More Human than Human
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2011}}
{{Infobox song
| name = More Human than Human
| cover = White Zombie More Human Than Human.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = White Zombie
| album = Astro-Creep: 2000
| B-side = *"More Human than Human (The Jeddak of the Tharks Super Mix)"
- "Blood, Milk and Sky"
| released = May 7, 1995
| recorded = 1994
| studio = NRG, Los Angeles
| genre = *Industrial metal{{cite web|url=https://consequence.net/2023/07/best-industrial-songs-list/6/|title=50 Best Industrial Songs of All Time|website=Consequence|date=July 20, 2023|access-date=April 11, 2025}}
- alternative metal{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/white-zombie-revive-early-noise-rock-material-for-massive-box-set-68490/|title=White Zombie Revive Early Material for Massive Box Set|last=Reed|first=Ryan|date=February 17, 2016|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=October 25, 2018}}{{cite web|last=Ramirez|first=AJ|date=August 3, 2011|title=The 10 Best Alternative Metal Singles of the 1990s|url=http://www.popmatters.com/post/145291-the-ten-best-alternative-metal-singles-of-the-1990s/P1/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924150146/https://www.popmatters.com/post/145291-the-ten-best-alternative-metal-singles-of-the-1990s/P1/|archive-date=September 24, 2015|access-date=June 21, 2015|website=PopMatters}}
| length = 4:28
| label = Geffen
| writer = *Sean Yseult
| producer = Terry Date
| prev_title = Black Sunshine
| prev_year = 1993
| next_title = Electric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)
| next_year = 1995
| misc = {{External music video|type=Single|{{YouTube|E0E0ynyIUsg|"More Human than Human (radio edit)"}}}}
{{External music video|header=Audio|{{YouTube|EPcY-x9hJGo|"More Human than Human"}}}}
}}
"More Human than Human" is a song by the American heavy metal band White Zombie from their album Astro-Creep: 2000 (1995). It was released as the first official single from the album and is also included on Rob Zombie's Past, Present & Future, the greatest hits album The Best of Rob Zombie, and a remix is included on Supersexy Swingin' Sounds and Revolutions.
Music and lyrics
The title and lyrics reference the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, adapted in film as Blade Runner. The title was the slogan of the Tyrell Corporation, manufacturers of the very humaniform biological androids, or "replicants" that are the focal point of the story.{{cite web|url=http://videosift.com/video/White-Zombie-More-Human-Than-Human |title=White Zombie - More Human Than Human • VideoSift: Online Video *Quality Control |publisher=Videosift.com |access-date=September 29, 2012}} "I want more life, fucker" (quoted in the lyrics) is one of the last things his creator hears when the replicant designed to be the perfect – and disposable – soldier (Rutger Hauer) finds him and is denied a reprieve from the programmed four-year life span.
The song features a repeated slide guitar figure, a technique typically associated with blues music.
The moaning in the intro to the song was sampled from a post-apocalyptic porn movie called Café Flesh directed by Stephen Sayadian.Café Flesh (1982), Event Occurs 44:11 - 44:24
Reception
"More Human than Human" quickly became the band's highest-charting and most recognizable{{cn|date=May 2024}} single in the entirety of their career. The song earned them their second Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance in 1995. The song was named the 68th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.{{cite web|date=January 1, 2009|title=Vh1 Top 100 Hard Rock Songs|url=http://music.spreadit.org/vh1-top-100-hard-rock-songs/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421175832/https://music.spreadit.org/vh1-top-100-hard-rock-songs/|archive-date=April 21, 2016|access-date=February 5, 2009|website=Spreadit Music}}
The song was listed on PopMatters{{'}}s "The 10 Best Alternative Metal Singles of the 1990s" list.
"More Human than Human" was ranked at number 43 on Spin{{'}}s "The 95 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1995" list.{{cite web|date=August 6, 2015|title=The 95 Best Alternative-Rock Songs of 1995|url=https://www.spin.com/2015/08/95-best-alternative-rock-songs-1995-alt/3/|access-date=December 5, 2019|website=Spin|page=3}}
Music video
The music video of "More Human than Human," the first video made for Astro-Creep: 2000, features White Zombie playing the track in a room and short clips of old home video footage of Rob, his brother, Michael Cummings (better known as Spider One of the band Powerman 5000), and a cousin at a young age. Part of the video was also shot in the halls of Framingham High School, Framingham, Massachusetts, as well as on the streets of Hollywood Boulevard.[https://web.archive.org/web/20000229082600/http://www.rocknet.com/archives/w_zombie.html RockNet Interviews Rob Zombie], cited September 25, 2009 It was the first video that had been completely directed by Rob alone. In 1995, he won the MTV Video Music Award for Hard Rock Video for this music video. At the time, it was Rob's favorite White Zombie music video.Miller, Gerri. "White Zombie Live & Backstage". Metal Edge Magazine. March, 1996. cited October 30, 2008
Charts
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{White Zombie}}
{{MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:White Zombie (band) songs
Category:Industrial rock songs
Category:Geffen Records singles