More Human than Human

"More Human than Human"
"More Human than Human"
Single by White Zombie
from the 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	Alternative metal; industrial rock; alternative rock; hard rock;
Length	4:28
Label	Geffen
Songwriter(s)	Sean Yseult; Jay Yuenger; Rob Zombie;
Producer(s)	Terry Date
White Zombie singles chronology
Music video
	"More Human than Human (radio edit)" on YouTube
Audio
	"More Human than Human" on YouTube

"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.^[7] "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.^[8]

Reception

"More Human than Human" quickly became the band's highest-charting and most recognizable^{[citation needed]} 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.^[6]

The song was listed on PopMatters's "The 10 Best Alternative Metal Singles of the 1990s" list.^[2]

"More Human than Human" was ranked at number 43 on Spin's "The 95 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1995" list.^[5]

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.^[9] 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.^[10]

Charts

Chart performance for "More Human than Human"
Chart (1995)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)^[11]	37
Canadian RPM Alternative 30^[12]	1
UK Singles (OCC)^[13]	51
US Hot 100 Airplay^[14]	53
US Modern Rock Tracks^[15]	7
US Mainstream Rock Tracks^[16]	10

References

^ Reed, Ryan (February 17, 2016). "White Zombie Revive Early Material for Massive Box Set". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Ramirez, AJ (August 3, 2011). "The 10 Best Alternative Metal Singles of the 1990s". PopMatters. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
^ Brackett, Nathan and Christian David Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. pp. 871. ISBN 0743201698. more human than human white zombie.
^ Pettigrew, Jason (July 28, 2020). "10 Industrial-Rock Classics That Completely Defined the '90s". Alternative Press. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "The 95 Best Alternative-Rock Songs of 1995". Spin. August 6, 2015. p. 3. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Vh1 Top 100 Hard Rock Songs". Spreadit Music. January 1, 2009. Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
^ "White Zombie - More Human Than Human • VideoSift: Online Video *Quality Control". Videosift.com. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
^ Café Flesh (1982), Event Occurs 44:11 - 44:24
^ RockNet Interviews Rob Zombie, cited September 25, 2009
^ Miller, Gerri. "White Zombie Live & Backstage". Metal Edge Magazine. March, 1996. cited October 30, 2008
^ "White Zombie – More Human than Human". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
^ "Rock/Alternative – Volume 61, No. 19, June 11, 1995". RPM. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
^ "White Zombie Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
^ "White Zombie Chart History (Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
^ "White Zombie Chart History (Mainstream Rock Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2018.

[1] Reed, Ryan (February 17, 2016). "White Zombie Revive Early Material for Massive Box Set". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 25, 2018.

[pop-alt-2] Ramirez, AJ (August 3, 2011). "The 10 Best Alternative Metal Singles of the 1990s". PopMatters. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2015.

[3] Brackett, Nathan and Christian David Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. pp. 871. ISBN 0743201698. more human than human white zombie.

[4] Pettigrew, Jason (July 28, 2020). "10 Industrial-Rock Classics That Completely Defined the '90s". Alternative Press. Retrieved July 30, 2020.

[spin-5] "The 95 Best Alternative-Rock Songs of 1995". Spin. August 6, 2015. p. 3. Retrieved December 5, 2019.

[vh1-6] "Vh1 Top 100 Hard Rock Songs". Spreadit Music. January 1, 2009. Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved February 5, 2009.

[7] "White Zombie - More Human Than Human • VideoSift: Online Video *Quality Control". Videosift.com. Retrieved September 29, 2012.

[8] Café Flesh (1982), Event Occurs 44:11 - 44:24

[9] RockNet Interviews Rob Zombie, cited September 25, 2009

[10] Miller, Gerri. "White Zombie Live & Backstage". Metal Edge Magazine. March, 1996. cited October 30, 2008

[sc_Australia_White_Zombie-11] "White Zombie – More Human than Human". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 6, 2022.

[12] "Rock/Alternative – Volume 61, No. 19, June 11, 1995". RPM. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2011.

[sc_UK_-13] "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 6, 2022.

[14] "White Zombie Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2018.

[15] "White Zombie Chart History (Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2018.

[16] "White Zombie Chart History (Mainstream Rock Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2018.

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v t e White Zombie
Phil Buerstatte Tom Five Tim Jeffs Paul Kostabi Peter Landau Ivan de Prume John Ricci John Tempesta Sean Yseult Jay Yuenger Rob Zombie
Studio albums	Soul-Crusher Make Them Die Slowly La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One Astro-Creep: 2000
Extended plays	Gods on Voodoo Moon Pig Heaven/Slaughter the Grey Psycho-Head Blowout God of Thunder
Remix albums	Nightcrawlers: The KMFDM Remixes Supersexy Swingin' Sounds
Compilations	Let Sleeping Corpses Lie It Came from N.Y.C.
Singles	"Thunder Kiss '65" "Black Sunshine" "More Human than Human" "Electric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)" "Super-Charger Heaven" "I'm Your Boogieman"
Promotional singles	"Children of the Grave" "I'm Your Boogieman"
Related articles	Discography Members Super-Charger Hell Unlistenable Hymns of Indulgent Damage
Category

v t e MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video
1980s	Guns N' Roses – "Sweet Child o' Mine" (1989)
1990s	Aerosmith – "Janie's Got a Gun" (1990) Aerosmith – "The Other Side" (1991) Metallica – "Enter Sandman" (1992) Pearl Jam – "Jeremy" (1993) Soundgarden – "Black Hole Sun" (1994) White Zombie – "More Human than Human" (1995) Metallica – "Until It Sleeps" (1996) Aerosmith – "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)" (1997) Aerosmith – "Pink" (1998) Korn – "Freak on a Leash" (1999)
2000s	Limp Bizkit – "Break Stuff" (2000) Limp Bizkit – "Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)" (2001) Linkin Park – "In the End" (2002) Linkin Park – "Somewhere I Belong" (2003) Jet – "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" (2004) Green Day – "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (2005) AFI – "Miss Murder" (2006) No Award (2007) Linkin Park – "Shadow of the Day" (2008) Green Day – "21 Guns" (2009)
2010s	Thirty Seconds to Mars – "Kings and Queens" (2010) Foo Fighters – "Walk" (2011) Coldplay – "Paradise" (2012) Thirty Seconds to Mars – "Up in the Air" (2013) Lorde – "Royals" (2014) Fall Out Boy – "Uma Thurman" (2015) Twenty One Pilots – "Heathens" (2016) Twenty One Pilots – "Heavydirtysoul" (2017) Imagine Dragons – "Whatever It Takes" (2018) Panic! at the Disco – "High Hopes" (2019)
2020s	Coldplay – "Orphans" (2020) John Mayer – "Last Train Home" (2021) Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Black Summer" (2022) Måneskin – "The Loneliest" (2023) Lenny Kravitz – "Human" (2024)