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Creature Feature – The Greatest Show Unearthed

I wish there were more sideshows roving America these days. I love them. I love all things bizarre, weird, strange and unusual... How I wish I could travel back in time to the glory days of Ripley’s or Barnum and Baileys traveling shows... From what I can gather from the tracks on Creature Feature’s debut album, The Greatest Show Unearthed, Curtis Rx and Erik X feel the same way. Released in February 2007, Creature Feature and their debut album, The Greatest Show Unearthed, is a must for all music fans who like a little dash of whimsy with their horror.

Sounds like a demented carnival...

If Tim Burton and Danny Elfman switched cinematic roles, The Greatest Show Unearthed just might be what they produced. The opening track, the titular Greatest Show Unearthed, lays the foundation for the musical trip the listener is about to take. With a demented ringleader warning all who enter, The Greatest Show Unearthed is both creepy fun and sets the stage for the bizarre songs that follow. While none of the tracks within Creature Features debut album is particularly dense, they are wicked fun and I caught myself marching around the Geek tower to their demented beats. However, you will find yourself feeling a tad bit “oogie” when you realize that you are prancing about to a song that is all about kidnapping and you are singing the words in a ransom letter in the song “Bound and Gagged”… Thankfully, the album returns to its Burton’esqu roots with the darkly whimsical “A Gorey Demise”.

Fun, if not perfect.

If I were to have one complaint about Creature Feature, it would be in their musical styling. A fair number of their songs have a similar musical track. Indeed, were it not for the lyrical change from The Greatest Show Unearthed to Aim For the Head, you would think you were listening to the same track. That being said, Creature Feature’s debut album is fun to listen and will serve as many a writing soundtrack in my various horror scripts. If you have a love for macabre music and lyrics, but don’t want wade through screaming vocals, ala Cannibal Corpse or The Misfits, then you really should give Creature Feature a listen… Check them out at CreatureFeatureMusic.com

Geek in the City gives The Greatest Show Unearthed 3.5 out of 5 Critical Hits.