don't mess with the classics!

The only good thing about him going back and re-recording MR MF is hopefully that will get fans interested in this song that maybe never heard the original and he will start performing it live. I'd love to hear it live!

The remixes-- more unecessary tracks. But...I mean, I'm just such a huge fan, I'll take whatever the guy puts out. They are weird and different and cool, but they won't get a lot of play time in your cd players.

So, I'm not generally a fan of EP's, but this is a good one. Just basically pointless other than the 2 brand new songs

Otherwise, save yourself a few bucks...There are two original songs and the rest are remixes...And to make that worse, RAMBO got butchered...
It seems that the last three albums are an indication towards a downward spiral...
But I guess even Wednesday needs to pay the rent...